FLASH FICTION: VOLUME ONE

“Short fiction seems more targeted - hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they hit, they explode, and you never forget them…” - Paolo Bacigalupi

THE WOODS

There were flashlights everywhere, on all sides of the woods. Beams of white, flickering between the trees.

The sound of leaves and branches crunching under boots was growing louder. There were dogs straining against leashes, growling, hungry for blood.

They had found him.

But they would never take him alive...

THE BUNKER

Just minutes before the nuclear blast, we began scrambling towards the nearest bunker.

But we were told by the man poking out of the hatch that he could only invite one of us inside.

A decision had to be made.

And that's when he threw out the knife.

We looked at each other.

And then we both dived towards it...

THE ACTRESS

6am.

It was still dark when she started driving.

She had hardly slept. She was just too excited. This was going to be her big break.

She checked her reflection. The puffy eyes she couldn't fix but she could put on a little lipstick. Look a bit presentable.

As she tried to apply it, she didn't notice the car drifting into the opposite lane.

She never saw the truck coming...

THE DETECTORISTS

They'd been searching the beach for hours.

Sweeping the sand with their metal detectors, finding nothing but worthless bottle caps.

Then, just inside the mouth of a cave... BEEP.

Frantically, they started digging, revealing rings and bracelets.

There was just one problem.

There were still wrists and fingers wearing them...

THE IMPOSSIBLE PUZZLE

Start with the corners.

Then get the edges done and work your way towards the centre.

That's how she'd always been taught to do puzzles.

And it had always worked before.

But not this time.

There was nothing to indicate what went where, and no matter how hard she tried, the pieces just wouldn't fit together.

But she stayed there for another hour, persevering, until several members of staff at the psychiatric hospital were forced to come into the dining room and drag her away.

Leaving behind all the mess she'd made tipping the contents out of the cereal boxes...