The Reader’s Digest 100 Word Challenge (closed)
(criteria: must be 100 words, no more, no less)
The cymbal crash and bright tinkle of breaking glass nearly caused Edgar to fall off the kitchen chair. When his heart rate finally slowed, he investigated and found a baseball on the living room rug. The bay window revealed a jagged, new smile and, outside, a clutch of children stood in frozen horror.
Edgar walked out into the sunlight, returned the ball to its owner, and assured the children there were no hard feelings. Mistakes happen.
When he hung up with the window replacement company, Edgar stepped back onto the chair and began the meticulous job of deconstructing the noose.
spedbug 
WOW. I absolutely love when a piece surprises me with the unexpected. Perfectly brilliant
Thanks, J! I’m so glad you enjoyed this brief story. It was fun to build it up only to whittle it back to one hundred words. 🙂
Whittling can be a challenge but it’s one I really enjoy. It takes a special writer to say much with little
And you said it all in your last sentence! 😀
Your words, like your art, hold a delicious view of the world. Keep both coming.
Thank you, darling Czukie. I’m <3ing you from afar! 🙂
. Well, I didn’t see that coming. Also, reading it on the WordPress Reader, I wasn’t sure if there was more, so I was clicking to come to the site as I read the last words and really did a double-take. “She said whaaat?” 100 words aren’t many, but you use them brilliantly to lure us into a false sense of security before turning it on its head. I’m glad Edgar realised his mistake.
Thanks integratedexpat! I’m happy to have made Edgar realize, at the last moment, that mistakes happen and don’t always mean ‘the end of the world’. 🙂