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101 Word Short Stories

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The Californians

April 4, 2023 7 Comments

By Mary Liza Hartong

My mother called to tell me the neighbors were walking coyotes on leashes.

“Could they be huskies?” I asked.

“They’re coyotes,” she insisted. “I’m sure of it.”

This was during that winter when mothers blamed the Californians for everything.

They would stop, their pugs pulling at the tether, and talk by the mailbox. Your Linda’s, your Cici’s. The Californians had ruined the interstate. They were buying up the ranch houses and the chicken salad. They needed to be stopped.

“Wait,” Mom said, “one of the coyotes just barked at me.”

“What did it sound like?”

“Like a dog.”

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jim Gunshinan says

    April 4, 2023 at 2:01 pm

    Very funny! I love “…were buying up … the chicken salad”.

    Reply
  2. Anne Jones says

    April 5, 2023 at 10:18 am

    Love this. Very funny. Great tittle tattle talk.

    Reply
  3. Melissa says

    April 5, 2023 at 11:27 am

    This is super cute

    Reply
  4. Toni Brayer says

    April 5, 2023 at 11:50 am

    I love this.

    Reply
  5. Veronique Aglat says

    April 5, 2023 at 12:09 pm

    Amazed at how you packed in 101 words. Well done.

    Reply
  6. Ron Gould says

    April 5, 2023 at 1:11 pm

    Loved it! Well done.

    Reply
  7. Kelly Louisa Balliu says

    April 8, 2023 at 8:54 am

    A lovely and amusing story – well done!

    Reply

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