magisternihil's 100-word story for June 29, 2026

magisternihil wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on June 29, 2026. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

Caleb docked, his anger dissipating as he took in the sunrise. It was tedious having to go collect the boats every morning, but there were worse things in life. The rental boats weren’t his bread and butter by any means, but they kept him busy and got his name out there. Trouble was, at night the local kids liked to steal them to paddle out into the deeper water and swim unobserved. Turns out, “race you to the shore” usually involved leaving his boats behind. One day one of them would ask him for work. The reckoning would come then.

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