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101 Word Short Stories

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Upside Down

May 12, 2024 8 Comments

By Terence Gallagher

Stan shot up in his chair, knocking over his beer. “Hey, I got a text from Jill!”

Arty laughed at his dripping brother. “No way! Weren’t you trying to get back with her?” He tossed Stan a towel.

“Yeah, kinda.”

Arty nudged him. “So, what did she say?”

Stan shook his head. “I’m not sure. It’s just a bunch of numbers.”

“Whoa, dude, number codes can suck. What are the digits?”

“1134 2 09.” Stan looked up and shrugged.

Arty handed Stan another beer. “Uh-oh, bro. Take this, you’ll need it. Rotate the text.”

His brother protested, “Why would that…oh, 1134!”

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary Anne Gorman says

    May 12, 2024 at 8:56 am

    Sorry, I am confused.

    Reply
  2. Shoshauna says

    May 12, 2024 at 12:51 pm

    What is 1134? Dying to know!

    Reply
  3. Liz says

    May 12, 2024 at 9:39 pm

    haha, the message says ‘go 2 hell’ in digital 🙂 Nice!

    Reply
    • Bud says

      May 15, 2024 at 9:31 am

      It’s not really in digital. However, it is from a crude digital device; it’s an old calculator trick. They had limited display segments, so when you type in those numbers and turn the calculator upside down it looks like a “go to hell.”

      Reply
  4. David says

    May 13, 2024 at 3:05 am

    A puzzle and a story in one. Nicely done.

    Reply
  5. David Higham says

    May 15, 2024 at 8:42 am

    I love that it needs a bit of thought.

    Reply
  6. Sue says

    May 15, 2024 at 11:09 am

    Love this but I would not have understand it without the insightful imput of the others.
    It brings back memories of the old days.
    Thanks for the explanations, folks.

    Reply
  7. Sue says

    May 15, 2024 at 11:10 am

    Love this but I would not have understood it without the insightful imput of the others.
    It brings back memories of the old days.
    Thanks for the explanations, folks.

    Reply

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