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101 Word Short Stories

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The Meter

October 13, 2015

The Meter
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Emma glanced down at the meter on her wrist, tracing her finger over the ‘000004’ that glowed neon green, even when awash in the morning sunlight. Her mother always said she’d regret being one of those quick talkers, wasting words instead of cherishing each syllable as it flowed swiftly from her lips.

Now she’d reached her lifetime allotment: only four more words for the rest of her life. At age twenty five, that seemed unfathomable.

The man in front of her cleared his throat, growing tired of waiting for her.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” Emma said. “Pull the trigger.”

— Shannon McPherson

Filed Under: All Stories, Featured Stories, Writing Contest - Issue 9

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James Freeze says

    October 13, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    I liked this story very much–A great twist at the end

  2. Rob Goss says

    October 14, 2015 at 12:33 am

    This story really lingered nicely in my mind afterwards. Great twist.

  3. Sue says

    October 18, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    This is excellent! Few words, lots of images and feelings for me. Very Atwoodish.

  4. Christina Butcher says

    November 2, 2015 at 1:05 pm

    Ah! This is really cool!

  5. Sheila M. Good says

    November 2, 2015 at 10:34 am

    Loved this, it had me wondering immediately, what words would she choose,and the the twist. Perfect.

  6. DeRicki Johnson says

    November 4, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    Great story! Congrats on the winning Issue 9!

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