Categotry Archives: Flash Fiction 55
55 – Hunger in the Time of Recession
Oddly, the hunger isn’t of the body, like the starving masses in Africa. It’s in a hollowness of voice as the neighbor says, “I’ve got all this experience in their field, but they still didn’t hire me. The roof is leaking and I’m almost out of food. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, […]
From Drew to Suzie
Daunting… the things I should have said to you. When I think of you there, alone and me here, alone for nothing but pride…. That’s all gone now; my pride in work, my sense of self worth even my sense of self. If I had stayed, we would be happy now. But now… the thing I’ve become… If I tried to go home now, would you even let me in the door? The challenge, should you choose to accept it, […]
55 – Gene thinking of Tracy
Sometimes she gets that look on her face, that better-than-you expression that makes me want to crawl off in a hole somewhere, like I’m so dirty she can’t stand it. Then suddenly she smiles and I know I was wrong. Everything is great. She’s fun and I’m wonderful. Until she gets that look again. Don’t know if I love her or hate her. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. […]
55 – Make Me Sick
I want to be viral. I want to get spread around, passed from hand to hand, talked about, viewed, spewed, forwarded, and shared. I want to be tweeted and facebooked and commented on over and over. I want to be remembered with lots of stars and returned to over, and over, and over. Make me viral, please. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by […]
55 – Raining Leaves
After the water and the cold the leaves turned to gold on the trees then succumbed to the wind. Twirling lightly, fluttering like tired butterflies they fell on the streets and yards. Everywhere, falling drifting like snow When a car drove past they took re-flight before coming up flush with the curb like discarded newspaper The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, […]
55 – On All Hallows Eve
Maniacal laughter from the street Though rain and cold should drive everyone indoors Won’t stop Mechanical? So repetitious A Halloween doll on someone’s porch Set off by a passing hand. But no. It changes, Rising in pitch, Becoming desperate. A lunatic released from the asylum? A quick check, twitch of the curtain. Ah…. It’s nothing But a drunken witch. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is […]
55 – The Half-Empty Nest
They are still here, when they want to be, which isn’t often. Mostly it’s after school activities, and hanging with their friends. They don’t need me to drive them anymore. They don’t need me to cook for them, though I still do. They can stand on their own two feet. It makes me sad, a little, and glad even more. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 […]
55 – The Road Taken
He made the wrong choice. The low road was supposed to lead to dancing, drinking, a real good time. Instead it wound down deep into the bowels of the earth, dragging him to an unexpected inferno. Standing over a pit of flowing lava with no other direction scalable, his companion said, “It all works out in the end.” He didn’t even make a splash. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 […]
Rose Garden
“What do you think you’re doing?! You’re supposed to pull the weeds, not the roses,” he said. “Tell me, what’s a weed?” “It’s a plant that isn’t supposed to be there, something you don’t want.” “Then in my garden, roses are weeds. Hey, can you get this thorn out of my butt?” She turned and pointed. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the […]
The Weed
“It’s not a weed.” She carefully watered it with an old fashioned watering can because the hose wouldn’t reach. “It’s growing in the middle of the alley. Of course it’s a weed.” “But it’s a sunflower. How could a sunflower be a weed?” “Anything growing in the middle of where I want to drive is a weed.” “It’s not a weed. It’s a volunteer. Quit running it down.” The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a […]
55- Not a bag lady.
“Personally, I’m not a big fan of destiny,” she said. She pushed a shopping cart down the street as though shopping for neighbors. “I think people treat destiny as a scapegoat. ‘I can’t help being poor. It’s my destiny’ or ‘you have to help me fight this, it’s my destiny.’ It’s all rubbish.” She turned the cart in at the grocery story and sent it in amongst the others. “It’s not about destiny. It’s about destination.” The challenge, should you […]
55 – Armageddon
“Argh! I’ve had it,” said the creator. “If you don’t straighten out and fly right, I’m going to pull the plug!” Not a soul listened in the market place. The merchants kept hawking their wares. The buyers shoved past the creator, ignoring him. So he shut the computer down and walked away, never to open that program again. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted […]
55 – The Artist
He does it late at night when it’s hard to tell if the colors are right spraying on the sides of walls. If they caught him they’d make him wash it off and no one much would see his skill. Tomorrow this train will roll and show his name to the entire country if he doesn’t get caught. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted […]
55- The birds
Smack, plish, whack, at first I only heard it: birds raining down on the sea. They came in a dense flock drawn by schools of fish and hit the water hard, leaving behind satisfied boobies floating on the water.
55 – Accidental Silence
I like the flat intricacies and estuaries of the accidental silence when we lapse because we are thinking too much and have been drawn deep into our interiors; not because we are then so separate, but because then we can come together like the tide creeping in to form new patterns of harmony/ thought/ friendship The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, […]
