Flash Fiction Friday 2023 – Week 13
Flash Fiction Friday continues in 2023. New pieces appear every Friday on my Patreon throughout the year. The minimum pledge to read them before anyone else is $3 per month. and the number of pieces available is tied to the monthly pledge total so the more you support my efforts, the more you’ll get to read. Find out what they’re all about and check out some excerpts from this week’s update in this post.
Excerpts
A Touch of Grace
(…)
Suddenly, something sparkled in the corner of her eye. She turned and glimpsed a glittering, golden butterfly perched on the windowsill. It was small and delicate, with a shimmering spiraling pattern of blue and green on its wings. She gasped with delight and opened the window. The butterfly flew up and out into the sky, and Becky followed it with her dreamy gaze.
And then she fell asleep.
She awoke to find herself in the middle of a bustling city. The sun was setting, the sky painted in brilliant oranges and reds. She breathed in the city air, its bustling energy coursing through her veins. She was wearing a white lab coat, and when she looked down, she noticed that she was carrying a stethoscope around her neck. She realized she was a doctor in her dream.
(…)
His Voice
Craig arrived at Daphne’s apartment with a heavy heart. He was unsure of why she had asked him to come meet her there. He stepped out of the lift and while the city was bustling just a few stories below, there was a stillness to the air that made him strangely unnerved. Craig took a deep breath and walked to the golden door, taking a moment to steady himself before he knocked.
The door opened almost immediately and Daphne stood before him, her blue eyes as intense as ever. She gave him a slight nod in greeting before beckoning him inside. Craig stepped through the door, taking in the soft pastel hues and the delicate furniture. The room was small and intimate, with a single small lamp in the corner providing a dim light.
“It’s nice to see you, Craig,” she said, her voice light but with a hint of something else that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. She motioned for him to sit and he complied, sinking into the armchair that was provided.
(…)
Never Let Love…
The sun was just beginning to dip beneath the horizon when the first of the fishermen noticed the creature in the sea. At first, it was difficult to make out what it was—was it a large fish? A shark? A whale? Or something entirely new?
The three men aboard the Blue Oyster couldn’t take their eyes off the creature. As it drew closer, they noticed she had more in common with a woman than a fish. She seemed to be almost ethereal, her beauty seemingly unearthly. with long, flowing blue hair, and an angular face that was ghostly pale with piercing eyes that were half-open in a trance-like state.
One fisherman ventured closer, plucking up his courage and stretching out his arm towards her. His hand brushed against her cold skin and she stirred. She opened her eyes completely and everyone gasped; Her pupils had an eerie yellow hue, seeming to draw them in with an almost hypnotic pull.
(…)
Sumptuous Feast
The dread of moving had been a heavy weight on my shoulders for weeks. I had always been a timid soul, burdened with an excessive sense of worry, and the thought of changing my environment only increased my unease. But I could not longer deny that the rent was far too high in my previous neighborhood, and that I had to find a new place to live.
It was a laborious effort but I found it at last, a little two-story house hidden in the backstreets of a forgotten corner of the city. The landlord had assured me that it was a quiet and peaceful place, and as I stepped inside for the first time, I had to agree. All around me seemed still and silent, granting me a moment of respite from the confusion and madness outside.
But as I glanced out of the window, I saw my new neighbor, a pale redhead in her early thirties with a green snake tattoo crawling up her right arm and my short moment of peace was immediately shattered. She sat in her lawn chair, her liquid eyes fixed on me, her expression inscrutable.
(…)
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