Enjoy a small collection of 53-word stories that I have written for submissions.

Picnic Basket

The calm brook runs its course next to me as I sit alone on my blanket. I wait for the infamous bear to show up, but not today. I sigh, pack up my picnic basket full of food, and head home.

A bear wearing a tie and a hat? Maybe I am crazy.

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Hitting the Nail

My sudden outbursts have cost me in the past, like when my father was on the side of the road, cursing at the car. It was too good to miss, and it just happened. “That’s one way to hit the nail on the head.” That was how I learned to change a tire.

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Pocket Full of Change

Ben’s father waves a ten-dollar bill in his hand and says it’s his if he scores two runs in this game, and they’ll go to the arcade later that night. That was all the motivation he needed.

Mortal Kombat was on his mind. And tonight, Ben fought with his pockets sagging with quarters.

In the early 2000s in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my father bet me twenty dollars if I could score three goals in the next game of my soccer tournament. Needless to say, I had earned that twenty dollars and spent hours playing The Simpsons Arcade game in the Ramada Inn hotel. I remember the hotel being fairly rundown, but I only cared about that arcade game.

What a time that was. I wish I still had those trophies I won from the years my travel soccer team competed in those tournaments.

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Lasagna

“Excuse me, dear waiter,” pointing down at their plate, “There’s a hair on my meal.”

The man approached and looked down at the orange strand lying upon the lasagna. His customer wasn’t pleased at the quality. Pinching between his eyes, ”Garfield,” annoyed with the latest complaint from his furry companion, “That’s your hair.”

Our prompt for the month of June was to write a 53-word story about “hair.” I had a different idea in mind before writing about Garfield, the cat, complaining about his lasagna having hair on it. I figured that I could throw a little bit of comedy in this story.

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Thanks for reading them!

All of these were submissions for the monthly 53-word story contest at Press 53.