Category Archives: Short Story

Winter Tragedy – 100 Word Story

The icy November winds cut through their winter clothing while horizontal snow bit at their exposed skin. This was all just a part of hunting during a nor’easter.

With a countdown, 3…2…1, the pair launched their duck boat into the whitecap topped swells of the bay and pushed off from shore to pursue their quarry.

Motoring out past the relative safety of the cove, violent wind-swept waves crashed over the bow of the little boat quickly filling the cockpit with frigid water.

This was the last time the two men were seen until they washed up on shore days later.

50 Word Story – Good As Dead

There is nothing, but darkness ahead thick, black and cold.  I can hear the growl of the demon that is tormenting me inching ever closer.  Stumbling, I fall cracking my head on a rock.  I can taste the blood as it trickles across my lips…I’m as good as dead.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story – Cardboard Roof

The cardboard roof does little to keep the icy rain and bone-chilling cold from compounding his pain.  Looked upon as a piece of worthless trash, he is invisible to passersby..

Perhaps if they realized they were just one paycheck away from his Hell, they’d offer him a bit more sympathy.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

100 Word Story – Hate At The Parade

Quoting chapter and verse from god knows what imaginary Bible, you condemned the innocent to eternal damnation through the screeching of your megaphone. Still under the banner of the rainbow they marched defiantly with smiles on their faces and love in their hearts for you and all in attendance.

Could it be that this is more virtuous in the eyes of Christ than the hate that spews from your blasphemous mouth.  Maybe next time you should take the time to read your precious New Testament and ask yourself…

What would Jesus do?  

Gives you food for thought now doesn’t it?

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story: In the Crystal Blackness…

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In the crystal blackness of the nighttime sky the golden tail of some terrestrial body illuminates the heavens.  Perhaps it is the contrail of some alien ship looking down upon this sad misguided world knowing that soon all of this could be theirs as we perish by our own hands.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story: Conquering America

Gentle spirals of smoke rose from earthen huts, children played and women performed their chores while their men hunted for game.  Such a peaceful site in the face of impending carnage.  

The army gathered on the distant rise preparing to launch its attack to conquer the land these people worshiped.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story: Wasted Life

Brochures piled upon the bed, edges rabbit-eared from years of wasted dreams; the world lay before him if only he had the time.  As a child Jim dreamt of seeing Europe, Italy, Spain, but it is not meant to be.

A lifetime prison sentence has destroyed all of his plans.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story: Maybe It Was Time

“What what the hell do you want from me”; John screamed at his crying wife! No matter how much overtime he worked there was never enough money to cover the bills.

The only thing he could think of was that maybe it was time to cash in the life insurance.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

100 Word Story: This Must Be Hell

This must be Hell!  

Confusion clouds my senses as I sit drenched in sweat consumed by the blackness of this void.  I have clawed and scratched at the coarse stone walls for all these many hours to no avail.  The sting of broken nails and bloody fingers are the only reward for my efforts.

Pressing up, the ceiling offers no means of escape.  Instead the jagged rocky teeth tear my forearms and hands to ribbons…I am trapped!

Uncontrollable tears stream down my cheeks as I am resigned to my fate, that Hell is real and I’m going to die.

 

~~ Dominic R. DIFrancesco ~~

50 Word Story: Lynching

Trembling with fear as he stood precariously on his tiptoes, the rope tightening with every stumble. Gerald could hear the sounds of laughter and chiding erupt behind him from the white-hooded cowards.  

Why the uproar over the Stars and Bars?  Because lynching was commonplace only a handful of decades ago.

 

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~

 

COMMENTARY:

It is very easy for one to dismiss the feelings of others when they have not walked in their shoes, especially if they are white.  

It’s hard to believe, but up through the mid 1930s the hanging (lynching) of blacks in the deep south was not at all uncommon.  This is certainly not long enough for the memory to fade as I’m certain that there are those still alive today that can remember the horrors of seeing or hearing about  friends and loved ones who met their maker at the end of the racists noose.  

We are fast to criticize the protests of an entire race of people because of a few bad apples, but this in my mind does not diminish the validity of their cause.  Look black history in this country.  They were not brought here of their own volition, they were enslaved for more than two centuries, then treated like second class citizens until the 1960s and many would claim that they still are right up until today.  This I cannot dispute as I for one have never walked even a single day in their shoes.