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101 Word Short Stories

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Exhumed Passions

September 22, 2025 10 Comments

By Chris Lihou

I thought my torrid, extramarital affair was long buried. Not forgotten, you understand, just buried.

Two decades ago, not wanting to destroy the steamy record of our passion, I placed our letters in a box beneath a newly planted rose at the bottom of the garden; a rose with blooms as cherry red as her lipstick, thorns as sharp as her wit—a surreptitious shrine to the desire we once shared.

But with the internet, nothing stays interred.

Today, I got a phone call; the voice sounded strangely familiar.

She claims I’m her biological father—wants my DNA to prove it.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stella says

    September 22, 2025 at 7:48 am

    Great 101words. Loved the twist at the end. Buried secrets coming alive with technology

    Reply
  2. Ephra Behn says

    September 22, 2025 at 9:25 am

    Oops! That’s a morning chuckle ~ nicely done, Chris!

    Reply
  3. E says

    September 22, 2025 at 12:12 pm

    beautiful story!

    Reply
  4. David says

    September 22, 2025 at 5:12 pm

    Very nicely done.

    Reply
  5. Valli Henry-Boldini says

    September 24, 2025 at 4:51 am

    Chapeau… nicely written… I enjoyed the twist at the end…

    Reply
  6. Kelly Louisa Balliu says

    September 24, 2025 at 8:47 am

    Brilliant. Love the rich, descriptive central paragraph, the idea of buried secrets remaining buried and the alliteration, ‘internet…interred.’ Oh, and the punchline is super too šŸ™‚

    Reply
  7. dlherrmann says

    September 24, 2025 at 11:47 am

    This has actually happened more than once. And, it’s too late to be careful.

    Reply
  8. Lisa H. Owens says

    September 24, 2025 at 12:35 pm

    Ugh! How weird that two stories in a row came from my soon to ex’s playbook! The jewelry meant for another women (not the woman he had the child with…) as well as the daughter born somewhere around our 5th anniversary that we (myself and two children) knew nothing about until 11 years later.

    This is not sour grapes (it is what it is…) but kudos to you and the previous story author for conveying the feel of being on the wrong side of that with such accuracy in only 100 words!

    Reply
    • Lisa H. Owens says

      September 24, 2025 at 12:36 pm

      …101 words.

      Reply
  9. Anne Hollis says

    October 10, 2025 at 9:18 am

    Really liked the description of the rosebush with roses as cherry red as her lipstick and thorns as sharp as her wit. The twist at the end was nicely done.

    Reply

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