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

In the Day

March 30, 2021 4 Comments

By Mae Bell

In the day, the music next door would be Honey or the Xanders, drums and loud guitars. The overheard music has a similar rhythm. In the day, Albert might have wandered over and joined the party. In the day, his wife might have woken to suggest their own rock and roll session.

It isn’t the day. He’s old. Alone. His party days are long-ago memories.

He’d been copacetic at midnight; kids will be kids and the pill kicked in so he slept. But he’s unhappy now. It’s almost four o’clock. He’s calling the police.

In the day, this is how parties ended.

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. Dwan says

    March 31, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    This is vey sad, actually. He is dealing with both age and loneliness, and he is not the same person he used to be. I enjoyed it!

    Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Mae Bell says

      March 31, 2021 at 7:40 pm

      Thanks for reading.

      Reply
  2. Rosemary says

    April 2, 2021 at 7:56 am

    What a sad commentary on ageing. I liked the structure, the repetition of ‘in the day’ worked well and made for an effective ending . Thank you for sharing

    Reply
    • Mae Bell says

      April 2, 2021 at 9:41 am

      Thank you. FYI – I began with ‘the beat goes on’ as the repeated phrase – but that’s a song title and there can be issues.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Primary Sidebar

Search Stories

The end.