Apex Predator

Brad felt like his entire life had lead to this moment. The weeks of relentless training. The years of cutthroat business success that made the expedition possible. The lifetime of dedication and sacrifice that helped sharpen his discipline to the point where absolutely nothing could ever stand in the way of accomplishing his goals. Not his family, not his peers, not any of the many unimportant distractions fate might place on his path.

Now here he was at the top of the tallest peak in the world.

His guide congratulated him on the achievement.

"It's all downhill from here, sir."

The Arena

He sat on the stone bench waiting his turn. All his training for the last ten years led up to this moment. He could hear the muffled roar of sixty-thousand screaming fans in the stadium above. If he won today, the Emperor would grant him his freedom and the citizenship.

His trainer signaled him to get ready. He picked up his shield and sword and walked to the platform that would slowly raise him to the arena floor. As his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, he saw the lions. A sudden foreboding flooded through his body. The crowd cheered.

From Guest Contributor Janice Siderius

Martial Arts As A Way Of Life

Ken determined that martial arts would be his way of life and so set about training with both sword and spear. His intention was to practice until he was ready for mortal combat, and then square off against consecutively more difficult challengers. In this way, he would rise to become the greatest master of sword fighting.

Training with a wooden sword is not the same as fighting with a metal one. For this reason, Ken spent three years sparring against fellow students before he felt himself ready to fight his first fatal duel.

His first would also be his last.

The Last Temptation Of Jane

The paper sat before her, yet Jane feared to look at what was written upon it.

Her training was very clear. If there was ever any doubt as to her immediate circumstances, she was to find a piece of written material. By looking at the words on the page, then turning away, then looking back, she could confirm whether she was in the waking world or not. If the words remained unchanged, she was awake. If the words had changed, it was a dream.

Dreams could be very dangerous. But if this was a dream, Jane didn't want to know.

Running Man

I stroll around the park, mulling over my next 100-word story.

A scrawny bald man hurtles towards me.

“Ian?”

“Bill?”

He stops.

“10K training, 8 laps of the park - my 99th half-marathon’s on Sunday.”

“Wow!”

“But no full marathons now after my knee surgeries.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, impact injuries.”

Divorced, kids grown up, running has been the constant in his life.

“Still running, Ian?”

“Just jogging and some yoga.”

“Get back into it!” he says fervently.

Telling me his Facebook address he sprints off.

Leaving the park, I watch him running around in circles, the perfect subject for my story.

From Guest Contributor Ian Fletcher

Born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, Ian has an MA in English from Oxford University. He has had poems and short stories published in Schlock! Webzine, 1947 A Literary Journal, Dead Snakes, Short-story.me, Anotherealm, Under the Bed, A Story In 100 Words, Poems and Poetry, Friday Flash Fiction, and in various anthologies.

Test Day

Test day had arrived. Paul entered the arena with overwhelming trepidation. Failure today would mean death.

The arena was smaller than on television. And the stench of blood and burning flesh threatened to suffocate him. No matter how much training they'd given him, nothing had prepared him for that.

In the end, Paul passed his test, the lone survivor among his 99 classmates. He didn't like being a stooge for the network--murder should be a choice, not something forced upon you--but at least he was still alive.

In any case, he looked forward to graduating to middle school.