Win Cash Prizes & Get Professional Feedback @ Flash Fiction Magazine
Learn More
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

101 Words

101 Word Short Stories

  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Volunteer

All in the Detail

August 29, 2023 15 Comments

By Wendy Markel

Arrogant and careless. The tribunal’s words condemned him to back-street medicine: bullet removal and face-altering for villains or the vain.

This latest patient was unintelligent, strident, argumentative. Were these the characteristics she wanted to quell?

Obdurate and insistent, she needed this to ease her mind. She named her procedure and her price but ignored his words.

“It will change you forever,” he’d said, relishing the thought of proper surgery again.

She lay quiet, thrilled at the thought of her new appearance. She hated her flaccid earlobes.

He set the drill running.

A ‘lobe-otomy’ she had demanded, a lobotomy she shall have.

Share this:

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
  • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Nextdoor (Opens in new window) Nextdoor
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

The Power of Imagery with Nina Schuyler

September 12 & 13 on Zoom
Enrollment closes Thursday, September 3 at 7:00 PM Pacific

If your descriptions are vivid but your stories still feel thin, this workshop is for you.

Join award-winning author Nina Schuyler to learn the difference between description, which tells a reader what things look like, and imagery, which carries plot, character, and meaning at the same time.

In just two days, you'll learn to choose images that hold emotion without naming it, pair them so each one deepens the other, and build patterns that gather meaning as the story moves.

Learn More and Enroll

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kevin says

    August 29, 2023 at 7:24 am

    Well written with a clever ending. Kudos.

    Reply
    • Wendy A Markel says

      August 29, 2023 at 2:05 pm

      Thank you, for your kind comment

      Reply
    • Lisa H. Owens says

      August 30, 2023 at 9:18 am

      Tomato—tomahto! It’s all in the pronunciation. Great story.

      Reply
  2. Stella says

    August 29, 2023 at 8:35 am

    Brilliant! Well done

    Reply
    • Wendy A Markel says

      August 29, 2023 at 2:06 pm

      Thanks you’re very kind

      Reply
  3. Joanna says

    August 29, 2023 at 9:15 am

    Great story! Very clever.

    Reply
    • Wendy A Markel says

      August 29, 2023 at 2:07 pm

      Ah, thank you, that’s kind.

      Reply
  4. bill engleson says

    August 29, 2023 at 3:42 pm

    Nicely lobbed…

    Reply
  5. Liz says

    August 29, 2023 at 6:06 pm

    Ha! Oops!

    Reply
  6. Indi says

    August 30, 2023 at 8:56 am

    ?? You nailed that twist at the end. Excellent work!

    Reply
  7. Bud says

    August 30, 2023 at 10:45 am

    Be careful what you wish for… clever story.

    Reply
  8. Marie says

    August 30, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    unexpected ending, really good!

    Reply
  9. Kerr says

    August 31, 2023 at 2:57 pm

    Clever twist at the end.

    Reply
  10. Liz says

    September 5, 2023 at 12:31 am

    As the previous Liz commented, Oops!
    Beaut little story.

    Reply
  11. Teresa says

    September 21, 2023 at 7:34 pm

    Wow! Very clever! Loved it!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search Stories

The end.