The 100 Word Stories Podcast

Sinclair Lewis once said that every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.
In spite of his Socialist tendencies, Sinclair Lewis liked to put on stilts and act like a complete tyrant.
“I AM KING!” Sinclair would shout. “BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR KING!”
It made sense when he’d put on an Uncle Sam suit and march in the Fourth of July Parade, but he wore them year-round.
This made it awfully awkward for him to sneak into meatpacking plants as part of his investigation for The Jungle, let alone...

When my sister in law comes to visit, I set up a bed in the spare room.
And the cats check it out.
At bedtime, Tinny the cat becomes a snuggle cat.
And she sleeps on the bed during the day, too.
Usually, Tinny is my sofa companion while I work.
She can be a pest and gets in the way, but when she’s being a traitor, I miss her.
So when it’s time for my sister in law to go home, I put away the bed.
Instead of snuggling with...

Some kids want to be policemen, others want to be astronauts.
Joey wanted to be boxing champion of the local prison.
He trained and built up his body and police record.
Winning fight after fight, and losing case after case.
He climbed the ranks outside the walls and inside.
Until his manager told him to lose.
He refused, and killed him.
Life in prison for murder.
Joey walked through the gate, smiling wide.
“I’m going to own this place,” he said.
“Guess again,” said a voice in his ear, and h...

The Apple card is three percent at Apple, Exxon, and Walgreens.
I don’t need a new iPhone, I’m not going to use it on an insecure gas pump.
But Walgreens? Sure.
I have a lot of prescriptions. All my crazy pills.
When I read my last statement, I only got one percent last time.
I yelled at Support, and they said I need to use Apple Pay, not the physical card.
The co-pay on all my pills is a dollar.
Which means instead of three cents cashback for each, I was...

The sysco truck has the motto follow me to your next grade meal on its back. I’ve got time to kill. So I did, thinking that it was gonna stop at one of the restaurants in this small town. But to my great surprise, it’s next stop was at the local prison. I don’t know whether it’s telling me that I’m going to jail or that they’re picking up prisoners to chop up and put in the beef soup, that hardly call that or ringing endorsement. Maybe I’ll just stick to the local Whatabur...

Teddy had a good gig, standing in line for other people.
The more important the thing people were waiting for in line, the more he’d make.
He also got a side hustle filling seats for celebrities or dignitaries leaving a televised performance.
That way there were no empty seats.
He started his own company of line-standers and seat-sitters.
But his workers complained of working conditions.
“We won’t stand for this!”
“We won’t take this sitting down!”
They formed a union, and went on strike.
The line-standers formed a picket line...

Lewie Lizzie Richard Tom Lizzie Serendipidy Norval Joe Planet Z

The next topic is Broken light bulb

LEWIE

The hobo clown, Doc, swiped the oversized, sharp scissors from a white-faced clown, Tippy.

Doc then ran in circles and stepped backwards.

Tippy fell over, landing on his big red nose.

Children laughed at the spectacle.

An auguste clown, Mollywolly, shouted “STOP!” The clowns froze in mid-step.

“No running with scissors!”

The clowns ran in slow motion.

This time, Doc fell down.

He sat...

A group of coffee warehouse workers looked around the warehouse and grumbled.
The tasters kept approving cheaper and cheaper crap.
So, they quit and became coffee traders, trading in quality coffee.
Then, the coffee traders became coffee roasters and the money poured in.
It poured in faster when they opened their own coffee houses.
Sure, the money was good, but there was some guilt over living wages.
They were getting rich while the farmers stayed poor and wrecked their environments.
So, the group bought up all the farms, built robots and automated...

We walk past their framed photos on the way into the office.
Three years ago, killed by an angry customer with a bag full of guns.
I remember that support call.
They hadn’t paid their bill for three months.
They didn’t have backups of their data.
They shouted over and over that they were going to sue us.
It was at the end of the day.
I handed the call to a manager, clocked out, and walked out for the weekend.
Now, we walk past their framed photos on the...

We didn’t know a U boat was on our tail until the torpedoes hit our ship.
Some of us made it to the lifeboard.
The captain handed me his hat and jacket.
“Lie to them,” he said.
The Germans took us aboard, and they treated me well, good food and wine.
I gave them inflated numbers of men, ships, and weapons.
The other men were kept under lock and key.
But not me.
I had the run of the ship.
Navigation, radio room… and the torpedo room.
You’ll find us...