After eight hours of cutting bargeboard and driving anchor bolts, Kevin walked down searing sidewalks. He approached the corner of 2nd and Folsom where he had parked his van behind the Brew Haha Coffee House. He squinted into the distance. It was hard to see after long hours, dizzying heights, and now this mirage-like steam rising from the pavement. No van! His heartbeat sounded worse than a reciprocating saw in the ears. The sirens wailed in the distance and police cars wheeled into madness. A bank holdup no less, and the robbers had gotten away driving a tan Dodge Caravan loaded down with nail pullers, tin slips, wood chisels…..
The Stolen Van Caper
Published inpoetry
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Maybe it was just towed…
It might have been, Marissa!
Oh, oh!
😀
Wow. Kevin is having a bad day! The poor guy. He needs a cold drink.
I agree, he probably needs to bypass the coffee shop and get a strong shot of something, ha ha. I was trying to write one of those 101 word stories, sigh…. not quite.
It was perfect.
Thanks, Diana 😀
I am already considering him as a suspect in the bank robbery… watching far too much NCIS these days!!! I love the “Brew Haha” coffeehouse because it kind of foreshadowed the brouhaha Kevin is in now. Poor guy. Well, at least he can have a cuppa joe. 🙂
He might need a tall iced coffee or maybe just keep going a couple blocks and have a strong shot of courage, ha ha. I was trying to write one of those 101-word stories, sigh. Very difficult to do, so it won’t be this one, lol.
An entire story in 101 words? Not an easy challenge for even the strong of heart, my friend!
It is definitely a difficult thing to do. There is a literary ezine on WordPress that publishes those, they must be exactly 101 words….very tough!
Was kevin suspected to be the robber of the bank whilst the robbers who robbed the bank had already taken off in his van caper? You should continue to write this story, it is not finished, exciting! Don’t let us down!
Hi there, Juli! I was trying to write one of those 100-word stories, but I think you are right, it isn’t finished, ha ha!
I didn’t know what to write, since I read it three times, but my mind thought that Kevin must have been the person who robbed the bank haha!
Kevin might indeed be guilty, maybe he is just masquerading as a hard worker 😀
I cannot wait to read the next part
101 well-chosen words … gets you wondering about the before and after!
Thank you so much, Dave. You do so well at those really short flash-fiction pieces. I can’t quite get there, but it is a great skill to have. I am probably going to add to this one, then it will be 300 words, lol. I hope to someday approach lizard-like greatness (that’s a nod to the wonderful lizard in your story!) 😀
Yours hits the spot, IMHO. I like how watching the word count helps structure the story. I don’t like to think about the ending until I get there, trusting that the elements I’ve created will throw up something. That way I’m able to just write and to hell with it. The other thing is that only having a few words means I have to get straight into a story without any preamble. Any back story is implied rather than explained. That said and as you say, the power of the short form should lend itself to extension. All good fun, eh?
It is great practice, being able to write with few words and tell a great story. I do really like yours! I am going to keep working and trying to get a good, succinct story. Endings sometimes create issues for me….
They can too easily become punchlines, I suppose, which can seem glib – no endings in real life, are there?
Arrgh! I want MORE!!! You know how to make me feel desperate, Lana! 😂
Poor Kevin, he worked hard all day, now his van is gone. I sure hope he didn’t have anything to do with it…. 😀
Never! 😉