Being born on the cobbled streets of Potter’s Hill to a mother shunned by society, who in turn shunned him, the sisters of the workhouse named the boy Toby Cobblepot and for twelve years raised him like every other orphan in their care: on gruel and cruelty.
Read the rest of the tale and 100 more stories in 300 words or less in YOU’RE GETTING SLEEPY, THE HYPNOTIST’S APPRENTICE YAWNED.
Available at the Createspace Store, at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk or any other Amazon store in your territory. E-book is also available.
300 stories 
Can I just say, the first paragraph made me click! Well done.
Is this…is this an origin story for The Penguin??
Not quite, though in naming the main character that sure is where I got my inspiration 😉
You cobbled together an interesting story! 😉
Reblogged this on Ice Cream Castles in the Air and commented:
I am finding it amazing how many interesting stories you can tell in just a few words. This story has it all: Cruelty, Death, Greed and Murder. Oh…and shoes. Gotta have the shoes!
Kind of new take on David Copperfield 😉
Very clever and fun. And Toby struck me as such a nice boy at the outset. Oh well, I suppose that’s what the workhouse does to a boy.
wow, very nice twist/ending!
Wow, you’re getting toward that magic number, and fast! Pardon the fact that I haven’t read your stories in awhile, but I do recall back when you were still under one hundred. I’ve been busy with my own writing, but returning to read your work and seeing how far you’ve gotten has been an inspiration. You’ve changed a little as a writer, too, I see. Way to keep it up!
I’m curious: how do you feel I have changed as a writer?
In my opinion, a mostly philosophical shift.
Well, let’s say, looking at the android plot twist at the end of number seven. Now, that’s something to consider, simply and merely as a plot twist–a shift in perspective that provides its own meaning: that is, without considering it as an analogy for something else.
Comparing that to the deeper, more philosophical implications of a piece like two-hundred-twelve: that steel alloy bit. That’s something that brings into question the very nature of political economics–something that turns from a minute-long consideration of an android-driven society, to a much longer pondering of how small actions of large-scale companies shape human history.
Wow. I’ll be completely honest, this is the first of your works that I’ve read and you have completely inspired me. I admire your style.
I’m new to reading your blog, but I got to say I am really enjoying it. You are a great writer.