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.
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Starting with a craft article on story endings from flash pro Tommy Dean:
Ending on exposition or thoughts can take the reader out of the story by not allowing them a chance to make the final inference about what the character’s life will be like after the story ends!
Great advice for writers (and editors!). I’ll continue harping on this until I don’t see any more wondrous stories deflated by a clumsy summary sentence at the end!
By Faith Allington in Kaleidotrope * 687 Words
How tenderly this world cradles him.
I had a hard time choosing which snippet to post, because this story is packed full of gorgeous, frightening, heartbreaking prose. I think this line is the story’s heart, and its warning. I cheered for these characters in the end.
By Andrew Kozma in Flash Fiction Online * 997 Words
The atmosphere is ecstatic, the way the tongue glories in the final meal before an execution.
I found a real sense of claustrophobia, of being trapped, as the protagonist tries to escape the oncoming horrors. Readers may find this story analogous to whatever current societal injustice haunts them most; I certainly did. The author makes good use of surprising images and specific language to bring dread into clear focus. This one will stick with me.
By Abigail Koury in Flash Fiction Online * 982 Words
The few, new, supple, young fingers—must be a recent repair by the store—stuck out like the bright young children at the decrepit school.
Weird horror, indeed! What does this story say about art and sacrifice? About the value society assigns to the humanities? And why fingers?? This is delightfully disturbing.
Marianne in an Unlit Bar on the Outer Curve of Human Space
By Rodrigo Culagovski in Baffling * 825 Words
The rays of the triple suns don’t reach far enough, so she’s half in the dark with threefold shadows hiding her face.
I love the noir tone of this story, and the narrow feeling of inevitability even within an epic sweep of time. Great setting, too.
Just Before the Mission Gulch Fire
By Taylor Jones in Small Wonders * 1000 Words
It was my idea; I’d been hearing coyotes singing in the evenings, their wavering voices awakening a vague, uncertain urge to go looking for them.
I was immediately drawn into the setting and the plight of the narrator. This is an unflinching glimpse into human nature and cruelty—the narrator is not idealized—which brings heft to the satisfying conclusion.
There Must Be Something Left of the Minotaur in Me
By Adam Fell in Uncharted Magazine * 500 Words
My tongue swelling in my mouth. I am nearing the doorway. I am nearing the doorway.
Winner of Uncharted’s recent flash fiction contest, this piece screams dread and terror. The author uses a few perfect details to show the depth of horror and cruelty, embracing informal style to create a true sense of immediacy. Expertly done, in only 500 words!
By Jamey Gallagher in Necessary Fiction * 426 Words
You can’t google something like “how do you harvest a penis?” Or, you can, but the results will not be helpful.
This story is darkly funny and uncomfortable, which seems fitting given the title. The insightful ending line brings it all into focus.
By Laila Miller in Flash Frontier * 250 Words
…and it’s blinding, the end of me.
I am definitely not teary-eyed over an iceberg. Well, maybe I am. Miller has a way of bringing the Earth to life in a way that speaks to our collective humanity—or at least, to those of us willing to listen. Please join me in begging this author to start a website so we can more easily access her blazing environmental micros!
By Justin Ocelot in 100-Foot Crow * 100 Words
Silk gowns twirl in the moonlight. One-by-one, coats and jackets, as pressed and new as the gowns, join in the dance.
A charming drabble that speaks to self-confidence and the desire to help others find their happiness.
By Chris Scott in Claudine * 81 Words
Everything the same except this time…
A single-sentence piece with great details and fantastic use of inference. A lot of story told in 81 words!
By Cate McGowan in Hex Literary * 734 Words
Some pods carried a receipt for a small mercy, a check that would never be cashed but named the true amount, a single word someone had meant to say and hadn’t.
Inventive flash, with a hint of wonder and a lot of emotional punch. I enjoyed the originality of the story, and the ambiguity of meaning.
By Seoung Kim in OTHERSIDE * 987 Words
I won’t abandon you, though. What if time keeps on going without you?
I’m always happy to visit an epic space opera, and this story has all the vibes. The love, heartbreak, and sacrifice bring a rich burst of emotion to the piece.
I also recommend reading the entire Flash Fiction Online April issue, which has a neat numbers theme. One of my stories is included, but I would have loved this issue regardless!
Bonus Short Stories!
By Samantha Murray in Adventitious * 2558 Words
Ben is healthy, intelligent, and active, everything he was engineered to be.
Expert use of form. The emotion in this story is raw, and feels absolutely possible. Scary stuff, beautifully crafted.
Curriculum for Girls Who Will Survive
By Nadia Radovich in OTHERSIDE * 2,994 Words
All the light is bending toward her. Your hair is rising off your shoulders and streaming toward her. Your vision is turning out and out and out.
A creepy plague has taken over, and a group of fierce mothers band together to give their daughters a fighting chance. It’s hard to not love these women, and the children they raise. The format provides a clear scaffold for the unfolding events.
An Encounter at the Dawn of the Time War
By JT Petty in Lightspeed * 1428 Words * Audio Available
She said “lensing devices” were the earliest iterations of the technology. Judas holes a little way into the past or future.
I’m always drawn to stories about time wars. What makes this so compelling, to me, is the beginning of each section—set so firmly in our recognizable time, but just a little out of sync. And how spectacular is “Judas holes” in this context?! The evil dudes are almost certainly hoping for this sort of weaponry. Give this one a read!
Lotus Dew for the Emperor’s Tea
By Vanessa Fogg in Lightspeed * 7593 Words * Audio Available
And every day, he drank a cup of tea brewed in the dew of lotus flowers, which had been collected that morning from the lotuses that grew in a heaven-touched lake at the easternmost point of his palace grounds.
A gorgeous fairy tale of greed, treachery, and time. Fogg’s work is always filled with lyricism and enticing images, and she doubles down on those attributes with this compelling novelette. The podcast is very good, but I advise reading the text yourself so you can soak up the language.
Bonus Poetry!
[minutes between city and forest #4]
By Ceridwen Hall in Strange Horizons * 102 Words
They whisper to one another in the dark. Starlight pierces the occasional feather.
A haunting prose poem. I love the images and mystery, and the sense of trepidation that permeates the piece.
By Tracy K. Smith at Poetry Foundation
After dark, stars glisten like ice, and the distance they span
Hides something elemental. Not God, exactly. More like
Some thin-hipped glittering Bowie-being—a Starman
Or cosmic ace hovering, swaying, aching to make us see.
I was reminded of this poem by Lit Hub during their daily feature in honor of National Poetry Month. If you can get past the gauntlet of popup ads, you can find a lot of great work featured there. This poem makes me cry every time I read it, probably because of the way it evokes so much buried emotion. Or maybe I just love the words. That’s enough, isn’t it? If you like this one, check out Smith’s collection Life On Mars (Graywolf, 2011).
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Myna Chang 