Toward one hundred words

I’ve been obsessing with 100-word stories lately. I might try to publish a manuscript of 100 100-word stories someday. This has led to editing and cutting many of the fragments, already very short, I’ve been able to find among my unfinished work. Keeping many of the drafts shows some of the decisions made as I’ve revised. One example is below. Word totals follow the title.

Looking for Honey 254

Honey lived two places while I knew her. Sort of remember wanting to offer to help her move, but I’m almost certain I never did.

One was this beautiful big green house. It was big enough to have its own parking lot. Three stories, surrounded by venerable fifty-foot oaks. A wide, thick lawn. She had at least two roommates there, but I think her bed was a thin twin mattress against a wall of the living room. She would roll it up and hide it away during the day, I imagine. Their kitchen was tiny, but you could stand in the fireplace. The rest of the house was full of similar apartments.

The other house was much smaller, one story, two bedrooms. The kitchen was bigger and she had her own room, but to get to it you had to walk through the only bathroom in the house. Must have made some awkward moments. I house sat there for a few days while she went to the Grand Canyon, house sat and tried to squirt antibiotics down a tube in the throat of her cat. The cat did not like me. But the bathroom had a tub and my baths there were a luxury.

Almost five years later, the big house is still easy to find, but the other house has gone missing. I drive the streets of this town I never wanted to come back to, wandering where I think the house used to be, but I never find it.

 

Looking for Honey 171

Honey lived two places while I knew her.

One was this beautiful green house. Big enough to have its own parking lot, three stories, venerable fifty-foot oaks. She had two roommates there, but her bed was a twin mattress against a wall of the living room. She hid it in a closet during the day. Tiny kitchen, but we could stand in the fireplace.

The other house was much smaller, one story, two bedrooms. She had her own room, but to get to it you had to walk through the only bathroom in the house. Once I housesat for a few days, trying to squirt antibiotics down her cat’s throat. That cat did not like me. But the bathroom had a tub and my baths there were a luxury.

Five years later, the big house is easily found, but the other house is missing. I drive the streets of a town I never wanted to come back to, wandering where I think her house used to be. I never find it.

 

Looking for Honey 146

Honey lived two places while I knew her.

One, a beautiful green house. Big enough to have its own parking lot, three stories, venerable fifty-foot oaks. She had two roommates there, but her bed was a twin mattress against a wall of the living room. She hid it in a closet during the day. Tiny kitchen, but we could stand in the fireplace.

The other was much smaller. Her own room. To get to it you had to walk through the only bathroom in the house. Once I housesat, trying to squirt antibiotics down her cat’s throat. That cat did not like me. But the bathroom had a tub and my baths there were a luxury.

Five years later, the big house is easily found, but the other house is missing. I drive the streets, wandering where I think her house was. I never find it.

 

Looking for Honey 123

Honey lived two places when I knew her.

One, a beautiful green house. Three stories, fifty-foot oaks, big enough for its own parking lot. Three roommates. Her bed a twin mattress against a living room wall, hidden in a closet during the day. Tiny kitchen, but we stood in the fireplace.

The other was much smaller. You had to walk through the only bathroom in the house to get to her room. Once I housesat, tried to squirt antibiotics down her cat’s throat each day. That cat did not like me. The tub made baths there a luxury.

Decades later, the big house is easily found, but the other house is missing. Wandering where I think her house was, I never find it.

 

Honey Lived Two Places When I Knew Her 106

One, a beautiful green house. Three stories, fifty-foot oaks, big enough for its own parking lot. Three roommates. Her bed a twin mattress against a living room wall, hidden in a closet during the day.

The other place was much smaller. You walked through the only bathroom in the house to get to her room. Once I housesat, assigned to squirt antibiotics down her cat’s throat each day. That cat did not like me. The tub made baths there a luxury.

Decades later, the big house is easily found, but the other house is missing. Wandering where I think her house was, I never find it.

 

Honey Lived Two Places When I Knew Her 100

One, a beautiful olive house. Three stories, fifty-foot oaks, big enough for its own parking lot. Three roommates. Her bed a twin mattress against a living room wall, hidden in a closet during daylight.

The other place was much smaller. You walked through the only bathroom in the house to get to her room. Once I housesat, assigned to squirt antibiotics down her cat’s throat each day. That cat hated me. The tub made baths a luxury.

Decades later, the big house is easily found. The other is missing. Wandering where I think her house was, I never find it.

 

Both at once?

Students are expected to write a novella in one of the classes I teach. I’ve wanted to complete the assignments of planning, drafting, and revising along with them and thought this semester would be a good time for that. One of my own projects was being edited, so it seemed I could take a break from it for a semester. However, I’ve actually been torn the past few weeks between wanting to revise the work I’ve just had edited and starting a new novella with the class. This is, I realize, a wonderful problem to have.

I don’t usually do more than take notes on one project while working on another, but in this case I may try both at once.

Current projects

I’ll try to update this as it changes. As of the 13th of November 2017, I’ve a bunch of novellas in various stages of completion. Impossible Money is about newlyweds who win the lottery; things go downhill from there. In Lava Springs a woman returns to her hometown to help her monstrous mother and encounters both memories of and actual old friends. Your Warmly Lit House is about a couple on the edge of homelessness, an almost commune, and a girl fleeing polygamy. I’ve also been genre mashing a little: What She Asks of Me and an as yet untitled manuscript are both weird westerns, I guess.

The Secret Physics, which has been published, is probably a post-modern romance portal novel.