100 Word Stories is my ongoing response to the weekly creative challenge from the One A Day Until I Die podcast. Each week, a prompt is announced and participants are invited to craft a story of exactly one hundred words — often as an audio submission for inclusion in the Sunday episode.
The constraint is the point. One hundred words forces precision. There’s no room to wander, no room to hide. The writing itself is always done without AI assistance — raw imagination, raw structure, raw Lewie.
After the writing is done, production begins. I compose and layer instrumental audio to give the narration motion and tone. Recently, I’ve begun generating companion artwork that fits the cyberpunk aesthetic of this site — each image reflecting the story’s theme while incorporating my own visual presence.
Each post also includes a “Behind the Story” section — a brief reflection on the creative process, the memories that surfaced, and the pop culture threads woven into the piece.
Each entry becomes a small creative artifact:
story, voice, context, and signal.
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100 Word Stories: Everything But the Tea
For the Tokyo challenge, a simple search for tea turns into convenience-store chaos as a tourist gets sidetracked by rice balls, fried chicken, pudding, socks, and a phone charger, then panics at the cashier’s rapid-fire questions in a Tokyo konbini. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Santa’s Little OSHA Violation
Santa channels Tool Man energy to help little Timmy build a pinewood derby car, but the gift list spirals wildly out of control. Chainsaws, plasma cutters, flamethrowers, and “More power!” turn a wholesome Christmas moment into complete mechanical chaos. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Steam-Powered Summer
A riverboat honeymoon memory lingers through decades of change as a son discovers his mother still treasured a framed photograph from a joyful voyage aboard the Delta Queen. Read More
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100 Word Stories: The Incomplete Idiot
After being called an idiot in the newspaper, John angrily insults the editor, only for his wife to question whether either highly educated man truly understands the word’s outdated meaning. A dry exchange about intelligence, language, and ego unfolds. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Prompted Royalty
When royalty arrived for a heavily guarded family portrait, they expected cameras, lighting, and nervous smiles. Instead, they discovered modern photographers preferred artificial intelligence over actual photography, while snipers watched from rooftops and Secret Service agents secured the cyberpunk studio. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Craigslist Said It Was Healthy
Tasked with caring for his manager’s ficus, the narrator discovers Jarold is already dead. A questionable alley deal leads to a strange replacement, quiet guilt, and an unexpected outcome where the new plant thrives without question of what really happened. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Repeat Until Texture Is Uniform
A late-night writing challenge spirals into a constrained experiment, shaping a dark, surreal story hidden within the letters C-H-I-P. Between deadlines, audio production, and unexpected twists, creativity emerges through limitation—the realization that subtlety isn’t always as invisible as intended. Read More
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100 Word Stories: A very Cultured Performance
A last-minute email sparks a surreal museum story—cheese becomes music, balloons become sculpture, and creativity outruns time. Written, recorded, and produced in 35 minutes, this piece explores pressure, process, and the freedom of bending prompts into something entirely unexpected. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Bubble Rap
A playful twist on the “Bubble Wrap” prompt becomes “Bubble Rap,” blending rhyme, rhythm, and storytelling. From clunky drafts to performative verse, this piece explores cadence, creativity, and AI experimentation—ending with a pop, a punchline, and a lingering memory. Read More
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100 Word Stories: Silence Has Teeth
Alone in darkness, a prisoner confronts the loudest place in existence: his own mind. Memories, injustice, and endless thoughts echo through silence. When the warden finally speaks, the prisoner reaches his breaking point and asks for only one thing—peace. Read More