Category: 100 Word Stories

#251 The Twilight Zone S1 E21 2/26/1960

“I’d like a one way ticket, please.” I didn’t take notice of the ticket agent immediately, too busy searching for my purse, but when I looked up he had a scowl on his face.

“Very funny. Step aside, ma’am. You’re holding up the line,” he said, directing me to move.

“I don’t understand. Is the train full?”

“You’ve already paid. And if you think I’m going to just give you another—”

 I didn’t hear what he said after that because the reflection I saw in a nearby display case was of a woman boarding the train. That woman was me.

#250 The Twilight Zone S1 E22 3/4/1960

Everyone slowly left the comfort and safety of their homes on Maple Street. It was just after dark and the power had gone out. Typically, there would be no cause for concern except for the flash of lights that flew through the sky moments earlier. There was fear on everyone’s faces as they stared at the new neighbors, the Stanleys. 

No one saw them arrive. They were just there one morning. No moving van. No children. And no empty boxes waiting to be collected by the dustman.

The Stanleys worried about the lights too. They weren’t expecting company so soon.

#249 The Twilight Zone S1 E34 6/10/1960

The auctioneer shouted numbers quickly to the audience seated quietly, each holding their own paddle for bidding.

“Sold!” He shouted and banged the gavel down, “to the lady in the blue dress.”

Men in fancy suits wheeled away the bound and gagged woman. Fright in her eyes.

“Our next item is very special,” the auctioneer whispered to the crowd of mannequins who leaned in. “A child.” Audible gasps as a cage with a sleeping boy was brought in. “Who will start the bidding at ten?”

Just a normal night for mannequins seeking the chance of a lifetime… 

…in your shoes.

#248 The Twilight Zone S1 E23 1/22/1960

Why do I see him at every station? Just standing there, on the platform, staring at me. And when the train starts to leave the station he waves at me. As if saying goodbye.

I just have to keep it together for one more day. But at every station I want to jump off and confront him. Ask him why he’s following me? Why doesn’t he get on the damn train?

I’m keeping a count of how many times I’ve seen him in my notebook to pass the time.

I wonder how long I can live on a train.

#247 The Twilight Zone S1 E23 3/11/1960

Erica Drayton. Writer of short fiction. Puppet master to a cast of characters only she can control on the page. As she sits at her desk, even now, she’s poised with ideas for her next kill. She unleashes a healthy dose of murder and mayhem with every finely chosen word.

Her readers. Complex and seemingly unaware. They read her words. Hunger for more. Little did they realize her next tale would be so sinister. Would hook them and trap them.

Erica Drayton is more than a storyteller. She is the writer of your ending and you didn’t read her coming.

#246 The Twilight Zone S1 E36 7/1/1960

With her fingers interlocked, she stretched out her arms and cracked her knuckles, seated at her desk, typewriter ready to complete the scene she started earlier in the day. Behind her, on the ground, were two men frozen in time, fighting over their love of the same woman.

Her fingers hovered over the keys…

They tussled for a few moments longer, yelling obscenities until Jim managed to kick Terrance away from him. They were breathing heavily. Faces scratched. Bodies aching. Jim had a bloody lip. Terrance would be nursing a black eye later.

The front door slammed. Mary had gone.

#245 Happy New Year

It’s my time to go. I’ve lived many millennia up here, watching you watch me. Just out of reach. Only on a few occasions did you visit. More like a drive by.

Then, I winked at a little girl. And she waved back at me. We talked to each other every night like old friends. But she’s older now. Moved on. As I now must do.

The hour is drawing near. Billions of my friends are here to wish me goodbye. All of them secretly waiting for their time to come.

I close my eyes and shoot across the sky.

#244 Happy Holidays

In the last six weeks he chopped hundreds of Christmas trees for families, couples, singles. But now that it was the last day, the last hour, the last family,  he dragged his axe behind him through the desolate wasteland where it once was rich with pines.

The back of the blade bounced on the frozen ground, its sharp edge worn away from use but it still could get the job done.

He led them towards the farthest end of the field where the last of the trees stood. Unnoticed by planting circumstance. He wiped his brow and swung the axe.

#243 Happy Holidays

They could hear the house crunch from the force of the santa-leaves outside. It was the middle of winter but they were prepared with more than enough food to get them through as long as no one opened a door or window.

The fireplace was maintained day and night as santa-leaves were terrified of fire. Otherwise, they moved faster than man or beast to wrap anything living till the life is squeezed out of them.

A little girl made sure no one could see her slowly open her bedroom window to get a better look at the plant climbing inside.

#242 Happy Holidays

A hired act arrived at a deserted lodge to check in.

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. As you can see no snow means no audience—“ the old woman at the front desk started to say.

“Nonsense. We’re the audience and I expect to get exactly what I paid for,“ the owner said, a hint of mischief in his voice, cleaning his grease stained hands on a dirty cloth. “We serve dinner promptly at five. I expect your performance by then.”

The duo nodded and headed for their room in silence.

That evening the floor show began…