Tag: 3LineTales

3LineTales

Demonstration of Power

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 1 Comment
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They predicted the dams would keep generating power for up to a year without any maintenance so long as the supporting infrastructure remained intact.

Strung for the celebration where Phil announced his retirement after 34 years in the Corps and where his daughter Millena had quietly taken him aside to double his joy with the news of his first grandchild (relieving his anxiety about ways to fill his newfound time), the lights in the back garden hadn’t begun their slow fade from bright white to coppery yellow until a full nineteen months later.

No-one remained to witness the demonstration of power’s unexpected longevity.

 

Photo by Nick de Partee via Unsplash
For Three Line Tales, Week 64 by Sonya

Meat Market #3LineTales

Quality Meats in Neon
~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 10 Comments

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The pungent sting of the ink twitched his nostrils (black always seemed to go to his head) but Daniel waved the marker under his nose for a moment before recapping.

He flicked the switch and the neon fluttered, the electric buzz looming large then receding quickly into the hum of the morning as he hung the Special.

Her eyes flashed an emerald green and Daniel cocked an eyebrow with his smile but her forehead furrowed as she walked past, transforming his grin to a sneer: “Probably a vegetarian.”

Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha via Unsplash
For Three Line Tales, Week 60 by Sonya

Atmospheric Entrance #3LineTales

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 3 Comments

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Even though everyone had perished, including Bess, the only creature in this universe that he’d ever truly trusted, Davis swore on the dawning star that he would go home again.

As he peered out at wings unfolding, preparing for a descent through clouds of who-knew-what toward a landing who-knew-where, Davis swallowed his embarrassment, choked on his grief, and studied the bitter taste of his fear.

He swirled the tang of panic and terror around his tongue, searching for sweet or earthy or musk, some note he might learn to savor but, plummeting through the mist, he tasted only sour.

Wait, is that all? Nope! Click to read more in the World Eater sequence.
Photo by Brian Gaid via Unsplash
Three Line Tales, Week 59

Dope #3LineTales

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 3 Comments

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She’d found him, finally, and pulled the crumpled bills from her pocket in small wads and pushed them through the wire, grateful.

Moments later, her cheek pressed into the chain-link as four hands frisked and groped her then pried the small, damp baggie out of her white-knuckled fist.

Her benefactor stood silent, watching as he looked away.

Photo by Jake Oates via Unsplash
Three Line Tales, Week 58

 

Unseen – Three Line Tales

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ Leave a comment

Reading Time: < 1 minute

She might have laughed at how readily they followed the ruse had she intended the test to remain un-passed.

So it turned that a few words printed on a card pointed them back from whence they’d come – the framed, the windowed, the doored – and locked her in her loneliness.

Instead, she comforted herself with the dream of an impossible friend who paused to breathe, followed the signs instead of the sign, and fumbled upon the invisible line that looped through the rusting ring.

 

Photo by Fleur Treurniet via Unsplash
Three Line Tales, Week 57