One Hundred-Word Wonders is a writing challenge that highlights how stories can shine even when they’re very short. In the world of micro-fiction, writers create whole tales using only a handful of sentences.
These tiny stories prove how much can be said with very few words, surprising readers with the depth and feeling packed into just a hundred words. How can a story truly come alive in such a small space? Let’s dive in and find out.
Today’s prompt is:
BRIGHT LIGHT
Write a story, poem, or creative non-fiction piece using exactly 100 words. The title doesn’t count toward the word limit. To make sure your work is exactly 100 words, you can use WordCounter or any writing software you prefer.
Copy and paste your 100-word piece, along with its title, into a comment below. If you want, feel free to share it on your own Substack site or Substack Notes, and include a link back to this page.
If a response touches you, don’t hesitate to tap the little hearts in the comment section.
There’s no deadline for these prompts.
You’ll find my own response below.
Glow Up!
A bright light rises
over the cracked earth,
not harsh, just
soft, steady,
insistent.
It hums, low and quiet,
calling roots to listen,
drawing stars closer, downward,
pulling night closer to day,
blending night with dawn.
Hands reach out,
trying to feel
this warmth that curves shadows,
this glow that colors silence.
In that light,
time folds gently,
ordinary things shift, bend—
a breath becomes a bridge,
a glance sparks change.
Here, in this quiet blush,
the world seems to pause,
waiting for something new
to begin.
Somewhere,
a seed cracks open,
letting light flood in,
ready to grow, bloom.
Author's Note
Look for a new One Hundred-Word Wonders prompt every third Wednesday of the month.
Thanks very much for reading, subscribing, and sharing the stories, poetry, and essays in this space. If you like a story, poem, or essay please click on the heart. Also if you are so moved, please leave a comment.
100-word CHALLENGE prompt: Caro’s Writing Perspective
TITLE: Out From the Shadows—Pushing Through Illness to the Light
Your once bejeweled insistence on the bright
Burned red with passion's might of lovers' light
'Til orange, fading in, suppressed the hue
With yellow's caution light, despite the view
Of green--signaling me to grace your ways
Blue is what I see of you these days
To darken Sol's expression violet
Till indigo is bare, inchoate
Your violet is violently blamed
'Til all your colors coalesce in shame
And self-esteem recedes as viewed in jade
You're not yourself—so look! beyond the shade
Emerge from death's cocoon to face new dawn
And shine anew as how you're truly borne