flash fiction

flash: Whenua

Whenua There were three of us already planted in the backyard: Wiremu, Mataī, and me.  ‘Why am I the smallest?’ I ask Mama, looking at my tree. ‘Because you were the youngest, Aroha. Don’t you worry, you’ll grow in time.’ She pushes my hair away from my eyes, and smiles. But not like she used

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Flash Fiction. Before The Show, by Marcelo Medone. Image: a woman lies on a theatre stage beneath the cosmos.

flash: Before The Show

Before the show Reading time: about 2-3 minutes You will walk slowly into the rehearsal room of the theatre, you will turn on the lights hanging from the ceiling, you will contemplate yourself full-length in the large wall mirror, you will see a beautiful woman in her thirties, with features as firm as her character,

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Flash fiction. Better Things, by Harry Dobbs. Image: A man looks out of a cafe window with his head in his hands. On the street outside the cafe, there is a tree, a man, and a woman walking oast with some dogs.

flash: Better Things

Better Things Reading time: about 2-3 minutes A postcard of a bear. I flip it over and read Dave’s writing (It’s me! Missing you.), then drop it behind the coffee machine, a space normally reserved for brown envelopes and CVs. Sandra sprays and wipes the empty tables for the second time this hour, while I

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Flash Fiction. The B Word, by Stephen Newland. Image: a silhouette of a chalkboard with an anatomical drawing of a bluebottle fly. On the left of the image, a swarm of flies.

flash: The B Word

The B Word Reading time: about 2-3 minutes They found the dead badger on the side of a country lane. Miss Breeze coughed and called the field class to order. ‘The life cycle of Calliphora Vomitoria,‘ she said, gesturing with her arms, ‘commonly known as the bluebottle fly, revolves around a corpse.’ The class gawped.

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