A gathering of recent speculative flash & micro fiction, each presenting a tiny-yet-powerful universe. How tiny? About one-thousand words for flash; four-hundred words for micro. The word count isn’t as important as the emotion, the adventure, the sense of wonder. Including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the spaces in between.
If you love these stories as much as I do, please share them so others can discover these brilliant authors!
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Songbook for the Jovian Resistance
By Gwendolyn Maia Hicks in Small Wonders * 969 Words
It was the songs, really, that cracked open the canyons of Amalthea.
A hybrid story of resistance and music, Songbook feels epic in scope. The prose is haunting and filled with both longing and hope. This one will be on my 2026 awards ballots.
Me an’ Streeter (an’ Vince) Chase a Comet
By Christopher Degni in Flash Fiction Online * 748 Words
So Fizzy says, he says to me, “I bet you can’t get your hands on some prismatic comet dust.”
I smiled from the title through to the end. I love the way Degni doubles down on the voice. Personality and attitude shine in this story—read it, it will cheer you up.
(If you loved this story, you might also like Punk Voyager by Shaenon K. Garrity in Escape Pod.)
She Said God But She Meant Silver
By Chloe N. Clark in Ghost Parachute * 859 Words
She looked us each in the frame one by one, scanning our video squares. She said, “please” but she meant, “goddammit.”
A variation on the final-girl phenomenon, this story explores the way memories and rationalizations and victim-blaming can creep into our own awareness, even when we know better. Beautiful use of language, truly satisfying.
By Jessie Roy in Flash Fiction Online * 979 Words
My father left me the gogok, tucked between the pages of our family genealogy book: a jade comma that can peel a pregnancy dream off one sleeper and paste it onto another.
A compelling tale of a dream seller, the chasm between the rich and the poor, and parental hopes for their children.
At the End of the World, Meet Me By the Vending Machines
By Catherine Tavares in Heartlines Spec * 800 Words
I met you two years after the outbreak by a vending machine in Idaho. Only one bag of Cheetos was left, and we both wanted it.
Sweet, hopeful, and heartbreaking, all at once.
By Marie Vibbert in Small Wonders * 999 Words
Karl had the delicacy of a hothouse flower. I knew from one glance he’d end up breaking my heart, but we all love to repeat our favorite mistakes.
Vibbert’s stories always surprise me. Here, vibrant physical elements are paired with an exploration of beauty and the misguided ideas surrounding it. The bioscience is fun to contemplate.
By Z.H. Gill in Hex Literary * 782 Words
THE PLAYERS
Cat: stage left—sitting on hind legs, trembling a touch from the shock of the fall.
Snake: stage right—half-coiled around faux-stump and water bowl.
Another WTF story from Hex. Seriously, I love this magazine. This conversation between Cat and Snake is weird and hilarious. Is there a deeper meaning here? Maybe? I don’t care. It’s fun. Give it a read.
By Glenn Orgias in Hex Literary * 993 Words
So, but then he built an honest-to-God anti-gravity living-room and scientists everywhere were like: Shit, he’s a genius.
This story brings together spies, loving parents, asshole scientists, and a bit of violence, in an elegantly structured narrative.
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Bonus spec-adjacent stories, poetry recs, & other cool stuff!
By Pat Foran in Gooseberry Pie Lit * 112 Words
…the ink from our signatures slow-fading like a situationship into the folds of night’s road-not-taken light.
Delightfully surreal, this prose poem invites a close look at its language and images. I spent a good amount of time reading and rereading these gorgeous words. What is the story ultimately about? To me, it’s a celebration of whimsy and weird nostalgia and clever wordplay. Maybe you find different meaning here? That’s the charm of good flash!
By Chelsea Stickle in 100 Word Story * 100 Words
There’s a cemetery under my house where I’ve buried all the old versions of me that didn’t work out…
Clear, direct prose paints a picture of a character driven to perfection, at the cost of sacrificing personality splinters that don’t seem to measure up.
By Jacqueline Parker in The Welkin * 92 Words
Centipedes. Pigeons. Poisonous mushrooms & men in a forest.
In only 92 words, Parker gives us a close-up of the threats many women (& any vulnerable population, really) experience on a daily basis. I admire this story for its rhythm and the way each phrase conjures a distinct, recognizable scene—and the danger inherent in each. By the end, we feel the exhaustion of our unnamed narrator, and we know where that momentary lapse in defensiveness will lead. This story was shortlisted for the 2026 Welkin Prize.
On the longest night of the darkest year
By Melissa Fitzpatrick in The Welkin * 99 Words
Coyotes yelped in the streets, no longer afraid to roam among us.
Beautifully written, I love the way this story evokes a glimmer of hope. I also appreciate the way the narrator is carrying on in the face of very bad times, by making pancakes and talking about jam. Another story on the 2026 Welkin Prize shortlist.
2026 Welkin Prize Read all the winning and shortlisted stories. They’re short and gorgeous, every one.
Looking for speculative poetry? Check out Brian U. Garrison’s poetry rec blog I Like This Poem!
I’m a little late to the party with this, but Foofaraw Press has all kinds of stuff going on, including a new micro fiction imprint, Quotidian Bagatelle, and a podcast of little stories, Foofaraw Frequencies!
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Myna Chang 