Mug, by Bruce Arbuckle

June 3, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales Tales, Stories, fiction, short story, story, flash fiction, fiftywordstory, humpbuckletales, zapfic50, zapfic, microfiction, flashfiction, fiftywordfiction, dribble

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“It’ll be great exposure.” His beady eyes peek from the fat sweaty red face. He wants me to work for free. He’ll benefit from my talent while I get nothing. But it’s perfect. As the event photographer, I’ll get access to him and his secrets. And I’ll bring him down.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “for exposure”

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My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

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_{All my stories are my own. I do not (nor have I ever, nor will I ever) used any AI program to write my stories. I am personally against the use of AI to write (for me the whole point of writing is to use my own brain: that is the joy of writing for me). The screenshot is of a word counter app that I use when writing my stories to check that my Humpbuckle Tales are precisely 50 words long. I am human,}_#NOTaRobot

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

No Words, by Bruce Arbuckle

June 2, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, flashfictionfriday, fridayflashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic, zapfic50

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He knows she’s happy by the crunch of the gravel as she skips up the path, how the key dances in the lock, the clap of the swinging door. He utters no words when she enters, his expression tells all. Her smile falls from her face and he hugs her.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “important information”

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)

Knocker, by Bruce Arbuckle

June 1, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic, zapfic50

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She’d always hated her grandmother’s bronze door knocker, an ugly goblin with a nasty smile and beady eyes that watched her reluctant progress up the path. At night, listening to the house shuffle and groan, she was sure she could hear the creature creeping up the stairs, searching for her.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “bronze door knocker”

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 Lesson, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 31, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, humpbuckletales, microfiction, sci-fi, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic, zapfic50

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“Let’s visit Earth!” They shimmer with excitement. Glerk hates that grim planet. It’s full of unfortunate creatures desperately clinging to life. But it’s an appropriate lesson on what can go wrong when you leave an inferior species in charge of a planetary ecosystem, and why occupation and control is crucial.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “let’s visit”

Find me (as HumpbuckleTales ) on Mastodon

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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

…

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

Night Worm, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 30, 2023May 30, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic50

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Arnold, a Night Worm, farms terror in sleeping children. Squirming through ears or noses, he sinks his fangs into their brains. The demon’s smokey venom turns dreams into nightmares. Harvesting their fears, he gobbles them up before dawn. Wriggling free, he leaves a gooey residue of fright in his wake.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “frighten the children”

Find me (as HumpbuckleTales ) on Mastodon

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My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

Chilling With Old Friends, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 29, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic, zapfic50

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They used to meet once a month to chew the fat and exchange recipe ideas. It’s only when Brian, invited over for dinner, finds himself hanging out with old friends in Kevin’s new meat locker that he realises why membership of the local Cannibal Social Club has dramatically declined recently.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “chew the fat”

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

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

The Old Pond, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 28, 2023May 28, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic, zapfic50

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The Old Pond at the end of Ducking Stool Lane is supposed to be haunted with ghosts of drowned witches. I won’t swim, despite the dares and the heat of the summer sun. Kipper doesn’t surface. We think he’s playing us for fools. Our nervous laughter dies with our friend.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “at the end of the lane”

Find me (as HumpbuckleTales ) on Mastodon

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My Humpbuckle Tales are always published first on Hive

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

My Familiar, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 27, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, zapfic, zapfic50

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My familiar, a rather impish demon called Derek, hitched himself to me after his previous mistress met with a rather unfortunate culinary accident. She tried to cook me, and I stabbed her through the heart with a carving knife. Derek believes only a powerful sorceress could have killed that witch.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “my familiar”

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

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

Prison, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 26, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, flashfictionfriday, fridayflashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, writingcommunity, zapfic50

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She spends her whole life trying to escape, but whenever she thinks she’s in the clear, another door clangs shut, and she finds herself locked in the same windowless room in her head with the raving cellmate shouting insults, telling her she’ll never break free from this cruel, relentless, sentence.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “long sentence”

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

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)

No Time To Run, by Bruce Arbuckle

May 25, 2023May 25, 2023 Bruce humpbuckletales dribble, fiction, fiftywordfiction, fiftywordstory, flash fiction, flashfiction, Humpbuckle-on-Sea, humpbuckletales, microfiction, short story, Stories, story, Tales, zapfic, zapfic50

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From the window she sees the creatures surround the building. She took too long setting the explosives: there’s no time to escape. Across the street she can see Jip. She can’t see his expression, but she can imagine it. “Sorry,” she mouths. She starts yelling, drawing the things to her.

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A 50-word story written by Bruce Arbuckle, inspired by the Freewriters Writing Prompt on Hive, “no time for that”

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

Bruce Arbuckle (felt.buzz)