Progressive Boink

[Justin]

real simple. write a story using 100 words or less.

heroes & villains

he took a moment to survey the lobby and admire his work. corpses lay prone; slung over chairs and cowering under tables. upholstery and carpeting once royal blue now a dark crimson red.

sirens wailed in the distance but he knew the police wouldn't bring this depraved criminal mastermind to justice. no, this was a job more befitting of a hero. and after he'd pushed the barrel of his shotgun past his lips but before he'd pulled the trigger, flashes of tomorrow's headline raced through his brain.

UNKNOWN HERO BRINGS KILLER TO JUSTICE

"i've done it. i've saved the day."

[Justin]

The Torero's Sacrifice

He stepped into the bullring and the crowd erupted into a roar of thunderous applause. He glanced toward his wife and child seated in the front row, and as they waved and cheered in support his eyes fell upon the men in tailed suits directly behind them. Their faces were expressionless and their demeanor a far cry from jubilance.

He’d made bargains with men he’d no way of repaying and they’d come to collect. He was going to take a dive. A palm clasped around his wife’s mouth was the last thing he’d see before the goring and the darkness.

[Andy]

Thats so very Max Payne. Which is good because I love Max Payne.

I tried to cut this back to 100 words, but I just couldn't do it. It's at 150. I lose I guess, but whatever. I'm not going to make the effort have been for nothing.

"Memory Fails"

"It's lost the old feeling," said the youth.
His old street had history. It was true history, the kind that can spring up on you standard weekdays, while you dream.
He passes the house where his secrets had become secret, and inspects the new paintjob, while three kids play in the yard.
He passes the house where learned about women from older friends. He remembers them fondly while a young couple sits on the porch swing, happily.
He stops at the spray painted sidewalk where he and friends created an off-center heart. It was encircled by newer shapes. Even now the children add to the sidewalk art with what's available. He noted the heart's slightly worn look.
"It's lost that old feeling." The man walks away, head hung low while the young ones live and play on.

[Wohngespenst]

While reclining against the cold stone, he looked at the nearby haystacks. The sun was setting and the wind was picking up. It whistled through the nearby forest like the caw of a crow, and he heard the weathervane creak.

He became anxious to go home once again. His back sore and his arms weakened, the promise of warmth and home... But only then he realized home was behind him, far away. The train tracks were near though, and with a new resolve he got up and ambled towards the tracks, to follow the path wherever it was to lead.

[Justin]

yes! that's so good!

[Andy]

Holy shit, my first draft of this is EXACTLY 100 words. Fate, homey.



'Just a Phase'

The old couple sat whimpering as I bludgeoned my fists and chucks into their collective mass of flesh. Its not that I didn't care. It was more of a ritual, really. A great homage to DeLarge and the Droogies.
But it was becoming clear that I was feeling the impact of those punches completely differently from my mates. Especially Art. His shining grin lighted the alley and beyond, while mine was just a token that must get paid, one way or the other. I felt joyless pain with each strike.
I must simply remind myself, "tomorrow I will be different."

[Justin]

Hundreds of miles away the war had ended and bureaucrats had set to resolving discrepancies of varying importance over a gourmet dinner, before retiring to their stately quarters. Tomorrow they’d address the public, bedding all fears and ushering in a new age of peace and prosperity.

On the battlefield, Jimmy Harris struggled to maintain his composure. Though the cease-fire had been declared hours earlier, news had yet to reach his battalion. And while cheers of victory echoed across the country, none of them were loud enough to prevent the final bullet fired from piercing Jimmy’s trembling skin.

[Andy]

That reminded me of Slaughter-House 5, dude. Awesome.

[James]

He looked back on those days with fondness, now, those halycon days of his youth. Not that he had particularly liked them at the time; he certainly had many regrets, things that he should or shouldn't have said, friends and family that he had never really expressed his love and appreciation to. But now he was dying, and he longed for those days, now that at the end of them he realized they were well and truly gone.

He watched the blood pool around his legs with a sort of sorrowful nostalgia.

[James]

Thirty years. Thirty years of his life he had spent chasing his father's killer, hounded him so relentlessly that neither could maintain a semblance of life. And now, seeing him, he was a destitute wreck of a man; he shook and twitched, apparently unaware of his hunter, caring about nothing. His own personal life had been ruined by the constant hunt, the driving fury keeping him constantly fixated on his revenge. He was an old man, with no family, no legacy.

Nothing except his vengeance for a man long dead.

But it was all he had.

He pulled the trigger.

[Justin]

oh my god you guys these are so good. keep posting please.

[Casey]

gettin in on this tomorrow FO SHO

[Kristen Smith]

I will also write one tomorrow

[Andy]

Are companion pieces allowed? Because I had an idea about that second one I put up here and I want to put it to the test.

[Justin]

i'd like to keep them self-contained.

[Kristen Smith]

I'm a big fan of melodrama.


She dropped to her knees as if her actions had taken her by surprise. The jagged asphalt underneath viciously cut into her legs. The sounds of the city echoed off the cold brick facade of the alleyway. With the blood on her hands drying in the cool breeze, she unclenched his lifeless hand and took the envelope he had wanted to keep so desperately. She raised herself from the ground and walked towards the busy street. As she emerged from the darkness she smiled as she thought of the dead friend behind her; for in his death he had given her life.

[Andy]

i'd like to keep them self-contained.

awww

[Bismark]

These are all amazing. I might try later, but I can't ever seem to get anything under a thousand pages.

[Jon]

It was constructed exactly to his specifications. The undertaking was historic. One room of the house was the very room he had as a small child; the walls were airlifted from Arkansas. The study was his office in the Dean Witter building in which he earned his fortune. None were replicas. All were the real thing, all in one house, so he could walk from one to another.

"Dad, how much longer until we can go in?"

"When Mom gets here."

"Mom died fifteen years ago. What the hell is wrong with you?"

The old man sat and wept. "Debra..."

[Justin]

Chris slumped back in the hard metal chair while a group of adults talked to the police officers. He wasn’t sure why everyone was upset. Jimmy was always mean to him and Tommy and Steve. He made it so that Jimmy wouldn’t be mean anymore. There was a loud bang. Sally cried.

One of the officers came over and led Chris out of the room by his hand. Chris was hoping he’d get to go home soon. He wanted to watch cartoons. He wanted to feed his pet turtles. He wanted to go outside and play.