2023 Flash Fiction Winning Stories

​

Enduring Love - Elizabeth Taylor

Bastard! I knew he was cheating, but I never thought he’d be so brazen. He walks through the carpark, looking sharp in that shirt I bought last Christmas, a bunch of roses clutched to his chest.

Alarmed, I scream, ‘What do you think you’re playing at?’

He ignores me! Doesn’t even look my way.

Well, two can play that game. I follow him to the restaurant’s bar and glower from a booth in his eyeline.

When his whore arrives, his grip tightens on the flowers. ‘I’m sorry. My wife passed away recently and I’m not sure I’m ready.’

​

Upon Receipt - JA Bowler

Dear customer

We are delighted you are using the Global E3 Deluxe. Our beautiful product is finely-tuned to provide eons of support and we are sure you will be thrilled with the multitude of premium experiences it offers.

 

We stress the importance of heeding the section, ‘How to Care for your World’. Failure to follow instructions will cause configuration errors resulting in overheating, fluid displacement and significant life-form depletion.

 

In this eventuality, do not be alarmed. After reset, most systems are usually operational within a few million years. Unfortunately, we cannot take responsibility for any loss of data.

​

The Cellar - Diane Simkin 

She was a sweetie, well off by the look of it.

    ‘Come in,’ she invited. ‘I do need a handyman. There’s a problem in the cellar.’

     A door in the hall opened onto dark stairs.

    ‘You go first,’ she said.

    At the bottom, another door. She turned the key. Phew! The stench!

    ‘Light switch is on the left,’ she said.

    Stepping inside, I clicked the switch, but no light. The door slammed behind me.

    Alarmed, I pounded on it.

    ‘No use, mate,’ croaked a voice.

    I froze, ‘Who are you?’

    ‘I came to sell her double-glazing last week.’

​

Late Payment - JD Robins

‘Pension day, George. Time to make our withdrawal.’

No response came from the man slumped in the wheelchair.

She wrapped a scarf around the lower half of his face and slipped dark glasses over cloudy white eyes. ‘Damn it,’ she said as she twisted slippers onto his bloated feet. ‘These get tighter each time.’

Stepping back with hands on hips, she nodded. ‘I think you’ll do.’

After glancing down the street, she jolted the wheelchair over the doorstep and was alarmed to see George’s head fall at an impossible angle as his decaying neck vertebrae finally gave way.

​

Midnight golf - Deborah Hugill

Friday 22 July 2023. 1.30am!

Next door’s alarm went off about 11.30. Lay in bed for a bit hoping it’d stop. They’re in Spain. No chance of them doing anything about it! Hour later I’m over the fence with a golf club. Niblick – nice and heavy. Not that easy, actually. Had to climb on the recycling bin. In my slippers. Par five, I’d say.

No burglars, of course. Or police. What’s the point of getting your house alarmed? Making your neighbours’ lives hell. Obviously.

Did get a bit carried away, maybe. But I’ve always hated those garden gnomes.

​

​