Note: This will be 26 drabbles of exactly 100 words each, using the very interesting prompts provided by
Edit: Sadly, never quite got finished - here are the 9 I wrote.
Quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight.
Connor remembered clearly the day when Murphy first hit all his targets dead-center. They had been spending almost every day of their 17th summer on the shooting range, hiding from their mother’s drunken tears as much as her constant berating. Connor was the slightly better shot, being more level-headed, although Murphy would have slugged anybody who suggested this – but on this particular day, Murphy had been under a charm, each shot going exactly where he wanted it to. And Connor had stopped shooting, staring at the fierce beauty of his brother as he pressed the trigger over and over, enchanted.
To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner: “the rural Babbitt who bloviates about ‘progress’ and ‘growth’” (George Rebeck).
It had been the Russian’s self-important rambling as much as Connor’s recklessness that saved Murphy’s life. Murphy would never forget those long minutes spent staring into the gun’s mouth while Ivan described in excruciating detail how he would show Murphy’s dead body to Connor before killing him as well. Connor lying lifeless, his blind eyes fixed on Murphy’s corpse, hands reaching for his brother… The image burned blood red before Murphy’s eyes, as vivid as if it had already happened. All the while the Russian droned on -- until Connor, descending on them like a bloody angel, shut him up.
A scar left by the formation of new connective tissue over a healing sore or wound.
They both wore scars, on the inside as well as on the outside. They had never known anything else, so they had learned to heal themselves. When they were six, Connor decided that Murphy would always come first, even before their father’s angry God. When their mother’s relentless love took its toll, Murphy slid into Connor’s bed on their sixteenth birthday and started whispering of America. Therefore, when they lay in that Boston jail cell, Destiny had no choice but to summon them both. The McManus twins had long before become one, connected by layers and layers of scar tissue.
# An imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.
# A work describing such a place or state: “dystopias such as Brave New World” (Times Literary Supplement).
Hell was to be without Murphy, that Connor learned the hard way. Hell was to watch his twin be dragged away and knowing that he would be dead while Connor was still alive. Connor had always known he’d do anything for his brother; it was not something that needed thought or decision. So he killed the Russians without hesitation or regret. Later, at the hospital, he was guiltily glad that Murphy had killed as well. Now they would face the same judgment from God for their deeds. After all, it could not be Hell if Murphy was there as well.
Being an imitation or a substitute, usually an inferior one; artificial: ersatz coffee made mostly of chicory.
They knew that Rocco was not the real thing. But he was there; he made them laugh; he was a brother in arms. They liked him, even loved him, as much as they could love an outsider, and when he died, they both felt the loss. But, even as they cried and screamed for him, they both knew that this was not the real thing. Losing Rocco did not put an end to their task, did not destroy them. They would stop crying, they would hold on to each other, as they always did, and they would still be whole.
# 1. The fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord.
2. The oath of such fidelity.
# Faithfulness; allegiance.
Their father demanded complete obedience from them, and neither Connor nor Murphy objected. He was in their blood, he had shaped who they were, even during the years of his absence, as the memory of him became dim and faded. They wore the rosaries he had left them, they said the prayer he had taught them – and after his return they followed him without hesitation. He accepted their surrender as nothing more than his due, not knowing that his sons’ allegiance had been claimed years before, whispered vows in the darkness of a shabby Irish bedroom, skin gliding against skin.
# Substance; weightiness: a frivolous biography that lacks the gravitas of its subject.
# A serious or dignified demeanor: “Our national father figure needs gravitas, [but] he's pitched himself as the kid brother” (John Leo).
# n. 1. A kingfisher, especially one of the genus Halcyon.
2. A fabled bird, identified with the kingfisher, that was supposed to have had the power to calm the wind and the waves while it nested on the sea during the winter solstice.
# adj. 1. Calm and peaceful; tranquil.
2. Prosperous; golden: halcyon years.
When they first arrived in Boston, there had been homesickness, but underneath it, unspoken of, had been relief. Relief to have escaped the shadow of their absent father and the reach of their all-too-present mother. The Irish community had welcomed the MacManus twins with open arms – for the first time in their lives, without as much as a murmur of their father. They had shared a tiny room and a creaking bed, and while they had grumbled at the time, in the darkness they lived in now the memories of those days were like a bright light, warming them both.
1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.
2. A very small amount; a bit: not an iota of truth to that tale.
Jejune
1. Not interesting; dull: “and there pour forth jejune words and useless empty phrases” (Anthony Trollope).
2. Lacking maturity; childish: surprised by their jejune responses to our problems.
3. Lacking in nutrition: a jejune diet.
Kismet
Fate; fortune. n : (Islam) the will of Allah
Very talkative; garrulous.
Murphy always talked. If Connor tried to remember anything that had happened to him, the memory was inevitably accompanied by whatever Murphy had said about it. Even events that Murphy hadn’t been there for, few as they were, were accompanied by his comments. Connor did not mind – on the contrary, it felt natural. But when Murphy kept on talking while masturbating in the darkness of their room, something inside Connor snapped. Without a word he stood up, walked over to Murphy’s bed and shut him up the only way he could think of: Not even Murphy could talk while kissing.
A small, moderate, or token amount: “England still expects a modicum of eccentricity in its artists” (Ian Jack).
Nefarious
Infamous by way of being extremely wicked.
Obtuse
# 1. Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.
2. Characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity: an obtuse remark.
3. Not distinctly felt: an obtuse pain.
# 1. Not sharp, pointed, or acute in form; blunt.
2. Having an obtuse angle: an obtuse triangle.
3. Botany. Having a blunt or rounded tip: an obtuse leaf.
Plethora
1. A superabundance; an excess.
2. An excess of blood in the circulatory system or in one organ or area.
Quaff
v. tr. To drink (a beverage) heartily: quaffed the ale with gusto.
v. intr. To drink a liquid heartily: quaffed from the spring.
n. A hearty draft of liquid.
Riposte
n. 1. Sports. A quick thrust given after parrying an opponent's lunge in fencing.
2. A retaliatory action, maneuver, or retort.
intr.v. 1. To make a return thrust.
2. To retort quickly.
Schadenfreude
Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
Tryst
n. 1. An agreement, as between lovers, to meet at a certain time and place.
2. A meeting or meeting place that has been agreed on. See Synonyms at engagement.
intr.v. To keep a tryst.
Utopia
1. 1. often Utopia An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.
2. A work of fiction describing a utopia.
2. An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform.
Votary
1. 1. A person bound by vows to live a life of religious worship or service.
2. A devout adherent of a cult or religion; a committed worshiper: the votaries of Aphrodite.
2. A person who is fervently devoted, as to a leader or ideal; a faithful follower.
3. A person who is filled with enthusiasm, as for a pursuit or hobby; an enthusiast.
Wan
adj. 1. Unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.
2. Suggestive or indicative of weariness, illness, or unhappiness; melancholy: a wan expression.
intr.v. To become pale.
fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign
When Connor brought the girl to their room, Murphy spent the night staring at the ceiling with dry eyes, his fist muffling the gasps that escaped whenever Connor whispered in that strange voice, like velvet and sugar. There was someone else in their room. It hurt like nothing ever had. The next morning, the stranger long gone, Connor looked small, and Murphy did not resist the pleading of his eyes, dark with sad knowledge. When they came together, it was unavoidable. It left no room for pain or guilt or fear. Only certainty. There would never be anyone else now.
1. To have a strong, often melancholy desire.
2. To feel deep pity, sympathy, or tenderness: yearned over the child's fate.
Zeitgeist
The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation: “It's easy to see how a student... in the 1940's could imbibe such notions. The Zeitgeist encouraged Philosopher-Kings” (James Atlas).
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