Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Write a two sentence short story and add it here. If you use a title, it must be short and bold. Let's see how much you can tell in two sentences!

Angel of Mercy

The man in the white doctor's coat looks down on me in my hospital bed and sadly shakes his head. The dour-faced nurse with the syringe walks right through him.

On a dark and stormy night, a dog sat, motionless, in front of his ancient Selectric, wondering if his owner would bother filling the empty bowl balanced on the crest of his doghouse. Though he knew that he should make the effort to continue typing his World War Two story, a part of his mind kept insisting, "You don't have to do this!"

I was in the bathroom shaving and almost laughed when I saw my wife in the mirror sneaking up on me. My laughter dried up when I heard her scream...from the kitchen.

The moon set on time at 5:47 this morning. It's now 3:13 in the afternoon and the sun hasn't risen yet.

She was sitting there, surrounded by people, but tried so hard to ignore their cold, pale faces: they were covered with shock, anger, disbelief, and deep, quiet pain. But that wasn't important now, one thing was on her mind all the time: her best friend was dead, and it was all her fault.

"Well, is she dead yet? "
The answered appeared over Framk' shoulder in the form of .45 and a voice chuckled, "Not quite."

If she could have cried she would have felt better. Alas, she lay there motionless, took her last breath and died.

I've tried cutting the apron strings, really I've tried. But when I came out the womb my neck was tangled up in the cord and I think that was her laying down her marker.

Everything she did fed his cold fear that his life had all but ended: the faint smile as she cleaned her sword, the fragment of a tune she hummed over and over again as she made her “tea”, and the gleeful way she tried to catch snowflakes on her tongue when everyone with any sense cursed and cowered in the latest winter storm. It took every bit of his self-control not to break down in front of her, to acknowledge the horrifying mistake that released her into the world, and weep in shame at his cowardice to simply confess: “I’m not ready to be a father; your mother misheard my joke that day at the lake to catch a little duck!”

P.J. wrote: "Everything she did fed his cold fear that his life had all but ended: the faint smile as she cleaned her sword, the fragment of a tune she hummed over and over again as she made her “tea”, and the ..."

Not bad. Needs some cleanup, but not bad.

As the latest ice storm subsided, a bird fought itself free from a frozen limb, and a skeletal rabbit made a meager meal of the broken twigs. The woman, watching from the window, sighed in resignation and stirred her oatmeal.

Stan wrote: "P.J. wrote: 'Everything she did fed ...'
Not bad. Needs some cleanup, but not bad."


Thanks, Stan. I took Martyn's challenge literally to "... see how much you can tell in two sentences!" He didn't say that they had to be pretty. :-)

Yours was very cool. In fact, all of them so far are pretty nifty.

She looked out over the canal and felt an intense pity for the blind man for missing out on the lovely view.
The blind man leaned back with a smile on his face, tilted up at the sun.

P.J. wrote: "I took Martyn's challenge literally to "... see how much you can tell in two sentences!" He didn't say that they had to be pretty. :-)"

I loved your efforts, P.J.

Assassin
Blind with beer and whiskey he groped through semi darkness. Falling through the bathroom door, the Lego ninja struck.

Martyn V. wrote: "She looked out over the canal and felt an intense pity for the blind man for missing out on the lovely view.
The blind man leaned back with a smile on his face, tilted up at the sun."

Good one.

Stan wrote: "Martyn V. wrote: "She looked out over the canal and felt an intense pity for the blind man for missing out on the lovely view.
The blind man leaned back with a smile on his face, tilted up at the s..."

Good one indeed.

"What If I Can't Pay?"

The enforcer stepped out of the BMW, took a last drag from his cigarette and shot the butt into the car, where the burning cigarette bounced against Pascal’s chest and dropped in his lap.
In a reflex Pascal opened his legs and the smouldering butt slipped between his thighs and rolled down under his buttocks.

Airplane

Despite the ventilation, the cabin air had a stilted quality composed of sour breath, body odour, sweat and that faint fragrance Chang always associated with the low-level panic that imbued cramped spaces filled with too many people. He closed his eyes, ignoring the slumbering ache spreading through his abdomen, and sifted through his memories for pleasant recollections.

After a vigorous workout, San swam around the intricately created structure of rocks hiding the entrance to his home, and slipped into the tunnel separating the salty sea from his family room. The glowing phosphorous stones lit the room where tiny tentacled plants covered comfortable lounging rocks strategically placed in a circular pattern for the communal family meetings that were often held after frolicking in the depths or shallows of the warm sea.

Holding the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white, she paced the floor, trying to concentrate, but the phrase, "He slipped away sometime in the night," reverberated through her head and drowned out the rest of the caller's words: all the mundane details associated with the end of a life. She found herself making appropriate noises at appropriate times with no real understanding of the content, and when the call ended, she could only think, "How am I to tell Mother?"

Russell wrote: "Holding the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white, she paced the floor, trying to concentrate, but the phrase, "He slipped away sometime in the night," reverberated through her head and drowne..."

Nice one Russell, but shouldn't that colon be a semi-colon?

Simon stepped into the bar and caught the last strains of Deep Purple’s The Mule as Kasper whizzed by with a tray full of empty glasses on his lap and spun his wheelchair around. The legless man took the sawed-off ice hockey stick from the holder attached to the back of his wheelchair, whacked some broken shards into the far corner, and wheeled onto the elevation behind the counter.

I saw her face, and my breathing slowed as I contemplated her reaction. Would the sight of my grandmother's diamond ring weave the kind of magic that casts caution to the wind and lets your spirit run as free as a gentle butterfly in the summer breeze?

He gazed lovingly upon her, idly caressing her porcelain cheeks with a gentle hand, her silky black hair cascading onto the pillow beneath her head. God, she was even more beautiful in death.

Sarah was feeling around for the spoon that had slipped down into the garbage disposal when something cold, wet, and rather spongy brushed against her hand. Before she could react, icy fingers had enclosed her wrist, and a low chortle bubbled up from the drain.

Marc wrote: "I've tried cutting the apron strings, really I've tried. But when I came out the womb my neck was tangled up in the cord and I think that was her laying down her marker."

I like! +1

Jeremy wrote: "Assassin
Blind with beer and whiskey he groped through semi darkness. Falling through the bathroom door, the Lego ninja struck."

Ha. Ninjago! +1

Thomas wrote: "He gazed lovingly upon her, idly caressing her porcelain cheeks with a gentle hand, her silky black hair cascading onto the pillow beneath her head. God, she was even more beautiful in death."

Beautiful!

B.D. wrote: "Sarah was feeling around for the spoon that had slipped down into the garbage disposal when something cold, wet, and rather spongy brushed against her hand. Before she could react, icy fingers had..."

Excellent. Although it's a bit like ...

Thanks, Martyn! I hadn't thought about it, but yes, I could see that. It's been awhile since I read It. Excellent book.

B.D. wrote: "Sarah was feeling around for the spoon that had slipped down into the garbage disposal when something cold, wet, and rather spongy brushed against her hand. Before she could react, icy fingers had..."

Good one.

Petal was the first to hear the arrival of the man with the wooden foot; except it wasn't a foot, it was cylinders of wood attached just below his ankle, slamming against the floor of the old oak porch with a sound like the hammering gavel of a stern judge who has just meted out a terrible judgment upon a habitual criminal.
"What's that?" she asked, and then the others heard it, too.

Stan wrote: "Petal was the first to hear the arrival of the man with the wooden foot; except it wasn't a foot, it was cylinders of wood attached just below his ankle, slamming against the floor of the old oak p..."

I can hear it. +1

Thanks, Stan!

Russell wrote: "Holding the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white, she paced the floor, trying to concentrate, but the phrase, "He slipped away sometime in the night," reverberated through her head and drowne..."

I don't think so, a semicolon separates two main clauses.

B.D. wrote: "Thanks, Martyn! I hadn't thought about it, but yes, I could see that. It's been awhile since I read It. Excellent book."

By the way, that doesn't mean I didn't like it. I always like voices that come out of drains, especially the ones that sound like demented children...

From a dormer window twenty meters away a pale-faced boy gazed in their direction. In his searching gaze she detected longing, but it wasn’t clear if he yearned for the blind man or his music.

He slowly crept up to the door with gun in hand ready to kill. He opened the door only to be let down because he realized that who he was to kill was already dead.

“The data suggests that human females obtained speech thousands of years before human males.” It took a bite from the donut it was holding in its pad.

''Blood poured from out both eye sockets at rapid speeds. As he looked further into the mirror he realized he no longer knew the man staring back at him.''

"He cleared away the thought of horrors that lived tangled up in his sorrows, for all he knew was not worthy to show. He revived the idea living in the shadows and broke free from the circle of terror."