100 Word Story - Worth the Price (Repost from Facebook) 3 October 2009)

The pain was indescribably excruciating. She passed out at least four times during the first seven-hour session, but lost count after that. By the end, she thought she was going to die, but she didn’t. This wasn’t Tabitha’s first tattoo by any stretch, but it was her first enchanted tattoo, and thus, her most complex, expensive and painful, one by far. After thirteen tortuous sessions, it was done. Full-sized angel wings sprawled across her back. And when the moonlight kissed the ink, all the pain was forgotten as she flexed her feathery new outgrowths and took flight.

This is my entry for this week (10/3/2009), Weekly Challenge #180, "Wings".

100 Word Stories - "Hold Your Tongue" -or- "Overreact Much?" (*advisory* *implied violence and dark theme*) (Repost from Facebook, 21 December 2009)

I re-awoke at the shock, ice-cold water mixing with warm blood and sweat. The pain that knocked me out re-awoke as well. I winced. I fought to open my eyes against the swelling. It was pointless: the light was in my face; everything was shades of black.
“Put your hands through the armholes.”
“Why?”
“So the fire ants can bite you.” – “No? OK. ‘Or else’.” He back-handed me, then squeezed my cheeks, forcing my broken jaw open. I winced again.
“Whaih?”
“Ah – Because…” He slid a forceps between my toothless gums, grabbing my tongue and pulling. “You insulted my hat.”

This was in response to the prompt of "Hat" from the 100 Word Podcast Weekly Challenge #191 (Week Ending 12/19/2009). It's a bit more grim than most of my stories, but I actually found the "plot" of the story a little bit funny, so I couldn't resist. It started out as strictly 3rd person, but then I thought about making myself either the victim or the bad guy, and it just worked.