Not A Good Day, by Bruce Arbuckle

She turns and he sees the creature has grown again. Its tail is wrapped around her throat. Thick writhing tentacles, erupting from blisters on its soft body, inch across her face. To shoot the clinging monster will mean certain death for his wife.

The gun shakes in his hand.

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This fifty-word story was written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the random word prompt “beard”.

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Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

Whisperings, by Bruce Arbuckle

March 11, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, story, Tales, zapfic, zapfic50

I’ve always heard the Whisperings,

The tangled murmur of conversation that fly around other people’s minds like angry wasps trapped under a glass on a hot summers day.

Doubt, worry, desire, guilt.

I know who people really are.

They frightened me, until I learnt to use my talent against them.

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This fifty-word story was written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters writing prompt on Hive, “murmer of conversation”

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Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

Decision Time, by Bruce Arbuckle

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, zapfic, zapfic50

Poor old Billy.

You never wanna take a stand.

Thing is, as my dear grandaddy used to say, “A man who tries to walk on both sides of the road is gonna get flattened by a jugganaut sooner or later.”

So, Billy-boy, are you with us, or against us?

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This 50-word story was written by Bruce Arbuckle using the Freewrite Writing Prompt “walk on both sides”, from Hive.

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Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

“Better Late Than Never” by Bruce Arbuckle

March 7, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, zapfic50

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“Better late than never!”

His beaming smile battles my migraine-inducing frown, but even his sparkling eyes can’t cool my lava-hot anger.

“You said you’d be here on time. You swore it.”

“I’m here now. Why do you always do this?”

And suddenly – yet again – I’m in the wrong.

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A fifty-word story written using the Freewrite Writing Prompt on Hive.

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Find me (as HumpbuckleTales ) on Mastodon

Read my daily 50 word stories every day here or on Hive or on Facebook

My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

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Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

“intrusion”, by Bruce Arbuckle

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, microfiction, story, zapfic, zapfic50

“How many miles have we hiked?”

“Not even half a mile.” I resent his intrusion. It’s my Sunday stroll.

“I have a blister. I’m thirsty. Let’s stop at this pub.”

I agree and sit at a table in the garden. He goes to the bar.

I walk on without him.

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This 50-word story was written using the Hive Freewrite Daily Writing Prompt, “how many miles”

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Read my daily 50 word stories every day here or on Hive or on Facebook

My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

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Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

“Ray B’s”

March 4, 2023March 4, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, zapfic, zapfic50

Ray B’s NiteClub, located in a former meat packing warehouse in Humpbuckle Port, was best avoided unless you were desperate or had a death wish.

It was usually almost empty until everything else was closed.

A place of last resort.

Why the hell choose this place for our first date?

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The prompt was “rabies” I thought it would be a great name for a dodgy night club

Find me (as HumpbuckleTales ) on Mastodon

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My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

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BBruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

“Moon Shadow”

March 3, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, microfiction, short story, story, zapfic50

She told me her name was Moon Shadow and she was a Wishmaker from the Far Edges of the Astral Planes in a universe unlike mine.

Later, I discovered she was called Gladys and she fried fish in a chippy in Grimsby.

But one night with her forever changed me.

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Find me (as HumpbuckleTales ) on Mastodon

Read my daily 50 word stories every day here or on Hive or on Facebook

My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

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Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

‘

“a weekend away”

February 28, 2023February 28, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, story, zapfic50

A fifty-word story written using the Freewrite prompt on Hive.

It was supposed to be a romantic weekend getaway.

No kids.

Just us.

Why did I trust him to make the reservation?

“Only one room left,” the receptionist said. “Sorry.”

Bunk beds.

Not even two singles we could push together.

And we had to share with a family of four.

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My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

Find my 100 word tales on Felt.Buzz Writes

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

“cool runnings” : a 50-word story. Humpbuckle Tales 254

April 15, 2022April 8, 2022 Bruce John, Park Cafe fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, story, zapfic50

Every Sunday morning Cool Runnings Jogging Club meet at the park on the other side of town.

It’s a ragtag collection of odd shapes, sizes and ages.

John – his injured knee happily excluding him from joining in – often watches them from the safety of a table at the Park Cafe.

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This is the two-hundred-and-fifty-fourth story 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.

Hive is a blogging platform that rewards posts in a cryptocurrency (Hive).

You will find over 70 more Humpbuckle Tales on the @humbuckletales Hive blog (so this blog is about 6 weeks behind)

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).

On HumpbuckleTales.com I also publish 12 tales a week but at a different schedule (and about 6 weeks behind): 2 Tales every day, Monday-Friday and 1 Tale on Saturday and 1 Tale on Sunday.

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