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101 Word Short Stories

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The Dragon-Hearted Girl

July 31, 2024 11 Comments

By Billie-Leigh Burns

The dragon-hearted girl mans a desk for a living, claws pushing papers into files. Puny, rigid knights armored in red tape mock her—they call her “ugly,” “strange,” and “out of place.” Fortunately for them, she’s thick-skinned. Don’t they realise she could torch them all with her fiery temper?

And so, the dragon-hearted girl, smoke curling from her lips, makes the final puff of her smoke break count before returning to a black-and-white world, where they can’t see her wings and don’t know she can fly. Where they deny the magic in her veins. Where there’s no greater cage than mundanity.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Toni Brayer says

    July 31, 2024 at 6:47 am

    Love this. So much in a short space. “They deny the magic in her wings”. So good.

    Reply
  2. Michelle Mellon says

    July 31, 2024 at 6:52 am

    Great story!

    Reply
  3. Lisa H. Owens says

    July 31, 2024 at 8:44 am

    I love everything about this story. I feel there are dragon-hearted girls all around the world trapped in mundane jobs.

    Reply
  4. Haley says

    July 31, 2024 at 10:04 am

    Wow, such a world in a short space. Love the various plays on words.

    Reply
  5. Ed Kratz says

    July 31, 2024 at 10:38 am

    Lovely. Perfect 101 words. So much detail and dreaming.

    Reply
  6. Ramona Taylor says

    July 31, 2024 at 7:00 pm

    This story rings true and I like the way you told it

    Reply
  7. Tom says

    July 31, 2024 at 8:20 pm

    I loved this on so many levels.

    Reply
  8. Carla S says

    August 1, 2024 at 4:23 am

    Great writing. Should have made the printed stories.

    Reply
  9. Marie says

    August 1, 2024 at 5:25 pm

    I think anyone who held a tedious mundane job can relate, well done!

    Reply
  10. Toni M Roucka says

    August 2, 2024 at 10:31 pm

    This is so great! Well done.

    Reply
  11. Charlotte Bennardo says

    August 5, 2024 at 11:27 am

    Nice!

    Reply

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