Category: Prose

Short prose

The Happy Tooth Fairy

Once upon a time in the really good old days the tooth fairy fooled tiny tots into thinking she was the one who left the pennies, and as inflation increased, the nickels, the dimes, the quarters and then even a dollar(!) under their pillows in exchange for their fallen out teeth. This was an easy job since the children’s own parents came up with the coins, made the argument and then let her take all the credit.

However, the day came – as inevitably it would – when children stopped believing (and/or parents stopped telling) tales that a tooth fairy might really want their teeth so she began to do odd jobs on the side. There were many opportunities, but she had to pretend to be someone (or something) other than who (or what) she really was which annoyed her.

But work is work and you have to do what you have to do which now included gigs where she played the last universal common ancestor, the big bang, deep dark matter, the mysterious multiverse or God knows what nonsense next. She had no clue what any of this stuff was, but as long as the children knew, since children normally knew quite well what they were told to know, she was as happy as any tooth fairy could be, so happy, in fact, that she decided she might as well – whether she deserved it or not and most likely she didn’t – live happily ever after.

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Denise offers the prompt word “stop” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

The White Knight, the Dear Damsel and the Dastardly Dragon

Once upon a time there was a dear damsel in distress. She blamed the dastardly dragon for all her woes. A white knight in shining armor rescued her.

Over time the damsel’s fiery words torched the knight’s castle destroying this and then that as she blamed the knight for all her woes.

The dragon, with a nod from the knight, rescued the dear damsel from the dastardly knight.

The knight lived happily ever after.

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Denise offers “nod” as the prompt for this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

SSC&B: Rhyme, Meter and Heart

I went back to the Six Sentence Cafe & Bistro and found the tall, thin man setting the automaton up in the foyer as Doctor Zoltan Mystic and Seer who apparently could answer any question for 25 cents though he specialized in fortunes.

Finding a quarter in my pocket, I asked Zoltan, “What does a poem consist of?” and Zoltan raised up a card upon which I read: RHYME, METER AND HEART, BUT YOU BETTER USE THE PROMPT WORD FOIL SOMEWHERE IN THIS TALL TALE OF YOURS BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF SENTENCES.

Wow, I thought, that was a more accurate answer than AI would have given me.

Perhaps reading my mind Zoltan gratuitously raised up another card upon which I read: I CAN EVEN WRITE THAT POEM FOR YOU AND FAKE THE HEART JUST LIKE YOU WOULD.

Wondering now if he was any better than AI, I inserted another quarter to ask him if he ever ran out of cardboard stock upon which he wrote those messages.

Up popped another card which read: HOW WOULD I KNOW?

Denise offers the prompt word “foil” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Six Sentence Story: All X’s No O’s

Jeff asked the gent who greeted him, Is this heaven or the other place? The gent searched for Jeff in the quantum computer and up popped a document giving full details of Jeff’s judgment.

So which is it?

Jeff was prepared to argue that he had been as good as the next guy ever could have been to foil any attempt to send him to that other place. After reading the details of the judgment the gent turned to Jeff with a welcoming smile.

It says right here that you have been assigned a room in a decent-enough-for-you mansion to be shared with all your exes and their exes and their exes’ exes and those exes’ exes’ exes and so on, so you tell me where you are.

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Denise offers the word “foil” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Six Sentence Story: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

During the homily Father Thomas said that if you want to see God make sure you have a pure heart. William, a freshman in high school, didn’t like it when Aunt Cecelia poked him from the pew behind them when it looked like he wasn’t paying attention, which he often wasn’t, as she did just then.

After Mass as Father Thomas stood at the entrance of the church ready to shake hands and chat with anyone who was not trying to rush out unnoticed William stopped to ask, Father Thomas, can we see God if we look at someone whose heart is pure? Father Thomas thought and then answered, Those pure in heart may be the main way that God lets those with impure hearts get a peek at what they’re missing.

Outside William’s parents – surprised by their son’s sudden interest in such matters – and Aunt Cecelia – who realized her nephew was getting a little too old to poke – felt it best not to say anything further.

Years later recalling Father Thomas after admitting decades of mistakes, William got the peek at what he was missing that he had been promised when he finally opened his eyes.

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Denise offers the prompt word “rush” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

I am grateful to Greg Doles for posting this song along with many other songs by The Porter’s Gate on his blog, Chasing Light.

Six Sentence Story: Jeremy’s Demon Infestation Problem

When Jeremy entered his home the demons scrambled. They looked like those fat cockroaches that ran about when he turned on the light. He stepped on some squishing them nicely, but the more he squished the more they kept coming.

He’d admit that when they first arrived they looked cute and he enjoyed playing with them, but he never thought they would overrun the place like a huge forest fire starting from a careless camp site.

What was poor Jeremy to do?

After fits of indecision because those critters still looked so cute, he finally realized that if he didn’t clean house from top to bottom inside and out they would completely take over.

Denise offers the prompt word “fire” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Poetry Slam at the SSC&B: The Hallway

Go down three granite steps and you will find
the Gatekeeper who’ll surely let you in.
Once you’re inside your stories may begin
to tell themselves and leave you far behind.

The others will have stories they’ll unwind
and you may test how true those tall tales spin.
Though some may even leave a tear or grin
they all will open doors inside your mind.

There is a hallway, too, that’s deep and dark,
and should you choose to wander that odd way
it only asks that you respect its night.
With every word you speak there goes a spark
but many sparks lead many folk astray
and all those led astray will need true light.

Denise offers the prompt word “word” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories and Poetry Slam.

Six Sentence Story: It Rained Until the Joy Came Out

Just to be here is a miracle even in the rain. To love someone while you’re here living your miracle is like putting a cherry on top of the whipped cream resting on top of a cherry vanilla milk shake.

But I don’t have anyone, Sally said.

You always have Someone, if you want Him, the Spirit Who made her His temple responded.

Sally agreed as she felt the rain stop and the joy come out.

Now if I added that the next frog Sally kissed in desperation served the function of her Mister Right, she would have missed Matthew, but what then would have become of that frog?

Denise offers the prompt word “function” to be used in this Week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Six Sentence Story: How Things Got Complicated

Joe was Beth’s backup plan when she spent the weekend with Mark not knowing that she was Mark’s backup plan, because Jane, Mark’s plan, had more backup plans than her scheduling software could consistently manage.

Eventually Joe found out about Mark and Beth found out about Jane.

Then Joe replaced Beth with Kate and Mark, unsure what to do, figured he better get rid of Beth to avoid conflict with Joe which all happened about the time Jane decided to get rid of him anyway, because – well – because everyone was all of a sudden becoming too miserable for her to live with.

And then things got worse, like an out-of-control forest fire, even for Jane whose remaining backup plans found out they were backups when she could no longer keep their names straight. And then it got so bad that six sentences were not enough to do it justice.

And that’s how things got complicated.

Denise offers the prompt word “fire” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Paul also wrote in Romans 10:9 KJV, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”