Flash 12/2008, #1: Lydia Ondrusek

Shelter

My hands ache, ache, and when I look at them, I don’t remember them looking like this. Maybe it’s the skin, paper-dry and thin, like an old person’s. Do my hands look like this? I puddle cream in my palm and work it in, wringing my hands. Polishing them.

Scales. I should be doing scales, I think, and go for a cup of tea. The problem is, I don’t play the piano. And I don’t drink tea. Read more: HTML PDF

Flash 12/2008, #3: Wade Rigney

Pocket Change

Joe Bastogne willed his leg not to bounce, as he watched his potential employer read his application. He knew the marks against him, but he said a silent prayer those faults would be overlooked. It was Christmas, after all.

“Mr. Bastogne,” Mr. Westcott said, “it says here you were convicted of theft. That right?”

Joe’s throat constricted and his stomach roiled. Read more: HTML PDF

Flash 12/2008, #2: Sue Burke

Normalized Death

There’s a sink and drinking glasses in Mom’s room. I know I should take the pills right away before she wakes up. Instead I stand in the doorway and stare.

Mom looks bad. An oxygen tube loops under her nose, and her skin is puffed and grayish-yellow. An adhesive medical patch sends painkillers into her neck. Below the blanket, printed with a nice homey flower pattern, she wears adult diapers. Her body can no longer sustain itself. Time to go.... Read more: HTML PDF

Classic Flash #13: Fredric Brown

Earthmen Bearing Gifts

Dhar Ry sat alone in his room, meditating. From outside the door he caught a thought wave equivalent to a knock, and, glancing at the door, he willed it to slide open.

It opened. “Enter, my friend,” he said. He could have projected the idea telepathically; but with only two persons present, speech was more polite. Read more: HTML PDF

In This Issue: Jake Freivald

Is “Paper Anniversary” Too Ironic For A Web Site?

This is our first anniversary issue — lucky thirteen — and I’m happy to report a lot of great things going on here at Flash Fiction Online. Our very first story just won an award, we’ve started podcasting, we’ve nominated stories for the Pushcart Prize, and, of course, we have great new stories for the month. Read more: HTML

Short-Short Sighted #7: Bruce Holland Rogers

Counting and Multiplying: The Birth and Evolution of the Three-Six-Nine

The latest installment of Bruce Holland Rogers’s “Short-Short Sighted” column discusses the “369” — a form so rigid that one might wonder whether it can be effective. After reading this column, you’ll stop wondering. Read more: HTML