Today’s 100 Words:

Welcome to talk radio. You’re on the air.

My entry:

“And, line three, Steve – you’re on ‘Midnight Truth!’”

“Hi, Dan, long-time listener, first-time caller.”

“What’s on your mind, Steve?”

“Global Warming, Dan. I think it’s aliens, maybe the Grays. That way they could destroy the economy, human civilization, make us defenseless. Maybe just to keep us locked on Earth.”

”An interesting theory,” Dan said, cutting off the call. He looked beyond the glass. His broodmate was already comming the intervention saucer, reading off the reverse-Caller ID address from her monitor.

Dan smiled, toothily. “Let’s see if anyone else out there thinks Steve’s hypothesis makes sense. Our number once again …”

Today’s 100 Words theme:

It’s a celebration!

My entry:

How do you celebrate saving the world? Especially when almost nobody knows you’ve done it, and most of the ones remaining who do aren’t exactly jumping for joy?

For Chrys and me, it meant a drink at Buttons, in a small booth towards the back. Doubles, no less. Canadian for me, something green for Chrys.

Chrys smiled, raised a toast before sipping. “Well, you did it.”

“We did it,” I corrected. “We’re in this together. That’s what it says on the door.”

“To us, then.”

“Who’s like us? Damned few, and they’re all dead,” I quoted.

“But we still live.”

100 Words theme:

Your life has a soundtrack

My entry:

A lot of things changed in the war. Some of that was okay. Some of it made me lonely, nostalgia for a past that was not only gone, but couldn’t even be visited any more.

Music was one thing. I used to love Glenn Miller, listening to him on the radio whenever I knew he’d be playing or leading a band.  Some folks, they like Goodman better, but Miller was the guy for me.

He died in the war. Plane went down into the Channel flying back from a concert for the troops. I never listened to “Chatanooga Choo-Choo” again.

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Onward and upward!

100 Word Topic:

It’s sunrise.

My entry:

“This isn’t gonna work,” I said.

“We’ll see soon enough, monster.”

“I’m not a goddamned vampire!”

“So you say.” He took a deep breath, looked off to the east across the rooftops.  The sun would rise over the Oakland Hills soon enough. 

I twisted against the cross-festooned ropes.  He hadn’t taken any chances on the knots.  “You’re gonna look pretty silly when I don’t burst into flames.”

Bixby turned.  “You’ve defied the crosses. You may well know how to defy the purifying sun.”  He held up a wooden stake and a hammer. “We’ll see if you pass the third test.”

Today’s 100 Words subject:

All I want is SLEEP!

My entry:

“Then go to sleep,” I said.  I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.  It never was.

“When I sleep, nightmares come.”

I shrugged. “We all saw a lot of stuff in the service.  It sticks with you.”

“No, I don’t mean I have nightmares.  I mean nightmares come here. They come to life.”

I cocked my head. Shell shock. Maybe.  Probably.

“I don’t have a wife any more.”

Not surprising. “She left you?”

“No, don’t you understand? They took her.  The nightmares. They stole my wife.”

His next words finally gave me a chill. “And I have a daughter –”

Today’s 100 Word Story:

Why didn’t I make a backup??

My entry:

“So, Mr. Donne.”

“So, Herr Doktor.”

“You came alone?”

“As we agreed. No other people. Just you and me.”

“As to that.” He clapped. A very large figure stepped from the shadows. 

“Oath-breaking, Doc? The White Dragon’ll never deal with you now.”

“Strictly speaking, this is not a person.” Volkart smiled. “I built it myself.”

I could see now it was some sort of construct, cobbled together from a dozen different corpses. A galvanized, mindless bodyguard. Swell.

He clapped again. It advanced on me. “If you were a better sorcerer, Mr. Donne, you would have made your own backup, too.”

Today’s 100 Words Theme:

The day is saved! 

My entry:

He basked in adulation, the cheers of the crowd washing over him.  Doctor Krell’s Nihilbot lay in twisted fragments. Krell himself dangled limply from Graeme’s right hand, twitching in the afterglow of a final empathic blast.  

Psiclone! Psiclone! Psiclone! Psiclone!  

The masses chanted, the late-arriving heroes applauded, the photographers flashed, the church bells rang, rang, rang –

He rolled over, slamming off the alarm. No parades today. Permit meeting with the mayor.  Hostile interview on “PM New Philly” this afternoon, And he really needed to work out soon before he stopped fitting in his bulletproof slacks.  

A super-hero’s life. So glamorous.

100 Words theme:

The car won’t start … 

My entry:

“What’s the matter?”

“The car won’t start.”

“What do you mean, it won’t start.”

“Pretty much what I think I said. It. Won’t. Start.”

“Are you turning the key far enough?”

“I believe I’ve started this car enough times to know how, in fact, to do it. And, yes, turning the key is part of that, which is why it’s what I tried first.”

“Okay, sorry. Is the battery dead?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the alternator has a problem.”

“Do we need to call someone?”

“No, I think all those SWAT guys over there will probably take care of it.”