Hey everyone, long time no post.
I was thinking that some of you might find this interesting. I ran a short story contest on Facebook with some of my friends. It had two rules, It couldnt' be more than 100 words and it had to deal with "Frankensteins" "Draculas" or werewolves. Some of us veered from that, but getting a piece done in 100 words was challenging, and fun.
Here's one I wrote:


Of course it had a brain, they all did. It was required. But what they did with them was another story.

Vic adjusted his goggles and turned off the torch.

“Damn Frankensteins. All the same.”

Vic examined his handiwork. This model had thrown a kitten, and itself, into a lake, frying its circuits. A challenge
even for Vic.

“Alright, get out of here you idiot.”

The Frankenstein got up and left, joining the rest of his stitched-together brethren on the bustling streets of Unbound City.

The last man alive smiled and returned to his shop, awaiting the next malfunction.

And another one.

Ted rolled over, naked in the cage, looked at the clock on the wall, listened to it tick, sighed. He rattled the bars and tested the collar and chain around his neck. Both held.

Outside the room he could hear faraway sounds of life, smell the smells of dinner. The clocked ticked.

“Save some for me.” A mumbled response. He smiled. She was why he was here. To keep her safe.

The clock ticked the moon closer. It would start with the hands. Then he’d forget.

He lay back, naked in the cage. Waiting for the moon. Waiting for tomorrow.

Nice little piece. I like the hints of a larger, stranger world in which Frankensteins are commonplace.

Thanks. It was a fun contest. I'll have to run another soon.

I recently found a print anthology by local writers in Arkansas in which all the contributors had to write stories of that length. The subject matter varied. There were also illustrations by local artists.

I figured that most people surf the web while they're busy other things, like work, and have little real time to read long things. So I thought I'd have people keep them short and sweet, hoping that they would be more likely to be read. Also, I thought I'd get more non-writers to write them if they were short. That was harder than I thought.

Makes sense. That's the attraction of short stories in general. The most recent batch of books that I book talked were short story collections, for just that reason.

How's this one (this was fun, I hope you don't mind if I play too ...)?

The cool concrete of the patio floor against his face was a pleasant end to a violent night. Roman had made it home, and had apparently had his fill, judging from the dried blood on his hands and on his cheeks. He couldn’t remember his nights. In his left hand he found the card of Dr. Tabitha Sanguine, Hematologist.

The sun was just under the eastern hill, but he had no fear, thanks to Tabitha. “Why do I have this?” he thought, looking at the card.

Turning it over, he read “I forgive you” in hasty penmanship.

“No!” Roman cried.

That's excellent. thanks. Just enough to figure it out, just enough left out to wonder if you figured it out, and more than enough to want another 100 words.

I'm going to come up with another one

There is a favorite 100 word story of mine by Niel Gaiman. I think it was at the beginning of Fragile Things. Apparently he did it for a Christmas Card, but really a lot of fun to read. I like your pieces JohnnyJ, Reminded me of his, but totally different and nuique.

I'm going to check that out. If I read it, it was a while ago. I'm glad you like them. Maybe I'm channeling Neil Gaiman and don't know it? WOuldn't surprise me, I certainly like his stuff enough.

I've been writing "Twitter Stories," after I read about the existing clique doing that. It's quite a challend.

140 characters. Not words. Characters. And some of the ones I've read are pretty good.

Here are mine. One of them started as an IMWAN post, though I had to chop it way down even from that.

http://twitter.com/Jay_the_Brave

Maybe I'll try.
About a year ago I was doing status update stories on facebook. My few friends loved them as they didn't know they were made up until things got crazy in them. I have them posted as notes over there.