Great Aunt Mavis and the Trees
Mavis arrives after a decade’s absence, wild grey hair and weathered skin, rust-speckled motorbike burping blue smoke. She hugs us, then lifts her hands in high-priestess pose, breathing, “It’s so good to be back! Such a spiritual place!” Apparently it’s our turn to keep an eye on Mavis, who’s getting more eccentric with age. My […]
New Journal Launch!
New year, new journal! Incredibly delighted to announce the launch of our SECOND literary journal. This autumn/winter edition collects all stories published on the site from July to November 2020: twenty-one pieces in total. Just as in the previous edition, these amazing stories, and their authors, represent the best that the flash fiction genre has […]
Fire Pit
Dad built a fire pit in our backyard this summer, a beautiful ring of blue granite wrapped around crushed gravel and packed sand. It’s the first project he’s completed since he retired back in March and sold his auto body shop to a national chain, and sitting here in the backyard with him and Mom […]
Defector
It’s 1 p.m., Orbiter time, as I walk through the lunch crowd clogging the west concourse. Larry’s briefing was bare bones, as usual. He heads Information & Intelligence but doesn’t believe in either. He sends agents into the field with background data that would fit on one of the paper napkins that litter the floor […]
Smooch Smooch
Lorna stayed in her cubicle at lunch unlike the dozen or so others in her office. She walked to the break room and got a Coke and went back to her space. She took her brown bag out and opened the foil to get at her turkey sandwich and opened her bag of Doritos spreading […]
Life with Prawn
When had the forest truly become her home? She couldn’t remember the exact moment. She yawned widely, watching Prawn pace up and down in front of the trees outside her hut. He glanced at her occasionally. He was bored. If only she could show him, impress on him the life that they had escaped. He […]
JELLY PEOPLE
After his manuscript on the sex life of the peripatus was rejected for the thirteenth time, Professor Devin crumpled and wrung his master copy about like a paper rattle before storming out of the scientific world for a sector that would better suit his talents: confectionery. The lab he’d dedicated to the proliferous procreation of […]
Car Wash
Gareth pulls up sharply next to the big sign and scans the options. His eyes dart, fingers tap, legs jiggle. His apparent urgency is in stark contrast to the pristine condition of his brand new, top-of-the-range Audi. “What’ll it be, boss?” asks the car wash guy with a thick accent. Avoiding eye contact, Gareth flourishes […]