Hide's 100-word story for June 9, 2025

Hide wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on June 9, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

“Read it to me man, I can’t do it.” My hands are shaking as I pace the linoleum. I shove them in my pockets. Bianca squints at the magazine, flipped open to the book reviews. “Regarding Mr. Bernard’s newest novel, Arabian Days, I was sorely disappointed. It reads like a bad Aladdin fanfiction. The relationship with the antagonist and his camel was particularly hard to understand-“ “What? It’s a metaphor for capitalism! What’s hard to understand about it?” Bianca looks at me sympathetically. “It gets worse…” I sigh. “Time to give up writing forever. Do you want a turkey panini?”

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