Curious Flash Fiction by Simon J. Wood
(400 words) Old man Tatum had been dreaming of his grandchildren, Sonny and Sarah. They’d all been treading dry pine needles in a huge forest, on their way somewhere. He couldn’t remember where. Then he was aware of pressure on his legs. In an eye blink, he realised someone was sitting on the bed. A young woman, skin as pale as the full moon burning through the curtained window. He thought his heart would pound right out of his chest, then she smiled, and suddenly he was calm.
(400 words) Leah glances anxiously around the waiting room. Everyone looks so calm. How the hell can that be? The waiting room is dim, perhaps a dozen men and women of all ages sit, staring ahead as though unseeing. The door opens and a bright light behind him silhouettes the towering figure of Dr. Chansette, a giant cockroach, six feet high. His antennae wave. “Miss Leah Hope?”
Until the Nows Come Home by PETER RUNFOLA (400 words) “Honestly, I really just don't feel like doing that – or anything, truly – right at the moment. But ... later? Yeah, sure - I'll do it later.” So says This Moment. “Yeah, right – that's my name – lovingly coined by my dear mother, Here, & equally dear dad, Now.” “And, they're both quite proud of their little brainstorm ... in name anyway. Now {oops, sorry, Dad} if only I could live up to the immediacy imbued into my very being.“
(400 words) Aspects of the cottage were unusual to say the least. A large white, winged-devil gargoyle hung to the left of a handwritten sign - Haunted Cottage. Julie and I exchanged glances. “Welcome, you found the place then!” A short woman in her sixties with a mop of long, incongruously-black hair answered the door. “I’m Mary. Come in.”
(400 words) Persistence had paid off. The lady in the purple coat had shadowed the hunt many times without success, but today she came upon the hounds, surrounding a fox, the huntsmen yet to arrive. A window of opportunity!
(400 words) “Control of the media. That’s what’s going on!” Frank’s pale blue eyes were staring, his face flushed, and his mop of ginger hair tousled. “I’m telling you what I saw. There were a couple of hundred others, at least. They saw it too!” “Calm down darling, I’m not saying I don’t believe you. It’s just ....”