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
The Woman With Three Heads by SCFrankles, literature
Literature
The Woman With Three Heads
Mara was used to weird things happening to her. And now here on vacation in Britain where they thought ‘Penguin’ was an appropriate brand name for a chocolate cookie, honestly she had been prepared for anything.
It was still a bit of a surprise though. Wandering around London’s Natural History Museum… Stopping to casually examine a tableau of stuffed foxes and cubs… Spotting two marble heads tucked behind the vixen—one in a woollen hat and the other in sunglasses, and the two of them arguing together in hushed tones...
“Everything… okay there, guys?” she asked.
The two heads froze. Then
Ewart strode through the lush countryside. It truly was wonderful to be getting away from everything, and to be staying in a delightful little remote cabin where nobody could bother him.
His work didn’t know where it was.
His parents didn’t know where it was.
His friends didn’t know where it was.
It was honestly just a pity…
He didn’t know where it was.
Ewart checked his phone yet again, sighed, and once more tried to retrace his steps.
At this moment in time he could really do with his super secret hideaway being just that tiny bit less secret.
Belinda took a deep breath and stepped into the woods.
As usual the trees grabbed at her arms and whispered to her. She shook them off and increased her speed.
She passed the strange old cottage made of gingerbread and her stomach rumbled. (She really should get up earlier and eat a bigger breakfast.) Then she passed the little cottage belonging to the seven small men, and as usual one of them leant out the window and offered her the job of becoming their housekeeper.
“Just till your prince comes and you get married, of course!”
Belinda smiled politely. Absolute gentlemen all of them, but so old fashioned.
Hurrying on, she ca
Jennifer entered the Bank of Good Fortunes and apprehensively approached the nearest teller.
“Um, hello. Jennifer Endsley. I was asked to come in to talk about my loan repayments?”
“Ah, indeed, Ms Endsley. Let me just bring up your details...”
The teller reached under the counter and brought up her crystal ball. She set the ball on the counter, passed her hands over it twice and then stared into it.
“Now, you had a perfect credit score when we approved your loan to study for your part-time MSc in business. And you have kept up steadily with your repayments since.”
Jennifer smiled modestly. “I tak
It wasn’t easy being the bard for a queen with musical-gustatory synaesthesia.
Standing in the muddy remains of the tournament field, Alice retuned her lute and launched into her third song of the evening.
She didn’t get very far.
“No, no! Stop!” Queen Hilda looked pained. “That one tastes of old socks. Another!”
Alice tried again.
“And that one tastes of roses!”
“Isn’t… that a good thing, my lady?” asked Consort Timothy cautiously,
“Not when the roses have gone all brown and slimy!”
From the queen’s other side, Consort Bertha reached out a hand
Bartel’s publisher smiled cautiously. “We’ve looked through your manuscript for the novel now and well… It wasn’t quite what we were expecting.”
“No?” Bartel frowned. “But you said you wanted an adventure story.”
“Yes, indeed,” said the publisher.
“And you said I could let my imagination go wild! Write about trials way beyond my ken!”
“Agreed,” said the publisher. “It’s just…” She flicked through the pages. “Your hero having his windows replaced… Being made redundant and having to look for another job…
It was looking unlikely that Denise would ever get to use her skills professionally again, but apparently it still paid to be a structural engineer during a zombie apocalypse.
She’d managed to design and build quite a substantial little tower in her mother’s back garden. Tall enough and unclimbable enough to keep the two of them safe, and with a ladder that could be let down if she ever needed to look for more supplies. It wasn’t much but at least they were alive.
“Jonathan’s here again.”
Denise’s mother was looking out of the window of their little cabin at the top of the tower.
Denise went to jo
When I was in the infants at primary school, there was a dryad in my class for a term or so. At that age you understand someone like that is amazing and unusual but you also simply accept that such marvellous things can happen. Now my adult brain insists that I dreamt or imagined her, and on the rare occasions I’ve bumped into old classmates none of them remember her, but the memories remain so clear.
She was a sweet but awkward kid who nevertheless made the effort to join in with all our games. And she never lost a game of hide and seek. I seemed to be the only one who noticed her vanishing into the buddleia bush each time, away in a
Once there was a magpie who collected for his nest every shining thing he could find.
One day he discovered the most sparkling thing of all—the coruscating wit of the spiders in the webs. The arachnids indulged in constant merry banter and badinage, happy for the entertainment to go no further than their little community.
The magpie took note of these quips and returned to his nest, where he sang out the spiders’ witticisms to a wider audience. Many animals, birds and insects enjoyed these broadcasts and gave him food and prestige in exchange.
One day though, the spiders came to visit the magpie and demanded that he stop steali
The Mother of All Invention by SCFrankles, literature
Literature
The Mother of All Invention
Necessity was waving her youngest off to the patent office, a big smile on her face. “Make me proud!”
“So what’s next? Have you got another invention planned?”
Necessity turned to see her neighbour Making Ends Meet.
She shook her head firmly at him.
“Nope! I’ve finally got them all out of the house and I’m going to focus on me for a while. I mean, they’re all my babies and I love all ninety-seven billion of them but it’s time for a change. I’m going to do a degree at last. In engineering! I’m going to relax and design things that might make things easier for people, r