In his youth, Gilham could backflip like a circus performer.

These days he might pull a muscle simply getting out of bed.

“What did Dave say?” Brian asks. In his hand, a rock.

“I know what you did,” Gilham says.

“Shame.”

Gilham’s reaction is slow. The rock cracks his head.

…

This is the twenty-first in the series of Humpbuckle Tales. Each story is precisely 50 words long. They are meant to be independent stories, but if you read them all you will find each one adds another piece to the puzzle – there is a bigger story that is being told.

This story was first published on my Hive blog (@felt.buzz) and you can find all the stories on the @humbuckletales Hive account – at the time of posting this I have just published number 37. On Hive I publish 12 stories per week (Monday to Saturday one story per day and then six 50-word stories in one post on a Sunday).

If you prefer the drip drip drip approach keep coming back here for one 50-word tale every day!

You can watch the author read the first 10 Humpbuckle Tales on YouTube or you can listen to it as a podcast. The 2nd author reading is scheduled for Monday 1st November.