Dribble Drabble #04

The Letter

Billy picked up the letter and kicked the door shut. He edged along the left side of the worn carpet to avoid a creaking floorboard. “Grandad!”

“In here son.”

“There’s a letter.” He handed over the brown envelope and dropped to his knees, stroking the cat to a purr.

The old man’s rheumy eyes read the contents, then searched the peeling wallpaper for meaning.

Billy read the bold header in his grandad’s lap, slowly enunciating the first three syllables. “‘Eve-ick-shun’. What does it mean?”

The old man smiled. “Do you think your mum’s offer of the spare room still stands?”

Dribble Drabble #03

The Blade

Arthur transitioned seamlessly from the dull and dusty world of accounts to the quiet of home retirement. Prudence the cat purred her approval, but Maggie was determined to fill his time with trivial domestic tasks that had until then remained happily undone.

“Enter a competition,” she had suggested, and so he did.

That was weeks ago, and now he marched steadily behind his Jaguar XV-5 mower. His inch-perfect lines and symmetrical shading would surely deliver the winning points.

Mopping his brow at the finish, Arthur glanced back; then froze at the sight of a solitary blade, waving his defeat.

Dribble Drabble #02

Ivory Towers

“Did the Roman Empire fall because of the selfishness and cruelty of a male European elite who lost the support of the masses?”

His eagle’s stare swept over the downturned eyes before him. No one ventured an answer.

“If the glass towers of capitalism are the modern equivalent of temples and victory arches, is history doomed to repeat itself?”

The door to the auditorium opened and a female figure stood in a shaft of light. “Professor White? I’m Lydia Hardy, your new Head of Department. Meet me in my office after this class for a long overdue staff and syllabus review.”

A drabble is a very short story, of up to 100 words.

Dribble Drabble #01

Abduction Blues

“I’ve seen things you aliens wouldn’t believe. Rush hour at Central Station. A cat puking a half-dissolved mouse. Two women fighting over the last purple jumpsuit in Aldi.”

The blob of green slime quivered towards its bound captive, giving no indication it understood.

Jeff recoiled at the stench of rotting fish as it opened its mouth, his uneventful life flashing before him.

“Zaaarg, gaarth, plonk,” it drawled.

Thirty seconds later Jeff awoke on his front lawn, staring at the night sky. A shooting star drew his gaze, just as Buster arrived to lick his face. “Look, Buster! They’re leaving.”

A drabble is a story of up to 100 words in length