• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

101 Words

101 Word Short Stories

  • Flash Fiction Daily
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Volunteer

Science and Regret

June 5, 2017 14 Comments

Science and Regret
Share4
Tweet2
Email
More
6 Shares

Darren watched himself hold his infant. A tender goodbye before entering the great unknown. What was he thinking? What kind of father did this?

It had been five cold years living in the shadows, and his build was now stringy, beard mangy, teeth missing. He wasn’t sure how he would make his wife understand, but was eager to enter the scene.

His experiment failed. He watched his tear-filled form enter the machine and vanish. Now cured of his obsession with time travel, Darren climbed through the window as if he never left. His child gazed at the strange face and wailed.

By Swarn Gill

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. JacciGoodingAuthor says

    June 5, 2017 at 4:25 am

    Like it! Packs a good punch.

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 5, 2017 at 11:53 am

      Thank you very much!

      Reply
  2. Jack Spies says

    June 5, 2017 at 7:40 am

    Chilling, Swarn. Chilling.

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 5, 2017 at 11:53 am

      Thank you Jack. Much appreciated. Thank you for reading.

      Reply
  3. Esme upon the Cloud says

    June 5, 2017 at 7:43 am

    Oooh yes. This is excellent Swarn! A full tale in 101 isn’t easy at all, and many write fragments, good fragments, but not whole stories like this one. You have my vote for best in show up to now sir.

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 5, 2017 at 11:53 am

      Thank you for such wonderful praise Esme!

      Reply
  4. Peace Kathure says

    June 5, 2017 at 8:51 am

    This is absolutely wonderful, Swarn! You built an entire tale within a hundred words. Just wonderful!

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 5, 2017 at 11:54 am

      Thank you PK! I was particularly proud of this one! I am glad it is well received. 🙂

      Reply
  5. NeuroNotes says

    June 5, 2017 at 1:04 pm

    A brilliant piece, Swarn. You should be proud. 🙂

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 6, 2017 at 4:38 am

      Thank you Victoria!

      Reply
  6. Professor Taboo says

    June 6, 2017 at 6:08 am

    EXCELLENT Swarn! In just 101 words this fuels and ignites the adage that there is no such thing as failure, only (more?) opportunity. Or learning to fail better. 🙂

    Well done Sir. Bravo!

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 6, 2017 at 6:35 am

      Thank you Professor! Although I don’t know I was trying to send a positive message, more the costs of obsession, as it is certainly not meant to be a silver lining type of tale. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sabrina Culbertson Zitzelberger says

    June 7, 2017 at 11:44 am

    This is a great take on the time travel genre! I really enjoyed it 🙂 Hope to see more of your work soon!

    Reply
    • Swarn Gill says

      June 7, 2017 at 11:55 am

      Thank you Sabrina!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Primary Sidebar

Search Stories

The end.