October 1, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Halloween, Halloween Drabbles, Horror
He sat in the corn maze ticket both and watched the customers line up. They’d gotten a lot of buzz this year and he’d worked extra hard on the design to make it the scariest maze yet. It was going to be a great Halloween.
Suddenly, he heard screams from deep within the maze, and something else, chilling but unidentifiable. The crowd stampeded back to the parking lot trying to escape the figures emerging from the waving stalks.
He sighed. Everyone said they wanted a terrifying maze, but you add one eldritch summoning rune, and suddenly you’ve gone too far.
“Inside the Corn Maze” by mastermaq is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 30, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
She taught herself to lucid dream, and created a fantasy world where she could be and do whatever she wanted. She imagined herself a heroine, and weaved a story around herself. She was a princess in a magical world.
For years, her dreams were good. But gradually the intensity of her quests increased. She found herself sleeping later but getting less rest.
Her health began to suffer. She went to a psychologist, who proscribed medication for dreamless sleep.
After a week, her companions made the perilous journey to the Waking World to find out why their leader had abandoned them.
“Dreaming…” by Alexandre Dulaunoy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 29, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, robot, Sci-Fi
The first generation of sentient robots were designed to find the shortest, easiest paths for their wheeled chassis. A reactionary movement created mazes of curbs and short barriers to keep them out of their properties.
The barriers succeeded in the short-term goal, but they also lead to lawsuits and created solidarity between disability and cybernetic advocates.
As for the robots themselves, most simply pathed around the obstacles while grumbling to one another about them in their private networks. But a few sought them out, searching for the best ones and sharing them, creating the first known skater subculture among robots.
“Curb” by on1stsite. is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
My first Very Short Story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 28, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
He named the pub “The Ilk’s Lodge” because he liked the pun and because he envisioned it as a place open to all, where people could eat and drink together in comfort.
But the public didn’t get the joke, and didn’t understand if they were members or not. The opening was a disaster.
To drum up business, he sent out flyers advertising free drinks and appetizers “For You and Your Ilk.”
Rather than increasing traffic, he got a few nasty letters from people who thought they’d been insulted.
Finally, he gave in and changed the pub’s name, to greater success.
“Bar at the Reindeer pub Norwich” by Roger Blackwell is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 27, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
When the king offered the princess’s hand to anyone who could prove his worth she was furious. All of her training to make an advantageous political match had been wasted.
The crowd vying for the engagement quickly grew to the hundreds thanks word of her beauty, wit, and charm. She had to do something.
Disguising herself as a boy, she moved among the social climbers, ‘heroes,’ and gadabout noblemen, taking their stock. She devised some tests of her own to winnow them down.
The princess had plans of her own, and she’d need an accomplice as much as a husband.
“<div class=’fn’> Ingena Rotterdam (died 1704), Betrothed of Admiral Jacob Binkes</div>” by Nicolaes Maes is marked with CC0 1.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 26, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Pun
While traveling in Paris, I saw a street marked ‘Rue’ with no name after it. Curious, I took a flight of steps down to the base of the street and followed it to see where it went.
The road was narrow and twisty, with bad drainage that soaked through my shoes. The shops were all shuttered, and there was a rank smell in the air.
The street ended in a dead end where I tripped and hurt my ankle. When I hobbled back to the square my tourbus had already left.
To this day, I still regret exploring that street.
“Rue de Bièvre ~ Paris, France” by Dusty J is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 25, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
He stopped at a little town in the middle of the night. The place was a little more than a pitstop.
There was a diner with a cold-eyed waitress behind the counter and a cook humming to himself in the back. He ordered a cup of black, tar-bitter coffee and she didn’t make small talk or call him ‘hun.’
It was perfect.
He found the motel and rented a room in cash. It seemed like a good place to vanish and figure out his next move.
But the problem with a town like that is someone is always passing through.
“Peterborough Diner” by Muffet is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow, is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 24, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Wizard
The wizard was a connoisseur of the tools of his trade and only used the best. His staff was carved from the green wood of the Elves’ sacred Heart Tree. His ring was forged from the Dwarves’ magic ores. He placed his faith in his gear, and it hadn’t disappointed him.
When he began a duel with a hedge witch, clothed in rags and carrying a simple walking stick, he thought it was be no contest.
After she bested him, she healed him with a smug grin. “Magic doesn’t come from your paraphernalia,” she said. “It comes from your heart.”
“Magic” by Bohman is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow, is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 23, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Art, Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The patient had amnesia, and lacked any identification. He’d been brought to the hospital after being knocked down by a hit-and-run driver.
As a part of his therapy, he was asked to paint a landscape. He painted a barren, rocky expanse of red-gray rock under a dim and distant Sun. The staff started calling him ‘The Martian.’
He developed a taste for painting, and produced more of the landscapes with increasing skill.
On a whim, the hospital director passed one of them on to a NASA administrator he knew. She called back demanding to know where he’d gotten their photographs.
“Goddard Interns Experience a Little Mars on Earth” by NASA Goddard Photo and Video is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow, is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
September 22, 2024
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The goblin sat in the shade a little off the dirt road, waiting for someone to pass by.
The Tall Folk, humans and elves or what have you, talked a lot about duty and justice, but he thought they usually didn’t live up to their supposed ideals. The Tall Folk said goblins just did whatever they wanted and never thought much about it at all.
Finally, a figure rounded the bend. He was young, probably younger than the ill-fitting rusty armor he wore. But everyone had to start somewhere.
The goblin leapt out and tried his luck at an encounter.
“Little Wild Horse Canyon, near Goblin Valley State Park, Utah (42)” by Ken Lund is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
My first very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow, is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!
Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Have a fabulous day!
Older Entries
Newer Entries
Hugh J. O'Donnell 