There had been weeks of solitary searching—that mighty river leading him on and on—but at last Albert Braithwaite had found his heart’s desire.
And he had survived the ensuing test—those agonising days of waiting and contemplation.
But finally he had his reward! A reward beyond what he had hoped for; a reward beyond what he had ever expected!
At first he was gladdened by this good fortune but slowly he began to consider. Was this too much for one man? Did he in truth deserve to keep it all?
All day and all night, he examined his heart, and all day and all night the name of that mighty river pounded and pounded in h
Flash Fiction Month 2017
31
Literature
Noir Comedy
I could tell she was trouble as soon as she walked into my office.
For a start she wasn’t wearing a mask.
I adjusted my own Private Investigator mask and watched her face closely as she explained why she’d come to me—emotions constantly skipping and dancing across the damn thing as she talked. Hell, I thought to myself. How is anyone ever supposed to read a person through all that noise?
But all other evidence was pointing towards her being a Femme Fatale. The expertly painted face, the curvaceous figure, the low neckline. And that sultry voice.
“It’s my husband, Wilbur Henderson,” she purred. “He
Flash Fiction Month 2016
31
Literature
Catty
In general, cats have nine lives.
Harold had 183.
He didn’t pay much attention to Alice’s chatter as he gobbled down his tuna chunks in the kitchen. She was a child, and a Dog Person, so it was unlikely she would ever have anything interesting to say. But something had certainly got her worked up.
Out of curiosity, Harold finally started to listen.
“I was suspicious of you from the start,” Alice was saying. “Did you really think no-one would ever notice?”
Harold finished the last chunk and looked up.
“Mrs. Deaking—used to enjoy a little Gilbert and Sullivan and then suddenly developed a ta
Flash Fiction Month 2015
31
Literature
I've Really Lost My Mind
The young man smiled, with just a touch of embarrassment. “I seem to have lost my mind.”
The female attendant looked at him. “This is a railway ticket office.”
“Yes..?”
“You want the lost property section over there.” She pointed at a counter where a severe-looking man was rearranging misplaced umbrellas.
“Thank you!” The young man nodded politely and headed across to the other section.
The lost property attendant looked up as the young man approached. “Is it an umbrella you want?” He indicated the display.
The young man appeared to be tempted for a moment by a purp
Flash Fiction Month 2014
31
Literature
The Back of the Sofa
In the communal living room of her student digs, Prudence knelt on the sofa and rummaged around between the cushions in the hope of finding her wayward fiver.
She frowned as she searched. The sofa certainly seemed to have a lot of give—her hand was sinking further and further and—
She barely had time to feel shocked as she slipped and fell. It only seemed a moment before she hit the ground and found herself once again in the strange world of Back O’ Th’ Sofa.
“Good heavens…” Prudence gazed about in wonder. “I thought I’d dreamt this place…”
“Prudence!”
She turn
FFM Flash Prompts
2
Literature
Deckchairs
“...and so we are here talking to Hubert Barraclough in order to find out more about this fascinating pastime.” Lavinia Clutterbuck pointed the microphone at Hubert. “It is a relatively unknown version of the game, isn’t it?”
Hubert smiled a little ruefully. “Sadly it is—even though Beach Poker is in fact the original form of poker. Admittedly nowadays it is generally played in private on artificial indoor beaches like this one but still…”
Lavinia nodded. “Can you take us through some of the aspects of Beach Poker?”
“Of course!” Hubert indicated the deckchairs in
FlashFictionLives 2016 Prompts
10
Literature
Something Personal
Doctor de Silva and Doctor Visser were going through the records at The Museum of Contagious Diseases.
“So this lady got hepatitis A… this gentleman got gastroenteritis… and this lady got chlamydia!” Doctor de Silva beamed. “Excellent!”
“Are you sure…?”
Doctor Visser smiled weakly.
“I really think we need to rethink the museum’s gift shop.”
55s
9
Flash Fiction
Flash Fiction Month 2017 31
The Hero's Return by SCFrankles, literature
Literature
The Hero's Return
There had been weeks of solitary searching—that mighty river leading him on and on—but at last Albert Braithwaite had found his heart’s desire.
And he had survived the ensuing test—those agonising days of waiting and contemplation.
But finally he had his reward! A reward beyond what he had hoped for; a reward beyond what he had ever expected!
At first he was gladdened by this good fortune but slowly he began to consider. Was this too much for one man? Did he in truth deserve to keep it all?
All day and all night, he examined his heart, and all day and all night the name of that mighty river pounded and pounded in h
“Um,” said Trapezium. “There’s a rhombus here to see you.”
Line-drawn-between-two-points looked up from its birthday cards. “Oh..?”
The rhombus bounced forward. “Actually I’m not a rhombus: I’m a parallel-o-gram!”
It blew on a pitch pipe.
“La..! Lalalala—la!”
It beamed at Line-drawn-between-two-points and began to sing.
“I travel parallel universes
And I keep meeting you
So here’s some news to make your day
I swear that it’s all true
In some ‘verses you’re a diamond
In many you’re a star
It’s only in this univer
Restarting a Conversation by SCFrankles, literature
Literature
Restarting a Conversation
“Oh, thank heavens you’re here!” cried Percival.
The woman from the Articulation Association strode across the bar to the table, nodded to Percival’s companion and then addressed Percival himself.
“So you were the one who phoned? You two have had a communication breakdown?”
Percival smiled weakly. “Conversation completely ground to a halt. Will it have to be towed away?”
The AA woman glanced at the heap of broken words. “I don’t think it’ll come to that.” She smiled reassuringly. “We like to do repairs in situ if we can.”
She leant over and began poking a
The Elements of Attraction by SCFrankles, literature
Literature
The Elements of Attraction
After George's grandmother had been laid to rest in the churchyard, one of the mourners came over to speak to him.
“So you’re George the favourite grandson..?”
George’s face lit up. “And you must be Alice, her favourite nurse! Gran was always talking about you.”
“She talked a lot about you too. Kept saying it was a pity our paths hadn’t crossed, because we had so much in common.”
Alice shook her head with a smile and rummaged in her handbag. She pulled out two invitations.
“This is perhaps a bit odd but… Your grandmother specifically asked me to find you at her funeral. Sa
½ and ¼ were running at full tilt, their pursuer close behind.
“It’s catching up!” yelled ¼.
½ glanced back. 10 was indeed dangerously close now even though it was too large and lumbering to have their speed.
“Leave us alone!” shouted ½.
10 sneered at the two fractions. “No! You two don’t belong here! You’re just bits of numbers!”
“We belong in Mathematics just as much as you!” shouted ¼.
It looked over at ½, almost in tears.
“What are we going to do though?”
“Look ahead,” panted ½. “I’ve broug
So, word was going round that over at Kill Devil Hills two insane brothers were going to be attempting powered flight.
“Hey, that’s strictly for the birds!” I quipped.
Nobody laughed, and I ended up with the damned assignment.
But when a girl from London, England is trying to make her way in the States she has to make the most of her opportunities. I took a bus out to the dunes. No-one was around, but I found the place. Hard to miss it when the aircraft was there ready and waiting.
I took the opportunity to examine this right-angled dragonfly. It was a splendid bit of workmanship I have to admit, and I clambered up to th
“I can’t believe you’ve betrayed me like this!” cried the adjective.
Its other half frowned. “Look, you knew what you were getting into when we got hitched. I’m a prefix! It’s in my nature to get attached to lots of other words too.”
The adjective stared. “You cad!”
“Hey, don’t be getting all high and mighty,” said the prefix. “Don’t think that I don’t know you've been hooking up with that suffix when I’m not around. I’ve certainly noticed the way you’ve changed yourself for it.”
The prefix sighed.
“Let’s ju
Barry the Evil had his telescope trained on the village, where everyone was running round in great excitement. He waved a hand and suddenly there was sound too.
“Gold!” one of the villagers was yelling. “We’ve struck gold! There’s gold in the hills!”
“We’re all going to be rich!” cried another.
Barry nodded appreciatively. The villagers could certainly do with a bit of cash. Whereas he—he looked up from his telescope and looked around his lovely castle—had more money than he could ever hope to spend in one lifetime.
Hmm...
He waved his hand again and suddenly the gold was
“Welcome to the Halcyon Spa!” beamed the man behind the reception desk. “I’m Rollo. How can I help you?”
“Hello…” Clover smiled cautiously. “I was interested in your Serenity packages, actually. I need to relax a little.”
“Of course!” said Rollo. “Let me give you a taste of what’s available.”
He came out from behind the desk and led the way into a nearby room.
Inside there were seven other white-coated employees standing waiting. They smiled attentively at Clover.
Clover smiled back at them cautiously.
“Now, this is our Calming Sideways packa
On her sixteenth birthday Princess Briar Rose had pricked her finger on a spindle and fallen into a deep, enchanted sleep.
Now one hundred years later, here was Prince Michaelmas Daisy, 17¼, cutting through the undergrowth in an attempt to reach the princess and break the curse!
The prince entered the castle, walked boldly past all the sleeping inhabitants, and made his way up to the princess’ bedroom.
He stared down at the sleeping beauty. And paused. He knew how this went. Such a curse had to be broken by a kiss, but a kiss on the lips seemed rather presumptuous. He nodded firmly as he made a decision, and then leant forward t