Flash Fiction Friday 2024 – Week 1
Flash Fiction Friday continues in 2024. 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.
All Men
Hey neighbor, what’s up with the frown? Is something the matter? I don’t like to see you like this, so if you want to talk about, please come inside. I’ve got ginger cookies straight out of the oven. You like those, don’t you? Come on in, I insist.
Please, make yourself at home. Can I get you something to drink as well? No? Are you sure? Okay, but you’re not leaving without eating a cookie or two. Sit anywhere you like and I’ll be right with you.
Here you go. They look a little funky but they’re delicious, trust me. I used an old recipe from my mother’s… Oh, but you don’t want to hear anything about that, right? Sorry. Tell me what’s on your mind even though I already think I know.
Your wife… of course. Yeah, I try not to pry in other people’s businesses but it’s obvious you’ve been having problems. Sometimes, I hear you yelling at each other in the middle of the night and it always break my heart. You make such a beautiful couple. What happened this time and why does it seem like you’re about to cry?
(…)
Spiders in Her Bedroom
There was a spider in the bedroom, a little black dot on the wall. It had small legs, almost microscopic. Chloe didn’t like spiders but she could handle small, no problem. She wasn’t concerned. That would be ridiculous!
There were two spiders in the bedroom, one on each end of the room. They were both the same size and when they moved, they did it at snail’s pace. The additional tenant was unwelcome but it wasn’t the end of the world. As long as neither of them came too close to her, Chloe wouldn’t complain or freak out.
There were three spiders in the bedroom, and all bigger than the ones she had seen before. Their legs were longer and their bodies hairier. Webs were starting to show on the ceiling and Chloe hated that. She bit her tongue every time she looked at them but dared not hit them with a shoe or bug spray. Spiders served an important ecological purpose, she knew that. Killing them because of an irrational phobia made no sense. Still, the increase in numbers was getting worrisome. No more, please!
(…)
You Did Great
Daniel’s first visit to a dominatrix was terrifying. He had never been afraid to talk to women but Mistress Pam was different. Whether she was decked in leather or dressed in casual clothes, there was an aura of perfect superiority about her that couldn’t be denied. He felt it the first time he stumbled upon one of her pictures online and the feeling continued to haunt him until he found the courage to fill the contact form on her website and ask for a session. He had trouble stating his likes and dislikes and didn’t expect to hear from her at all, but she proved him wrong. Less than two days later, she wrote him a long reply that made him more curious than ever about the prospect of serving her, but he was never at ease. The info he shared opened him to a new world of vulnerability and if things didn’t work out, he would never forgive himself.
On the day of their session, he arrived a little earlier than expected and was surprised by an informal talk before the proceedings began. It was strange to be sitting across in front of the woman he wanted to treat like a Goddess talking about the weather, clothes, and the latest basketball results, but the human connection made all the difference. He was still scared when he entered the dungeon’s main room and she commanded him to kneel but, little by little, he loosened up. They were both pleased but she was more vocal about it.
(…)
You Don’t Need Games
If ten years ago anyone asked Conrad Hawkes if he was a gamer, his answer would have been a resounding yes. He was a gamer and an eclectic one. He played everything from sport simulators to the most obscure and complex RPGs in existence. He possessed an almost encyclopedic knowledge of existing franchises and could name all titles to come out of them in both alphabetical and chronological order. There were almost no limits to this fascination with video games, and that was made clear by the amount of money he spent each year. Most titles were day-one purchases and all the shiny new gadgets to play them as well. People often criticized him for giving too much attention to the medium but he didn’t care. We all need hobbies, and this was his.
Things were different now. He had gone from buying one/two games a month, to one/two games a year. He had sold away most of his collection and could not remember all the factoids he was once so proud of. He hardly visited the software section of his favorite retail store and online shopping was almost non-existent. He looked at the colorful plastic cases as glorified wastes of time and got angry at anyone who dared to say otherwise. On the rare occasions a part of his old resurfaced, his thoughts were always cut short.
“What are you doing?” His fiancée and soon-to-be wife Samantha asked when she caught him staring at the latest installment of what used to be his favorite platforming series.
(…)
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