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

House Spider

April 10, 2022 4 Comments

By Tony Clarke

Indigenous to Australia, the white-tail spider is a wanton predator. Deceptively named, as it disregards its hunting skill of using belongings of its victims as bait.

Items used include credit cards, wedding rings, or spare pieces of bacon. Males may even use phones; the most tantalizing of endearments.

They can be found at work in the average home. The locals know when their credit cards appear in random spots or on a search for their disappearing ring, to approach armed with a magazine of fifty pages or more.

The rare tourist or two, on the other hand, may lose a hand.

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. Bob Ellis says

    April 10, 2022 at 7:11 am

    I’d laugh if I didn’t know Australian wildlife so much. I once wrote a story that included a man urinating into a funnel web spider’s hole, with predictable and painful results!

    Good job.

    Reply
  2. Val says

    April 10, 2022 at 2:49 pm

    ?Excellent, Tony! ?

    Reply
    • Alison says

      April 10, 2022 at 2:56 pm

      Made me laugh. That magazine wouldn’t be big enough for me.

      Reply
  3. Nina says

    April 13, 2022 at 7:44 am

    This gave me chills! I hope you don’t work for the Australian tourist board cause….nope nope nope nope no way!

    The story made me smile nonetheless!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Primary Sidebar

Search Stories

The end.