Marquee Fiction

Stories originally written fit exactly within the Windows ‘Marquee’ screen saver’s 256-character limit.

Good Night, Irene: Scene 1

Roger arrived home to find the wallpaper peeling off the top of his kitchen wall, a startling example of the law of entropy. “More glue,” he thought grimly, as he tripped on the threshold. When he came to, it was dark outside, & his soup was quite cold.

Good Night, Irene: Scene 2

There he was. How many times had Irene watched, in rapt attention, as he had calmly and knowledgably predicted a cold front moving in on the ten o’clock news? And there he was, fumbling for the keys to his ’88 station wagon. All she needed was a pretext.

Good Night, Irene: Scene 3

Roger’s eyes welled up. He was peeling an onion & listening to radio news, commenting loudly on every point. His cat watched, trying to figure out the code, how he responded to what sorts of phrases, but it was all inscrutable, especially the crying part.

Good Night, Irene: Scene 4

Roger stood on the deck, undoing his necktie and looking for the cat. Too late, he spotted it — nonchalantly trailing a young woman down the sidewalk! Call out, give chase? How awkward, he thought. Frozen in indecision, he watched them walk away together.

Good Night, Irene: Scene 5

Fall is a beautiful time of year, said the meteorologist on the evening news, and Irene sighed and agreed. How did he always work it out so that the fall colors would peak on a weekend? It was just so perfect. But every year it went by just a bit quicker.

Good Night, Irene: Scene 6

Roger stared glassy-eyed at a sea of cordless drills, & gripped his wallet. He’d just stopped by the hardware store to get something for tightening loose doorknobs and things, and before he knew it, he was seriously considering a two hundred-dollar drill.