Cheater's 100-word story for May 21, 2025

Cheater wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on May 21, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

The Countess insisted the ravens be dressed for dinner—tiny velvet capes, silver thread embroidery, the works. “Elegance is owed to all things winged,” she declared, sipping tea made entirely of regrets and chamomile. The Duke, meanwhile, argued with a portrait that had begun offering unsolicited fashion advice. No one mentioned the butler’s faint growling or the fact that the soup politely recited poetry. The evening air smelled of nostalgia and shoe polish, and the moon blushed behind a cloud, scandalized yet curious. In the drawing room, someone had misplaced Tuesday; no one was quite sure where they’d put it.

Want to write flash fiction like this? Join the daily challenge at Hectalex.com and discover how powerful 100 words can be.