ISSN: 1946-1712

In This Issue: Jake Freivald

A New Year

Welcome to our third anniversary issue!

We seem to like starting new things with Bruce Holland Rogers. He’s creating a new column called Technically Speaking, which will focus on techniques that can be applied to any length of story.

For readers, this month we have three excellent new stories — one science fiction, one literary, and one mainstream — and one Christmas Classic Flash.

See you mid-January! Read more: HTML 

Technically Speaking #1: Bruce Holland Rogers

The King Is Dead...

Long live the King!

Over two years have gone by since Bruce started writing his Short-Short Sighted column. Although he’ll continue to talk about short-short stories, he’s going to branch out into writing techniques that are more broadly applicable. This is his inaugural column for Technically Speaking. Read more: HTML 

Flash 12/2010, #1: Ellise Heiskell

Round Trip

I woke up after a dream where something, perhaps a snake, has sunk its teeth into my ankle. I knew I hadn’t been bit, that it was just my mind, my body remembering what that shock of teeth felt like. It mimicked the squeeze and punch of teeth that my freshman bio teacher’s boa constrictor delivered one spring. After that I always remembered to fill the snake’s water dish first, and feed the rats second. Read more: HTML 

Flash 12/2010, #2: Michael Plemmons

Isabel

A summer night, a porch swing, Grandma Clara gently rocking.

A girl comes out from the house. She stares in the dark. “Mom wants you back inside,” she says. “Now.”

“No, baby, not yet. Come sit with me.”

Clara makes room for her on the swing. The girl stares.

“Just one minute, Izzy. I promise.”

Read more: HTML 

Classic Flash #45: Anonymous

The First Puritan Christmas Tree

A little context: The early Puritans disparaged Christmas as “Foolstide” and discouraged its celebration. This story is set during that time in America.

Mrs. Olcott called her boys, and bade them go to the pine woods and get the finest, handsomest young hemlock tree that they could find.

“Get one that is straight and tall, with well-boughed branches on it... Read more: HTML 

Flash 12/2010, #3: Gary Cuba

Firing Squad

Lord knows I didn’t want to shoot Mendez. Hell, he was only a green kid, a frontline infantry replacement just up from boot camp. He acted gung-ho, but he’d never been exposed to live action before.

I knew the stark terror he must have felt a few days ago when the enemy tanks rolled over the ridge in front of us. It wasn’t a mystery to anyone; we’d all been there before. Were there again at that moment, in fact. Read more: HTML 

  
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