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101 Word Short Stories

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Mrs. Duff’s Icebox

October 18, 2023 9 Comments

By Ruth Brown

One Sunday, Mrs. Duff vowed to clean her ancient icebox.

“Wear gloves,” her husband admonished, “could be nasty things brewing!”

In the refrigerator was a minuscule village. Lumberjacks felled matchstick trees, snow melted on thatched roofs, trout leapt from nimble trickles of water. Mrs. Duff peered closer, saw flags waving, sniffed bitter woodsmoke and sweet baking.

One pocket-sized house was her own. Same missing shingles, same weathered shutters. Out stepped her doppelganger, mug in hand. The little Mrs. Duff blinked up. The big Mrs. Duff blinked down.

“It’s bad!” she called, sprinting to fetch the disinfectant. “They’ve already formed a government!”

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa H. Owens says

    October 18, 2023 at 7:50 am

    What a cute story, one that turned cleaning the nasty fridge into an adventure!

    Reply
  2. Chelsea Allen says

    October 18, 2023 at 8:48 am

    Cute.

    Reply
  3. PAulene Blazey says

    October 18, 2023 at 9:03 am

    Very imaginative. Loved it.

    Reply
  4. Mike McCarty says

    October 18, 2023 at 9:34 am

    Ha! Nice buildup, and I loved the ending.

    Reply
  5. Derek says

    October 18, 2023 at 11:24 am

    I enjoyed reading this.

    Reply
  6. Bud says

    October 18, 2023 at 2:26 pm

    Cool story (pun intended). Reminds me of the Ice Age episode on Love, Death + Robots.
    Nicely done.

    Reply
  7. Bud says

    October 18, 2023 at 2:29 pm

    Very cool story (pun intended). Reminds me of the Ice Age episode on Love, Death + Robots.
    Nice job!

    Reply
  8. Ben Bishop says

    October 18, 2023 at 8:22 pm

    Great read. Made me think of the Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels.

    Reply
  9. Linda says

    October 24, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    Imaginative and delightful. I could see it!

    Reply

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