101 Word Short Stories
By Ian Rennie
Growing up, the only things Dad loved were beer and his car, certainly not us. My condition stopped me drinking, making me less than a man to him. To compensate, he pounded cars into me until I bled oil. I learned all he knew about auto repair: changed tires and rebuilt transmissions, while Mom tired…
By Ian Rennie
I stare at my bride, remembering that Damerites are honourable, noble, and just a little too literal. I was besotted with their society, their magic, and especially Princess Sabrina. She loved me, but was promised to another. When the Unholy Horde invaded, I took my opportunity too eagerly. The Damerites formally and irrevocably agreed to…
By Ian Rennie
It didn’t last. They married at midnight; then he left the fairy tale for affairs of state. She wasted away in the palace; his servants saw a scullery maid, not a princess. He died in a hunting accident the morning she found herself pregnant. Fever took the baby. She was married off to an aging…
By Ian Rennie
She sipped her martini. “I’m in security.” “Surveillance systems?” “Integrity management.” I grinned. “I assure you I have no integrity at all.” She laughed. “Companies hire me to confirm their employees are still who they say they are. If a different personality is loaded into someone’s wetware, you have no guarantee who’s behind their eyes.”…
By Ian Rennie
Parvale wasn’t a haunted house in the traditional sense. No spirit was tethered there, no crime unsolved. Instead it acted as a resonator: manifesting your guilt and sins as shades. People came there, brought by word of mouth: the penitent, the defiant, the masochistic. Some fled screaming into the night. Few found what they were…
By Ian Rennie
My father’s mask was black with silver stitching around the eyes. He had worn it for three decades until his coronary. He had worn it the only night he spent with my mother. The night of his second championship win, when he bested 30 luchadores in a battle royal. He never knew her last name.…
And the Editors’ Choice Is… “Our Father” by PJ McCann Congratulations to PJ. Featured Stories The following stories made the short list and have been put into our Featured Stories category. They are listed in no particular order. “Pennies” by Meghashri Dalvi “Stretch of Nowhere” by Parker J. Andrews “Call Waiting” by Ian Rennie “Our…
