Higway 101 Short-Short Cut

7 Short Stories Told in Exactly 101 Words Each

Highway 101

By John Darling

101 Changes

101 words! I can do that, I think. I'll write about that night in Reno, but make it Vegas, where I talked to that sexy waitress, but I'll make her a hooker. She thought I was funny, but I'll say she thought I was a stud. She smiled at me when I left, but I'll say she gave me a freebie. I went back to Motel 6 to sleep it off, but I'll say the babe invited friends over for a party.

Yeah, I'll say all that; it sounds like a great story.

Nah, I can't say that in 101 words.

It Can't Happen Here

"Rendered! Why? True, I hate the President; all my letters and web postings attest to that, but they said I was seditious? Why, for saying what I think? What happened to the free America I was born into? These men must be NSA or CIA or one of their dark splinter groups I have been reading about. I must be heading to an air strip somewhere to be put on a plane to somewhere else. But where? Will anyone know; will I just vanish without a trace? Who will care for Aamilah and Saaiq when I'm gone? Allah, please protect them...

Jennifer Golden Hair

Brown eyes, golden hair, a sleek athletic body. How could I not love you instantly? You cuddled so close on the ride home that I almost wrecked the car.

The next 14 years were unbelievably happy. You constantly astonished me with your intelligence, courage, and your miraculous capacity to love.

Though I denied it daily, I knew I would outlive you; such is the truth of our species. So yes I cried openly during the last trip to the Veterinarian.

But then you came back to me (ashes to ashes) to lie beneath the backyard tree and be with me forevermore.

I, Satellite

After my ship skipped off that asteroid, I knew that I was stranded out here forever; returning to Earth is not an option. My radio is dead, like my engines. My air is waning; silence engulfs me like a shroud.

Then, a sound...static at first as my control panel lights up...

Is someone calling? Is that language I hear? Yes, it has clear, discernable patterns to it, but I don't understand it! Still I must spend the remainder of my fading life trying to understand. Possibly I can become friends with them.

Perhaps some day they can help me get home...

Barfly