100 Word Stories

Welcome to the Ninety-Seventh Weekly Challenge, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.

The topic this week was selected by Elisson and Caleb.

It's Mufaletta and Navel Lint.

The excellent theme music is by Guy David

VOTING

Which stories were the best from Weekly Challenge #97?Tom from FootnoteCaleb Bullen from Black Tie Martini ClubTerry from Quiet Time PodcastGuy David from Guy David dot comJosh from A Work In ProgressElisson from blog d'ElissonLaieanna at Hodgepodge PointPlanet Z  Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

TOM

Arnesto�??s first jump was to Dec 1st 1999. He was greeted by a beaming female stranger who called him Pooky. This completely rattle Cervantes for it was the term of endearancient Ways

Ament of his mother. "You said you�??d look surprised and should be reminded that time is like navel lint." She handed him a Mufalleta and said it was his favorite food from the future. "Have we �?�" started Arnesto. "Yes and a lot more!" said the director. "You said you always leave just before you arrive." She handed him a very old box. He handed her a very new book.

CALEB

She said, as she put down her Mufaletta, �??I think this sandwich has navel lint in it�?�.

I asked, �??Do you even know what navel lint tastes like�?�?

She said, �??Oh I know what navel lint tastes like, I�??ve had my tongue in more belly buttons than you�??ve so much as seen�?�

I said, �??I dunno�?� I�??ve seen a lot of belly buttons�?�

And then she threw out a number. A number I won�??t share with you because frankly, you won�??t believe it. But I believed it; I was there. I said, �??honey, you�??re the weirdest woman I�??ve ever known�?�

TERRY

Day 4 �?? May 16, 2012

After putting it aside for a couple of days, I find myself trudging back to the wreckage of the living module of my once proud ship. I think the shock of losing my fellow crew members has abated enough so that I can give them a proper burial.

Reflecting back on to each of them, our time together in training and the 2 month trip here has given me a new prospective on life and friendships.

Sergeant David Mirowski, the security NCO of the crew was a huge man, but now so very small after the flames of the crash has claimed him. It may be crazy, but the one thing that I remember best about him was his 30 year collection of navel lint that he kept neatly rolled up in a ball. I'm going to bury it with him since it meant so.

Lieutenant Regina Rodriguez, my co-pilot, so beautiful in life along with being so talented in many areas. During our trip to Mars, she would prepare dishes from her home country at least once a week to give up a change from our bland rations that we were provided. I think my favorite was the Mufalleta she made last week.

I couldn't find the body of our final crew member, Sprocket, the Labrador Retriever that Space Command sent along. I wonder if he made it out before the fire or was in some other part of the ship, I guess only time will tell.

This is Capt. Josh Jones, Earth Space Command signing off.

GUY

Aunt Mazal and uncle Hezki came to visit us from Israel last summer. They insisted on making their famous Mufalleta. They disappeared in the kitchen. We waited. Strange sounds followed. They emerged with what looked like discolored pan bread, a small dish with honey and another with chocolate spread. Mother shrugged and dipped a piece of Mufalleta in honey. It was then, we noticed the little gray blobs on the Mufalleta and the fact that uncle Hezki had one hand up his nose and another picking up lint of his naval. We never invited aunt Mazal and uncle Hezki again.

JOSH

"Fire!"

At the Captain's command twenty broadside cannons spewed hell's fire, smoke and brimstone orbs into the air. The spheres carried with them the thunderous echo of dissension and presented it one by one to their target with the fury of a scorned lover. Unrelenting, the battery reduced the marked ship to splinters of charred wood �?? naval lint.

They would not misinterpret or ignore his subtle message. After all, most things are more gentle than the kiss from a cannonball, but few are as conclusive. On this day, the Captain had many final kisses to deliver, to many former lovers.

ELISSON

Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, but Hurricane Louis sounded its death knell in 2023. The city drowned, never to recover.

Both the Navy and the Marines sent in frogmen to salvage what cultural
artifacts they could. There was a huge demand for experienced
Muffuletta Divers.

It was a heartbreaking job, one that was physically demanding. The
divers needed concentrated rations that packed a caloric punch.
Chocolate filled the bill.

While the Marines favored Godiva at first, it was a Swiss chocolatier
that won the hearts of the Annapolis boys. Oh, how the Big Easy salvors
loved their Naval Lindt.

LAIEANNA

"I'm sorry," Amber said, staring at her mufalleta. Justin first thought she was talking to the sandwich till she bit into it and continued. "It's just not going to work out between us." Her mouth moved with each word, exposing the beginning of her digestive process. "I'm not attracted to you. You never fart or belch. You don't smell; hair is neat and your skin is smooth. For god sakes, you don't even have navel lint!" Justin sadly bit into his own food. "And you eat salads! You're not a normal guy." She gawked in disgust, finishing off her meal.

PLANET Z

According to The Bible, Adam gave names to everything.

But if he and Eve were crafted by God's hands, then they were not born of a mother, so they had no navels.

After their expulsion from Eden, Cain's birth presented the couple with a few new and somewhat messy items requiring labels.

"Baby," muttered Adam, pointing at his squalling son. "Umbilical. Placenta."

Eve picked up the baby and began to nurse.

"Mind getting me some clean fig leaves?" she asked. "My old ones are a mess."

Adam went gathering, because it took a lot a leaves to cover her-

"Mufelatta," he mumbled. "I should name something that."