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101 Word Short Stories

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Engineered

April 6, 2018

Engineered
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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 of the beatings and left him. Us.

“Brake lines fixed yet?” He had a business trip. Eight hours on I-40.

I palmed the file. “Good to go.”

If I’d filed them right, they’d fail in the mountain passes.

Too late for Mom. Maybe not for me.

— Ian Rennie

Filed Under: All Stories

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Patricia Penn-Low says

    April 7, 2018 at 8:19 am

    Come uppance good – but so short the outcome was very predictable.

  2. susijsmith says

    April 9, 2018 at 7:26 am

    Great story, really enjoyed it.

  3. perry mcdaid says

    April 10, 2018 at 2:33 am

    Brilliant story. Pay no heed to the scarcity of positive comments. This is what a story in 101 words should be-back story – emotion – build-up – action and epilogue. Beautifully done in 101 words. Maybe if you’d written it about a cat it would get more reaction.

    Know this – ignore the vapid, yours is a superior story. Thank you for sharing.

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