Cups

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words…

‘We’re gonna need to repurpose the cup room.’

‘But…’

‘You know we don’t have enough space. People keep finding priceless treasures, and we can no longer store everything. All museums are having the same problem.’

‘If there’s a possibility it’s in there, we need to keep all of them.’

‘How do you propose proving that one of them is the one?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Exactly. Look, we have room for a boxful.’

‘No! We can’t do this. We may be throwing away one of the most treasured artifacts of all time.’

He smiled wistfully. ‘The power is not in the object itself but in the legends that surround it. Choose wisely…’ 

Grappling

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...

They understood each other in that moment, their grappling arms gridlocked atop a flimsy table.

Jacob, the ambitious graduate, long-limbed and gladiatorial.

Bob, the inadequate leader, too young to retire and too old to learn new tricks.

After imbibing at the annual holiday gathering, a contingent of determined drinkers sought additional beverages at a local tavern. It wasn’t long before the multitude engaged in the time-honored tradition of arm wrestling.

After the weak had faltered, there remained but an old manager and his disrespectful direct.

There they handily tussled, neither able to best the other, until after an expansive five minutes Jacob gradually forced Bob’s hand asunder.

But everything had changed. 

Lions

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...

No matter where he was, they always got in. Always...

The lions hadn't seen him yet, but once they had they would attack.

Sitting quietly never worked, and he wasn't quick enough to escape.

He could yell for his foster family, but it was the middle of the night.

Just then a knock came. The lions froze. 'Everything okay?' his foster mother asked. They stalked toward the door. In a moment of courage - for fear they would attack - he yelled, 'No!'

At that she opened the door and chased after the felines until he told her they had fled. Then she hugged him and sat with him until he fell asleep.