Earlier this month, I participated in a 100-word story contest. The contest leaders provide a genre, an action, and a word, all of which need to be incorporated into a 100-word story. I loved the idea so much, I decided to diverge a bit from the regular 3-Random-Word story structure, and try this out. Below are two stories I created using this structure.
Fate in the Clouds
Genre: Horror Action: Daydreaming Word: Pareidolia
“I see a unicorn!” Marta exclaimed. Her tiny giggle made Sara’s heart sing.
“I see a knight,” Malcom said. He stood tall and placed his tiny hands on his hips, looking valiant and brave.
The clouds continued to roll past, each blow of the breeze bringing with it a fresh canvas on which Sara’s children could use their gift of pareidolia in peace. As long as she never looked up, never cast her eyes upon their innocent drawings. Her mind wandered back to her childhood, remembering the soft curves of the white clouds. They formed innocent shapes back then. Now, sometimes even just the thought…
“Mommy.” Marta’s voice trembled. “Mommy, something is wrong.”
The breeze grew still and silent, sucking away the peace and happiness that’d been cradling the trio all afternoon. Sara didn’t need to look up to see the sky turn grey, to feel the clouds billow closer to the earth, toward her children.
She threw her body across them and faced the snarling cloud that’d haunted her for decades. For the first time, she looked into its eyes, yellow and dark, a manifestation of her own mind that had finally come to collect. It took Sara’s mother when she was seven. There should have been more time.
“No more cloud hunting,” Sara whispered as a jagged set of teeth ripped her from the hill, tearing away her children’s innocence as she disappeared into the sky.
The Fairy Legend
Genre: Fantasy Action: Swimming Word: Mystifying
Freya dipped her pink toe into the glassy water and watched the ripples roll toward the far end of the lake. They lapped gently onto the sandy shore of the forbidden island, sending a shimmering green light swimming back toward Freya. It begged for connection, for one fairy to absorb its power.
Freya leaned closer to the dancing light, reaching toward the water to feel even an ounce of its energy humming just beneath the surface.
“Freya!”
Freya spread her stunning wings in anticipation of a quick escape. “Freya!” the voice called again. This time it sounded like… No. It wasn’t possible.
Freya’s wings carried her above the water and into the cover of a Willow Tree. There, she’d be safe from whatever was impersonating her sister.
“Freya! It’s me, Dela!” The voice rose from the water – from the light.
“But you’re –”
“It’s a lie,” the voice growled. “I’m still here. I would never do what they said.”
Freya drifted below the cover of the leaves, toward the mystifying voice the echoed from the water. She could just make out her sister’s reflection, see her playful smile. She’d longed for this reunion for centuries. She couldn’t hear the rustle of the leaves behind her or the shouts of the others as she plummeted toward the water.
It wasn’t until Dela’s light entered her body, filled her with a power she’d never felt before, that she realized the truth. Dela was everything they’d warned her about, and she was back.
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