Curious Flash Fiction by Simon J. Wood
(800 words) The Speaker’s voice was as loud as empty beer trucks in a stone street, and the people at the meeting were jammed up close, cobblestones, that great voice booming over them. Lexor was somewhere on the other side of the hall. She had to get to him.
(1200 words) “Your mission, should you choose to accept it – but actually you don’t have any choice – is to go to 2034 to take out a gentleman named Eldred Banks.” “D’you mean, kill?” I asked. “Well, yes, if you put it like that.” “Why?” My controller smiled. “Well, let’s just say he’ll be in charge of a pretty nasty weapon, and it’ll be best for the future world if he’s not left to his own devices.” “How will I do it, then?” “Don’t worry about it. You’ll have help when you get there. It’ll be a piece of cake for a man of your talent!” “So where am I going, exactly?” He smiled. “Sunglasses and suntan lotion will come in handy, Tim. Tunisia.”
(500 words) It is raining, it’s nine o’clock in the morning, and I’ve taken all the pictures off the walls like that nice Mr. Hughes at UTC asked me to. I do like the rain, I like to stand in it and close my eyes, feel it on my face and on my bare hands and arms. I’d been doing that at eight thirty whilst my tea was brewing when I heard the phone ring. “Good morning, is that Mr. Gordon Smith?” “Yes, who’s calling?” “It’s Roger Hughes, I’m calling from Universal Time Control.” “Who?” “Well, it’s all rather hush-hush, but people think time’s a simple matter, running in one direction at an even pace.”
(300 words) When he looked it wasn’t there. Thomas Edison Jr., the proprietor of Inventions Я Us, shifted a pile of complex schematics, exasperated. Where on Earth was his cigar cutter? Someone knocked. “Come in.” A young Chinese woman entered. Edison adjusted a red bow tie. “Blossom Chan I presume?”
‘Inventions R Us’ read the sign. Blossom Chan knocked hesitantly. “Come in.” She entered, finding herself facing a large mahogany desk. Thomas Edison Jr., wearing a grey suit, pink shirt and yellow bow tie, glanced up from a pile of complicated-looking schematics. “Miss Chan I presume?”