Frenemies

May 9, 2023May 11, 2023Chel Owens 15 Comments

“I left my wife for a younger woman.” How dare that fat, ugly, stupid, self-centered husband of Barb’s consider that cliché phrase; how dare a younger woman consider him??

Maybe it was sour grapes, like Barb’s mother hinted.

Maybe Barb was better off, as Barb’s best friend, Lillith, stated.

The most useful response, however, came from Barb’s greatest enemy since childhood, Phoebe. “You know,” Phoebe said, “If you knock him off before he files for anything, you get it all.”

So, much to Barb’s surprise, she found herself plotting with Phoebe. It was like first grade all over again.

*Photo by Vitaly Gorbachev on Pexels.com*

Written in response to Charli’s prompt at Carrot Ranch:

May 9, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about two who can keep a secret. Is the secret between them or is one keeping a secret from the other. Who are they? What remains unknown? What is revealed? Go where the prompt leads!

The Determination of Youth

May 2, 2023May 2, 2023Chel Owens 23 Comments

Water. People who lived by water -the ocean, a lake, or a wide river- knew water. People who lived by water loved it. They were not terrified by it.

Not so, me.

Landlocked. I did not live by water; did not know water. I did not love it. I was terrified by it.

I thought this; as I inched, grasping, toward my parents. My feet; then toes; then tiptoes felt the pool floor drop, my face cresting the water’s surface. I saw their bobbing forms.

I think.

I think I saw them, just before water drowned them from view.

*Photo by Porapak Apichodilok on Pexels.com*

Written in response to Charli’s prompt at Carrot Ranch:

May 1, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about high water. Hell can be involved, or not. Is high water a new drink? A crisis in nature or the basement? Get in the flow. Go where the prompt leads!

The Giver, Still Giving

March 28, 2023March 31, 2023Chel Owens 9 Comments

[T]he apple had changed. Just for an instant. It had changed in mid-air, he remembered. Then it was in his hand, and he looked at it carefully, but it was the same apple. Unchanged.
The Giver, Lois Lowry

Dale’s hand froze, hovering, wondering that its body could freeze. Up till then, it’d thought all words were only for others -like this place of words was for others.

Here, though, was what it felt. -Words for when dead trees stood against impossibly blue sky. -For when a lonely, vibrant leaf floated in grime.

Dale looked at wreckage of what Had Been, and knew hope.

Photo by aku0131n akdau011f on Pexels.com

Written in response to Charli’s prompt at Carrot Ranch:

March 27 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about something impossibly blue. You can go with sky or any other object. What impact does the color have on the setting or characters? Does it lead to action or create a pause? Go where the prompt leads!

Echoes, Shadows, Whispers, and Dreams

March 14, 2023March 17, 2023Chel Owens 21 Comments

Echoes are all that resound down these halls;
Echoes of voices still young, still young.
They’re laughing or talking or screaming –
Or still.
But only sometime, long ago.

Shadows are all that still walk ‘cross these floors;
Shadows of children come late, come late.
They’re flashing to catch up their friends, else
Catch up.
But only sometime, long ago.

Whispers are all that still push dangling swings;
Whispers of glee-songs in play, in play.
They’re jumping and pumping and flying
Away.
But only sometime, long ago.

Where are the echoes, the shadows, and whispers?
Only in dreams, long ago.

*Photo by Wendelin Jacober on Pexels.com*

Inspired by Carrot Ranch‘s prompt:

March 13, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a place where children once played. It can be a field, a playground, or any place that attracted children to play. But now it is empty. Abandoned. Go where the prompt leads!

Into Light

January 17, 2023January 20, 2023Chel Owens 14 Comments

The townsfolk knew she lived there; maybe. Sometimes Mrs. Beardy, nine miles North, said she’d seen someone hanging wash. Old Frank, the property South, couldn’t say the same -he didn’t pass Monty McCrae’s place for no reason, he’d said.

Or would’ve said. Maybe.

Old Frank wasn’t into talking, especially about others’ business. Everyone felt that way: leave someone alone if he wanted.

That’s why no one, not even Angelique (formerly Mrs. Monty) McCrae, recognized the lady in red who finally left a life of shadows, walked down the dirt path to a hired car, and rode away to freedom.

*Photo by Ekaterina Astakhova on Pexels.com*

Written in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt:

January 16, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a lady shadow. Who is this person and why do they lurk in the shadows. What is the tone and setting for your story? Go where the prompt leads!

Hullo, Rabbit!

January 10, 2023January 11, 2023Chel Owens 26 Comments

Skyford sniffed and stood, his haunches holding his readied weight. It was a powerful thing, to be a rabbit: one could spring away, avoid detection, or squeeze beneath a barbed fence.

He barely twitched when Neumann padded to his side. A whisker moved as Suphia straightened near his foot. Skyford cocked his enviable ears, hearing rabbit after rabbit join their ranks amidst the cabbage patch.

So many men had teased with the expression, “Breed like rabbits.” Skyford’s face hardened into a leer. Today, man would change his aphorisms. Today, man would realize what purpose rabbits had been breeding for.

Written in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt:

January 9, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes rabbits. Is it a family? A strange planet? Some crazy bunny person’s pets? Who are they and what are they doing? Go where the prompt leads!

Speak to Me Only With Thine Dementia

November 22, 2022November 23, 2022Chel Owens 20 Comments

“Oh. My.” She said it every morning. You would think he’d be accustomed to it, even tired of it.

But she had a way of infusing each word with childlike awe.

That was why he loved it; why her daily exclamation touched him every time. By now, he lived for this. He couldn’t imagine his day starting otherwise.

His wife turned, all smiles, and said the phrase she always followed with: “I think I’ve awakened in paradise.”

He rose and put his arm around her. Staring out their bay windows at the private ocean bay; he, as always, agreed.

Written in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt:

November 21, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the phrase, “Oh, my.” It can be used in storytelling or dialog. What is the cause for such a response? Have fun with this one! Go where the prompt leads!

Geneva Steele

November 15, 2022November 16, 2022Chel Owens 33 Comments

Geneva Steele was often asked about her name. After all, she shared it with the local mill (closed). The mill gained its moniker from the nearby resort (gone), which its founder named after his daughter (dead).

But Geneva couldn’t answer with any of that.

“I’m Swiss,” she said.

Or, “I’m from New York.”

Locations and events became more elaborate, until Geneva’s great-granddaughter dragged Geneva to school for show-and-tell. Looking at all those faces, the truth exploded:

“I was conceived at the steel mill, out near the railroad tracks.”

Truth might be satisfied, but Geneva isn’t allowed at school again.

*The Daily Universe, Brigham Young University, from L. Tom Perry Special Collections.*

Written in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt:

November 14, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes a lie. What is the lie? It can be subtle or blatant. Who tells the lie and why? Is it an unreliable narrator? Go where the prompt leads!

Onset of Night

November 3, 2022November 3, 2022Chel Owens 17 Comments

The sky wasn’t as bright this evening.

She puttered around, feigning finding things she had forgotten she was looking for.

Ah well; it would all come to rights or she’d do without.

The stars seemed dimmer tonight.

She settled in the rocking chair, having given up on pretense. Only the cat saw, anyway.

No matter; likely, she’d get to it or it would get to her.

The sky outside looked darker.

She turned her head, and rocked to the rhythm of purring.

She’d see; the sun would come out tomorrow.

Night fell on incomplete dreams.

Worlds shifted. She slept.

Written in response to Charli Mill’s prompt over at Carrot Ranch:

October 31, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about how the wheels keep turning. Are the wheels tangible or metaphorical? Go where the prompt leads!

Submit by November 5, 2022. Please use the form if you want to be published in the weekly collection. The Collection publishes on the Wednesday following the next Challenge. Rules & Guidelines. Stories must be 99-words.
Carrot Ranch only accepts stories through the form… Accepted stories will be published in a weekly collection. Writers retain all copyrights.
Your blog or social media link will be included in your title when the Collection publishes.
Please include your byline which is the name or persona you attribute to your writing.
Please include the hashtag #99WordStories when sharing the Challenge or Collection posts on social media.

Three, Two, One: Bumper Balloons

September 15, 2022Chel Owens 24 Comments

Flip – flap – flutter
went the bits of man-made rubber
as he took away the rudder
and he waved goodbye to mother.

‘I’m an engine of the sky,’
sang he, loud, while he sped by,
while his mama dabbed her eye,
while his wobbly wings a-try

To lift, or maybe thrust,
by ignoring drag, or just

By the will of boyish hope,
as his canter speeds to lope;

And seven small balloons
circle ’round, like rainbow moons;
dip and swirl ‘gainst the noon;
flutter, drag to boyish tune

Of hasty dreams, of racing knees
Of birthday dreams on summer breeze.

*Photo by Victoria Borodinova on Pexels.com*

Written in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt: balloons on a bumper

September 12, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about balloons on a bumper. Is it a spectacle, an occasion, an eccentricity? Why are the balloons there? Who is involved? Go where the prompt leads!