By Scott Merrow
I am born. Hello, world.
Whoosh!
I’m five years old. I’m Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier.
Whoosh!
I’m fifteen. Baseball. Girls. Zits. Cigarettes.
Then college. Knowledge. Sophistication. Dorm life. Politics. Protests. Sex. Drugs.
Suddenly, graduation! Job. Wife. Kids. Chardonnay. Job-wife-kids. Chardonnay. Job-wife-kids. Chardonnay.
Damn, a gray hair.
BMW. Job. Kids on weekends. Martinis. Job. Kids on weekends. Martinis. Wrinkles. Rogaine.
OMG! Where are the years going?
Shady Pines Senior Home. Mashed potatoes. Checkers. Ear hair. Naps. Oops, an accident. Depends. Naps. Naps. Naps.
Where have the years gone?
Who are you? Where’s my family?
Where am I?
Gone.
Wow, a lifetime in 101 words. Well done.
Thank you, LL.
Rather endearing.
Thanks Lynn.
I think first-person life chronicles lose a little plausibility when they end in senility.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Sarah. Sorry it didn’t work for you.
L. L. Madrid beat me to it, so I’ll echo her words: Wow, a lifetime in 101 words. Well done.
Thanks Bobby.
The title, the last line and how you fill the center make you The Master of 101.
Ha. The Master of 101. I like the sound of that. (I wonder if a special robe or something comes along with the title.)
Thanks for reading!
Tragic piece brilliantly written. Only other points: sad for us older birds & not sure the repetitions in the middle part work for me although later in the piece they do. Great stuff.
Thanks very much for your comments. I’m a little older myself, so I guess that’s why I even think about stuff like this. I was hoping the repetitious lines in the middle would give a sense of how routine life can become in the middle years, which could be why time seems to fly by.
Thanks again for your comments.
Life is short…too bad we realize it too late. Good story. It is a thinking piece.
Really enjoyed this! the repetitions were almost onomatopoeic, like language that doesn’t so much translate life, but imitates it. And its scope is unusual for 101 words.
I have a very limited collection of the 101 word stories that I find most compelling. This one will be in it.