Episode #920
September 19, 2026
My writer’s group’s monthly assignment
was to write a 97-word story.
Also, we were to write a short story about boulevard stops. I combined both challenges:
Boulevard Stops
I asked the president of our homeowner’s association why the board installed four-way stop signs on our rural dirt roads.
“The ‘5 MPH WHEN HORSES OR PEDESTRIANS ARE PRESENT’ signs are ignored. And stop signs are treated like rolling boulevard stops, where, no matter what direction, the first person arriving at the intersection does not stop,” I said.
She replied, “We hoped that an equestrian whose horse is dusted and spooked by a speeding car would yell, ‘SLOW DOWN!’ We also hope that drivers will at least slow down at intersections now.”
“Social behavior signs,” I smiled.
(97 words)
____________________
On a whim, I also set out to write a 97-word-long one-sentence story à la William Faulkner:
The Bucket List
We saw a friend’s first jump video so we put skydiving on our bucket list, made our own first jumps at Skydive Cal City which changed everything, then accumulated experience, attempted world records in many US states, earned them, while in the process, Paula became world-class and I became addicted, so we put jumping in every state on our bucket list which we recently completed in Hawaii, accumulated hundreds of friends and thousands of skydives, explored all fifty states and gained an appreciation of risk mitigation, detailed planning and living in style; an adventure of a lifetime.
(97 words)
IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG YOU’LL LOVE MY BOOKS:
“Skydivers Know Why Birds Sing” by Ricki T Thues is now available on Amazon.
It is a Love story of Rick and Paula Thues and their 35 years of Skydiving.
Click HERE to buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon.
Follow Ricki T Thues on Amazon HERE.
ALSO AVAILABLE:
“Technically Human” by Ricki T Thues, the iMentor, is available on Amazon.
It is a compilation of selected episodes from this bLog which tell the story of Humanity through the eyes of the iMentor.
Click HERE to buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon.
The ebook version of “Technically Human” is also available on Kobo. Click HERE.
For you Barnes and Noble Nook readers it is available for Nook. Click HERE.
The “Technically Human” ebook is also available on Apple Books . Click HERE.
Ricki is also a contributor to the Writers Anonymous short stories anthology, “Matters of Life and Death, Stories on the Brink.” CLICK HERE.
The newest Writers Anonymous short stories anthology, “Stories Well-Traveled,” is now available on Amazon.
It is a collection about the different paths Writers Anonymous has traveled, both real and imagined, and how, through these stories, we have stayed connected.
CLICK HERE.
