Sinners

When the Church implemented the new confessional system, Pope Earl the First proclaimed it would usher in a new era of community and humility. Father Gabriel had doubts.

"Would anyone like to begin?" he asked the circle.

Heidi raised her hand. "This week I took the Lord's name in vain three times."

It went on like this for several minutes. Sean was holding a grudge at not getting a promotion. Mel was jealous that her sister was getting married.

Then Tony raised his hand and everyone stared nervously at the ground.

"I've been sleeping with Sean's wife for three months."

Ashley Who?

My buddy George is sitting at the bar by himself, twiddling his wedding band. Often tempted to “kick over the traces,” he never succumbed to temptation.

“How long have you been married, George?”

“Long time. Dunno.”

“When crooks hacked the infamous adultery website, was your name on the list?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

“Well you must be the only male over 35 years of age in this town whose name isn’t on the list. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I know.”

“I can tell you what the problem is George. You’ve been married too long.”

“Yeah. Too long.”

From Guest Contributor Barry O'Farrell

Barry is an actor who sometimes writes, living in Brisbane, Australia. Barry's stories can also be found at 101 Words, Cyclamens & Swords, 50 Word Stories and of course here at A Story In 100 Words.

Dueling Perspectives

I stumble down the street.

Everything about that night is pretty hazy.

There's no one around. I'm completely alone.

But I couldn't have imagined the gunshot. If everything else was a dream, that was real.

I look down to see if I've been shot. There's blood on my hands.

I don't remember seeing a gun. They said the gun was mine, but I don't remember having one.

I don't know where the man came from, but he's lying on the ground.

I didn't know until later he was sleeping with my wife.

The man is dead.

The man was dead.The Daily Theme from Figment for April 3, 2012

Choose a significant incident in your life. The incident should be discreet, with a beginning, middle, and end (a date, a car accident, a major embarrassment). Tell the story of the incident by moving between two points of view--your perspective at the time of the incident and your perspective now. How are these two different? How does shifting between them affect the telling? Try to use these shifts in POV to show how your feelings about the event have changed over time.