Tiny Tales: A Year of Daily Prompted Stories

A few excerpts to whet your appetite:

[The hashtag (#) indicates that day’s prompt.]

***

There once was a caveman who inked
Ornate drawings of all that he thinked
When asked why he wrote
He replied – and I quote:
“Because one day we’ll all be #extinct.”

*

“Quit clowning around!”
Jim frowns, miming falling tears with fingertip taps down one cheek. “You used to love when I made you #laugh.”
Sigh. “I still do. You love my act too, but we agreed – work stays at work. You don’t see me bringing my elephant into the bedroom!”

*

“Oh, to look upon your luscious hams, my sweet Maple.” Sir Francis Bacon trotted to keep up.
“Hush your snout back there!” snorted Maple. “I ate too much at lunch. I feel like a total porker.”
“You’ll always be my #belle of the barn.”
“Honestly, Fran. You’re such a ham!”

*

Captain Ron peels off his headset. It’s now or never.
“I think you’re hot,” I blurt.
Ron’s eyes narrow. “You do?”
“Yessir. Would you –”
“You think I’m het?”
“No! Not Echo,” I say. “#Oscar.”
“Oh!” Blushing, Ron reaches across the cockpit.

*

“You #coddle the boy, Aph. It’s time for our son to grow up.” Ares was right, but banishing Eros from Mt. O tore at Aphrodite’s heart.
“What if he fails?”
Ares bared his teeth. “Then, my goddess, we shall punish him till he succeeds.”

*

“I love you,” Cupid blurted. He’d never felt more #vulnerable in all his 3,375 immortal years than waiting for her answer. So this is love.
Silence. Of course she couldn’t love him back. She was his punishment.
So this is a broken heart.

*

I struggle with the ancient rabbinical teaching, “There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.” But I do know this: A pumpkin is a humble gourd that holds its seeds and fleshy goodness inside. But only in its jack-o’-#lantern form can the pumpkin show the world its light.

*

The #ritual Jewish prayer we are meant to recite upon waking – literally while still in bed – begins, “Thankful am I …”
Why do we not start, “I give thanks…”? Because the first word that comes out of our mouth to greet the new day should express gratitude – not “I.”

*

Frank was a hot dog
But only at center #stage
Safe inside his role

*

Jack Sprat and his wife at marriage counseling:

W: I like quiet. He tends to ramble.
J: I’m risk-averse. She loves to gamble.
W: He likes omelets. I like a scramble.
J: I stride. She’ll only #amble.

Therapist: Okay, okay, but Jack, do you even know your wife’s name?

*

Jack Flohr loved to #explore
His wife never left their home.
And so, with Jill nestled upon their couch,
Her husband set off to roam.
And roam Jack did from sea to sea
But ne’er did he stray
Not with his heart or less dignified part
From his sweetheart so far away.

*

Sure of her own virtuosity
She was blind to her novel’s verbosity
The reviewers in all their pomposity
Exhibited no generosity
Their ferocity gathered velocity
Making her book launch a massive #atrocity
Inspiring such morbid curiosity
She achieved bestselling grandiosity.

To contact Beth, fill out this form.