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101 Word Short Stories

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Three Is My Perfect Number

April 9, 2026 4 Comments

By Beatrice A. Quaini

“We’re late!”

Window: closed. One, two, three, it’s closed.
Hair straightener: off. One, two, three, it’s off.
Okay, done.
No, wait. The light. The light is off; I can see it. Easy.

Kitchen, the longest.
Oven: first knob is on zero, second on zero, third is zero as well. Zero, zero, zero. I open it: it’s cold, cold, cold.
Electric kettle: one, two, three, it’s off.
Rice cooker: unplugged. Nice, it’s off.

The bathroom. I am almost done.
The lights are off.
The toilet seat: it’s down. One, two, three, it’s down.

Am I done?
Just one more time.
Or three.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kerri says

    April 9, 2026 at 9:06 am

    Great depiction of a frustrating and challenging condition. Very well done.

    Reply
    • Beatrice says

      April 9, 2026 at 6:16 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Ranabrata Ray says

    April 15, 2026 at 10:52 pm

    Actually I need to re- read it to understand but I may not get the time.

    Reply
    • Banks says

      April 16, 2026 at 11:09 am

      I had to re read it aswell and I got a much deeper meaning that what I initially thought

      Reply

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