November 24, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
By the time the Falconer got to the little village, the weather had turned foggy. Her falcon fidgeted on his perch in agitation. She stroked him softly, listening.
They’d made her sit through a town hall first, to acquaint her to the target, to hear his litany of sins against the villagers. It didn’t really matter to her. She’d been hired to do a job.
She hunted by sound, stalking past the gardens, through the pub and into the miniature village. It was still ahead of her, honking proudly, unaware.
Today, that goose would get what was coming to him.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for over a hundred free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
November 17, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Sci-Fi
Humanity’s first contact with another intelligent species occurred somewhere entirely unexpected: Mike Henderson’s shower curtain.
Nobody knows how long the algae had been on the curtain, but it was long enough for it to develop a sort of hive intelligence that introduced itself by writing a message of peace in green slime.
Mike took the logical first step of posting a picture of it online.
Unfortunately, his mom saw the post firs, and missing the historic significance entirely, used her spare key to enter the apartment and clean his bathroom. Thus a civilization died beneath a wave of scrubbing bubbles.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for over a hundred free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
November 10, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction
After the cure for death was discovered, he started sleeping in the graveyard. He climbed into bed at home, and stared at the ceiling hours until the first rays of light came creeping in his window.
Then he would rise, and go for a walk to clear his head, but his feet always took him to the boneyard, and next thing he knew, a hand would be on his shoulder, shaking him awake.
Hardly anyone else went there anymore. Everyone had forgotten the dead, but he couldn’t forget.
Humanity had learned how to live forever a week after her funeral.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for over a hundred free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
November 3, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction
A flower grew in a high, remote crag. On the eve of his sixteenth birthday, a boy in the village was sent to pick one and bring it back to the elders, as was tradition.
He forded rivers, climbed mountains, was hunted by wild animals, and had his every limit tested. But eventually he found his prize and returned home with it.
“So,” the newly-minted adult asked. “What does it do?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not a rare herb, or powerful reagent?”
The elder sighed. “Sometimes it is the deed that is important. The flower’s just a flower.”
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for over a hundred free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
October 20, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabbles, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction
The knight rode to the place the rumors whispered of: a still, dark pool deep in the forest. The stories were true. The sword was real.
The blade projected straight and tall from the surface of the water, unsheathed and shining in a patch of sunlight. It was held aloft by a pale hand that rose from the water.
The knight tied his horse to a tree, stripped off his armor, and dived into the water.
The mermaids hidden below the surface tore him to shreds.
“We should’ve thought of this long ago,” one said. “So much easier than singing.”
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
October 13, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Free Ficiton, Hundred Word Short Story
He rubbed the lamp and closed his eyes.
“I wish for a million dollars,” He said.
“It will be done,” the Genie said, and disappeared.
The money, and the spirit, reappeared a few minutes later. The man picked up one of the stacks of bills and it sprayed him with pink paint.
“Where did this come from?” he asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
“Robbed a bank. Human security has really improved in the last five hundred years.”
“But I didn’t wish for that!”
“Did you think I just snap my fingers and the money appears out of nowhere?”
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
September 29, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Free Fiction
The invaders took the capital that spring. The first thing they did was commission a statue to their victory.
The sculptor worked for months under heavy guard, and she made it exactly as the General demanded, with one change. She depicted him as a hero, with sword and shield pointed to heaven. It stood on a plinth so tall, the tip was the highest point in the city. He was enormously pleased by this.
It glared down all summer at the occupied citizens, until autumn’s low clouds moved in and completely obscured it.
It would topple under winter’s harsh winds.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
September 22, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Free Fiction, Ghost story
The violin had been left behind by the latest tenants.
Like most, they only stayed a few nights in The House before fleeing. The House liked its quiet, and it didn’t mind dripping blood from a few walls in order to get it.
But the violin, absent its owner, fascinated The House. With flexing floorboards and trailing cobwebs, it held the delicate instrument. It had been so long since it had heard music.
Folks in town said the house at the end of Pine Street was haunted. But it wasn’t until the horrifying noises started that it got national attention.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
September 15, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Horror
The pilgrim brought her daughter, limp and coughing, in the last paroxysms of disease, to the underground pool.
The priests said the pool had healing powers, which came at a terrible price. Looking into the inky black water, she believed.
She placed her daughter in the water. The girl barely moved, and the water sucked her down, down down. A cry caught in the woman’s throat. But she believed. She waited.
Moments later, an eternity later, her daughter rose from the water, whole, and well. Her little girl smiled with row on row of sharp, sharp teeth in the darkness.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
September 8, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Fantasy, Fiction, Free Fiction, Horror
On a long brass pole, a dish was piled high with gold and black seeds that glistened in dappled sunlight. A cardinal circled the feeder, a flash of red wings flitting from branch to branch.
The cardinal didn’t remember this feeder, and they heard no crashing human footsteps. It paid to be cautious, but…
It hopped closer. The feeder was empty. It called, a question on the morning air that went unanswered. Throwing caution aside, it landed on the lip of the feeder and pecked at the pile of seeds.
The mimic snapped its jaws shut and swallowed the bird.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
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Hugh J. O'Donnell 