Two-Word Horror Story

Due tomorrow.


By: Jeff Provine

 

 

Procrastination

While she tries her best to stay focused, there are just too many things to be distracted by.

She starts an essay but then finds herself on a new tab online shopping.

Or her data analytics assignment will be due within a few hours, but there will be the more pressing matter of coordinating a time to hang out with friends.

The other day, she wasted hours trying to find something cute to wear instead of working on her final project for her mythology class.

But sometimes, time pressure can enhance one’s work.

At least, that’s what she tells herself.


By: Deepa Ganesan

 

 

The Library

“Let’s hang out at The Library tonight,” my friend said.

“I’ve got to study,” I responded.

He put an arm around my shoulder and grinned. “What better place to study than at The Library?”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Your senioritis has gotten bad.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he drawled. “I’ve logged more hours at The Library than anyone else.”

“And that’s why you’re failing biochem.”


By: Erin Bullock

 

 

The Dreaded Day

Today is the day I’ve been dreading for the past month. I knew it was coming, but part of me hoped it never would.

I’ve been warned about the difficulty that lies ahead of me. I’ve been told all the horror stories from those who have done this before me, but I must do what I must do.

I am beginning to doubt myself.

Am I even capable of doing this?

Am I strong enough?

My hands are shaking in fear as I pull out my pen and paper and write “Organic Chemistry I” at the top of my paper.


By: B.K.

 

 

The Best Day

It is finally time: Graduation Day!


By: B.K.

 

 

Let’s Try Some Riddles

What is always dreaded, but also highly anticipated?

Takes months to happen, but finishes within two hours?

Covers many pages of text in a few?

………………………………. Answer: A final exam.

I can write thousands of words and not make a lick of sense.

I can cover miles but never move more than a couple inches.

When I am the color red, I mean error.

But any other color can be just for fun.

What am I?

………………………………. Answer: A pen.


By: Lanney Phillips

 

 

Ready to March

“Line up for pregame!” the director calls from the front of the tunnel, and the drumline springs into action in the late fall sunlight.

We check our equipment and fix our drums into place on our torsos and chests.

We strike each other’s drumsticks like knights crossing swords.

This is the closest any of us will get to battle. We are not heroes, but when the stadium roars and we stand in rank along the red and white goal line, we feel like we could be.


By: Erin Bullock

 

 

A New Thursday

Today reoccurs. There have been many todays that passed and became tomorrows. Today is Thursday. I decided that I would make this Thursday a happy one.

Waking up at a normal time, going through a normal routine. Making myself tea. The start to the day was good.

Watching videos online, lying in bed.

Self care.

I did a face mask, brushed my hair, started the day. Today was a skirt day. The wind was not too strong that it became a pants day.

Spring has sprung. The hail has subsided; it is time to go pick flowers.


By: Savannah Kotkin

 

 

Flower Garden of Great Renown

Oklahoma isn’t a good place to find flowers.

Wildflowers will do.

I walked around my apartment looking for patches of grass with flowers.

Flowers, no; small blips of color in the concrete, yes.

Dandelions, blue-eyed grass, henbit, and clovers.

Gathering my lovely finds I decided to keep them together as a display of another good day.

Rocks are fun also; I collected rocks that brought me joy.

I hide them away in a dish where I will start my collection. Different shaped rocks with different stories are fun to find. Maybe I can use them to do magic? Who knows!


By: Savannah Kotkin

 

Winning the Lottery

I cannot believe it.

I am matching the number on my ticket with the numbers for this year’s one-million-dollar lottery draw.

It matches.

It perfectly matches.

Thoughts on what I do next flood my head.

“Should I quit my job?”

“Should I buy a Ferrari, a house, pay off my loans?”

“I can even do all three!”

I rush outside after getting dressed, preparing to redeem the prize.

I run outside to my car when all of a sudden… I wake up.


By: Amy Tan

 

Gift Card

There once was a professor who loved to challenge his students. One semester, he decided the student with the least number of missed exam questions would get a hundred-dollar gift card.

Jordan decided to go for it and studied hard for every exam. He ended up missing a total of two questions the entire semester.

Surely he’d missed the least questions!

He approached the professor and said, “Hello, I’m here to collect my gift card.”

The professor turned to him and said, “You missed two, right? Well, someone else didn’t miss any.”

There will always be someone better than you.


By: S.K.

 

 

S’mores

The wind was blowing my hair into my freshly burnt marshmallow, but I did not care. My worries slowly faded away after every bite of s’mores I took. The chocolate was melted just enough that it was dripping down my fingers and the two supporting graham crackers were crumbling into pieces from the pressure of my fingers.

My hands had become sticky by the time I had grabbed my wire hanger for a second round.

As I stuck my marshmallow on the end and placed it into the fire I thought to myself, “Man, this life is good!”


By: B.K.

 

 

Snow Day

When I woke in the morning and looked out the window, all that could be seen was a blur of white. In every direction there was snow galore. Covering the ground like a giant fluffy blanket.

The best way to spend a white winter day is to jump back into bed with all the warm and fuzzy blankets made of anything but snow.

Only good reason to leave must be for some hot cocoa and cookies.

So back into bed I went to snuggle up to my pup Luka with a good book in hand to be finished by bedtime.


By: Carlee Apel

 

 

Books are Worlds

I jumped out of my car and ran into the store, thinking to myself, “I love Barnes and Noble!”

Marching straight over to the young adult section, I scoured the shelves until I found the book I was looking for. Finding it, I grabbed a copy and hugged it to my chest.

Finally, I could read the book I had been waiting months for!

I walked out of the store smiling and holding my new world to enjoy. I knew it was only a matter of time until it sucked me in.

Ten minutes and twelve seconds later, it did.


By: Tyler Schwemley

 

 

Books are Worlds: In Six Words

She read and found new worlds.


By: Tyler Schwemley

 

 

The Adaptation: Seeing Really Is Believing

She plopped down on the couch while holding a bowl of popcorn in her arms. Pressing play on the remote, she snuggled under her blanket to watch the show.

She knew the story already, she had read the books countless times, but she did not know what it would look like on the small screen.

Nervously biting her nails, she hoped the stories of her heart would not be changed.

Though, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, as she would always have the books.

One hour later, she smiled, knowing that her dreams had been made into reality.


By: Tyler Schwemley

 

 

Bird’s-Eye View

Early this morning I arrived at the airport where I immediately smelled the sweet scent of burned jet fuel. Although it can be potent, there isn’t a smell that excites me more. It’s my morning coffee.

I couldn’t wait to get into the cockpit for yet another day of adventures.

There is nothing like getting to pilot an aircraft above the campus where you go to school and the apartment where you reside.

I love what I do; I wouldn’t trade it for the world.


By: Nathan Ulshafer

 

 

Spinning My Cares Away

The world flashes by in blurs. Streaks of different greens as I look ahead, a different green as I look down, and endless blue going up. The nuances blur together before my eyes, and brown strings whip into the picture as my speed changes.

I feel like I’m in the kaleidoscope that I stared into endlessly as a kid.

The pictures don’t evolve, but the constant change keeps me mesmerized.

Anyways, I prefer to watch this rather than the world as it changes outside in a blur.

But I guess they are the same.

New ideas don’t exist, only re-wording.


By: Rachel Fisher

 

 

Once You Choose, You Are Committed

I search to the right and find bouncing leaves, smiling flowers, and a whispering breeze. Sunshine beams through holes cut in the foliage. I could wander there, warm and cherished, for one hundred years.

Yet the path is so short – it hardly begins.

Will I ever move onward?

The voices on the left cry out to me. Their sources are covered in shade and flickering light. The rock-strewn path is steep and intimidating.

I can only imagine the view from the top. The clouds would carry me across the earth to wherever I please.

Which way do I go?


By: Rachel Fisher

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Tiny Tales of Spring 2021 Copyright © 2021 by Laura Gibbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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