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101 Word Short Stories

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Winter

June 16, 2026 3 Comments

By Eric Delong

Paumanok Pete poked his head out of his burrow. February 2nd. Groundhog Day. Pete looked around. Clouds to the east covering the sun. No shadow.

Then, in the southeast, a blinding light, brighter than the sun, casting ghastly shadows. Pete squeaked and ducked back into his hole. The light dimmed to a fiery orange. Pete popped up, and in the distance, he saw a boiling, burning mushroom cloud rising higher and higher. The ground shook, roaring and rumbling like it was the end of the world.

Not just the predicted six weeks of cold weather, but a long, bitter, nuclear winter.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Faith says

    June 17, 2026 at 9:20 am

    Whoa! Nicely done. I’ll never think of ground hog day quite the same…

    Reply
  2. Bud Pharo says

    June 17, 2026 at 4:07 pm

    Bleak but nicely done story of what we hope never comes to pass.

    Reply
  3. Ranabrata Ray says

    June 17, 2026 at 10:38 pm

    I wish reality were not so sad .

    Reply

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