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101 Word Short Stories

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Touch Grass Or: Just Another Suburban Dispute

December 10, 2024 6 Comments

By Dale Rappaneau

Shannon spent that morning glowering at the obscene luster of the neighbor’s PlastiGrass lawn. It shimmered, dew-laden. It glowed nuclear green. By comparison, her off-brand lawn looked muted, flaccid, cheap.

So, she overnight shipped a new one: a PlastiGrassEX, six-acre model with anti-intruder blades capable of puncturing skin. She paid extra for expedited installation, but twice work was halted to remove neighborhood spaniels and labradoodles killed from wandering onto the lawn. The fretful waiting nearly drove her to day drink.

Then—voila!—done. Medical-grade grass stretched in all directions. Tensile, acrid, flawless.

And oh, so brilliant green, it had to hurt.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dart humeston says

    December 10, 2024 at 8:30 am

    So much embedded in this short piece. Human competition, envy, wrapped up in a creative concept.

    Reply
  2. Bud says

    December 11, 2024 at 8:49 am

    “Anti-intruder blades,” love the description. Fun story!

    Reply
  3. Paul Scott Wood says

    December 11, 2024 at 10:18 am

    Nice story, but just like erecting an electrified fence around your yard, this lawn would be illegal.

    Reply
  4. Ed Kratz says

    December 11, 2024 at 10:54 am

    Very well done. A cool idea, but as we all know that’s a small part of it. This was well executed. Loved how you painted this weird world seamlessly into the story.

    Reply
  5. Deborah Sale-Butler says

    December 11, 2024 at 1:50 pm

    The satire of the one-upsmanship is great. Especially funny to see it in action, taking out the neighborhood dogs. Well done.

    Reply
  6. A.M. McKnight says

    December 12, 2024 at 6:46 pm

    Ha! Tough neighborhood. Nice work.

    Reply

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