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Prompts that Make You Go “Hmmmm”

Published by Scott on December 10, 2021

Bowling kangaroos? Dogs doing dishes? Toilet thieves??

“Hmmm Bot” on Twitter has plenty of questionable photos, let’s write some short 100-word stories about them

During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we ewrite some stories based on the photos posted by Hmmm Bot on Twitter.

Here’s the link to the bot.

Chat picked some of their favorite photos, voted on them, and then we wrote super short 100-word stories for the top five.

Here’s the stories that I wrote, along with a few from another viewer Joe_g89.

#1. Surrounded by Dolls

ME
The dolls made Elena uncomfortable. For as long as she could remember, her mother made her sleep in the same room as them, the weight of their unblinking eyes in the dark making it impossible to fall asleep. All Elena could do was lie there, silently hoping they’d go away.

One night before bed, Elena had enough. She asked her mother why she made her sleep like this. Her mother narrowed her eyes at her, confused.

“Oh Elena,” she said, holding up a mirror for Elena to see her own unblinking eyes. “This room is where all my dolls sleep.”

JOE
She couldn’t rest without a crowd. All those dead eyes staring at things unseen in the dark. She said the more dolls standing around her bed, the safer she felt in her dreams. They were like friends she never had. Until one night, a doll grabbed her hand and said let’s play. But the playing never stopped, so she never woke.

#2. Razor Lollipop

ME
Ted was very protective of his little Annie. As she excitedly tore into the pile of Halloween candy dumped in front of her, he carefully inspected each one.

“This one’s no good,” he said, putting aside a lollipop. “Too dangerous.”

“Daaaad,” Annie groaned, snatching it from him with her sticky seven-year-old fingers. “It’s fine, you’re too—”

She bit down on it and blood dripped from her mouth, a stream of thick red paint.

She screamed and Ted rushed her to the bathroom, all the while telling her I told you so, I told you so! She only replied with cries, but Ted knew she had learned her lesson.

He was very protective of his little Annie.

JOE
Back then, most of our parents never figured out why we suddenly loved candy so much. But sugar was just a cover for something to bleed for. So we’d pass around giant lollipops in certain locations, sold them to other kids. They looked miserable, these kids. Not even the tastiest candy could put a smile on their faces. I never asked questions. But they helped. What we stuck to the bottom of those lollipops put a few scars on them. The relief was sweeter than what therapy could provide.

#3. Helicopter Godzilla

ME
Matt and Lisa waited anxiously in their backyard with their friends as the Gender Gyrocopter slowly flew toward them.

Depending on which statue the Gyrocopter dropped into their picket-fenced yard, that would tell the gender of their baby. A blue car for a boy, and a pink ballerina for a girl.

Stereotypical, sure, but Matt didn’t care which it was, he was just happy that—

The helicopter came flying in with a giant green godzilla.

Matt glared at Lisa, her face pale, then both of them turned to their dinosaur friend Scales.

“Well, this is awkward,” he said.

JOE
Rex was a big guy from New YOrk, a beefy hitman for the Jurassic crime family back in the 50’s. They were our rivals. One time he wacked someone from our family and started bragging about it. Bad move on his part. We had to make a display. So we kidnapped him while he was eating some seafood one day and we tied a cord around his neck. We beat him up pretty good too. Then we hung him from a helicopter and gave him the last tour of the city he’ll never see again. He wasn’t roaring anymore.

#4. Standing on a Horse

ME
Private Leeroy stood on his horse and aimed his rifle at the enemy.

“What the hell are you doing?” Private Bill asked.

“Classic war strategy,” Leeroy said. “If you have the high ground, you have the advantage.”

“What are you—”

“It won the battle of Bunker Hill. It won the battle for Obi Wan. With my height added to the horse’s height, we’re unstoppable.”

“I don’t think that’s—”

Bang! Bill was shot off his horse. All Leeroy could spare him was a single shake of his head.

“That poor dumb boy.”

And then he started running on top of his horse as it galloped forward, dodging bullets with their speeds added together.

#5. Mirror Dog

ME
I’ve always hated mirrors. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I don’t want to see the mirrors’ unbiased reflections of the world or anything like that. In fact, seeing my own fat face and messy hair in the mirror is always a bit of a relief.

It’s when I see something in the mirror that’s not really there that terrifies me.

A hunched-over shadow in the corner of my bathroom when I brush my teeth. A mutilated dog in the back of my car peeking from the bottom of my rearview window.

I can’t take it much longer. I was brave enough to do one eye, but nothing changed. I hope I’ll be brave enough to take care of the other one.

JOE
Our dog saw something we couldn’t have predicted. Or else we wouldn’t have left the house. But my wife was in the hospital due to COVID. She had a tube down her throat. My son wanted to see her. On the long drive there, our service dog had his eyes, white and beady, stared at me through the rear view mirror. Whenever I looked back, two white eyes stared back unblinking. Shouldn’t have taken my eyes off the road. Eventually I woke upside down surrounded by flames, hearing my boy scream.

If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.

And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.

Hope to see you next time, friend!

Featured image: Unsplash

Published inFunnyGenres/StoriesGrimdark