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Todd, the Death-defying Panel Truck Acrobat

Randy Runtsch
Fiction Shorts
Published in
2 min readAug 6, 2024

This hundred-word fictional drabble responds to the Random Drabble 219 challenge. The assigned random word is toast, and the setup twist is a forest floor damp with last night’s rain.

Grassy field and sun rays. Photo by the author.

Ted drove through the forest, its floor damp from overnight rain. The grassy field, where he and Todd would cut sod for a landscaping job, would be soaked, too.

Ted noticed the passenger seat was empty. In the rearview mirror, he watched Todd exit the truck.

Moments later, Todd stood on the front bumper, staring at Ted, his hands against the windshield. Ted flipped on the windshield wipers.

As the wiper blades swooshed, Todd alternatively lifted his hands out of the way. Finally, the truck rolled to a stop.

His hands shaking, Ted cried, “You idiot. You were almost toast.”

This drabble is loosely based on a true story from my summers during high school working at a garden center. In real life, the idiot hung onto the panel truck’s roof with his fingertips until he made his way to the front bumper.

Please join me in welcoming Fiction Short’s new editor, Michael John Scott. Here is one of his drabbles:

If you have not yet written a drabble, please try. This recent challenge is a real doozy:

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Fiction Shorts
Fiction Shorts

Published in Fiction Shorts

Where you’ll discover short fiction that makes you smile, laugh out loud, get a little choked up, or become inspired.

Randy Runtsch
Randy Runtsch

Written by Randy Runtsch

Sharing hope for a better world and brighter days ahead

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