Gray's 100-word story for July 21, 2025

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

When she'd taken the picture, she'd thought it was the bike. Cotton-lined basket, image of someone gathering wild rice, carting fresh bread, apples. Gliding on the world's most environmentally-friendly transportation. It wasn't. It was everything in shadow. Water damage, mold. Decay crawling the walls. Patchy paint, pummeled plaster. Cracked glass. Imperfection. If a weed back home topped six inches, she'd get a red piece of paper, even the first one marked FINAL WARNING in thirty-six-point Impact, taped there by the group of elderly men and women with nothing better to do than ride around on golf carts surveilling their neighbors.

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