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101 Word Short Stories

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Eclipse

April 7, 2026 9 Comments

By Haley DiRenzo

The astronaut returns to Earth to the same clogged shower drain—her daughter’s hair tangled and braided with her own. When her daughter refuses to eat dinner together, slamming her door in response to the invitation, the astronaut remembers the Earth, suspended in the star-dusted sky through the station window. All the days she stood there wishing to return to the monotony, longing to brush her daughter’s cheek. When her daughter throws tiny details of her life like a bone to a ravenous dog, the astronaut collects them carefully, knowing they are constellations more bright than all the galaxies she knows.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kerri says

    April 7, 2026 at 2:06 pm

    Beautiful piece.

    Reply
    • Haley M DiRenzo says

      April 7, 2026 at 10:13 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. David says

    April 7, 2026 at 4:18 pm

    Wonderful and topical. The last sentence brings it all together so well.

    Reply
    • Haley M DiRenzo says

      April 7, 2026 at 10:14 pm

      Thank you! Yes I am currently crying at all the Artemis II videos and happy this piece gets to live in a world where real astronauts are reminding us of our humanity.

      Reply
  3. JRRoth says

    April 7, 2026 at 7:49 pm

    Freakin’ teenagers!

    Nice job.

    Reply
    • Haley M DiRenzo says

      April 7, 2026 at 10:14 pm

      Haha! Thank you for reading

      Reply
  4. Shilpa says

    April 8, 2026 at 7:58 am

    Beautiful! Love it 🙂

    Reply
  5. Patti R. says

    April 8, 2026 at 9:18 am

    Beautiful. You really captured the breadth of a parent’s love.

    Reply
  6. Ranabrata Ray says

    April 8, 2026 at 9:27 am

    So much alike of the Indian mothers.

    Reply

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