Flash Fiction Friday 2024 – Week 46

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.

Taking the Leap

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Emily asked. “Because once I start, it will be almost impossible to stop.”
“I’ll take the chance,” Walter replied, scratching his chin. “If I don’t go for it now, I’ll chicken out like I always do, so hit me with all you’ve got.”
“Okay then.”
The two friends were sitting in Walter’s apartment, an unassuming space cluttered with stacks of books and two half-empty mugs of coffee that had long since gone cold. The walls were adorned with mismatched artwork: paintings of landscapes and abstract shapes hung haphazardly around them as if they had been caught in a tornado.
Emily reached into her bag, her fingers trembling with anticipation as she pulled out a small pendant, its surface gleaming like a polished gemstone under the dim light. It swayed on its delicate chain as she held it up between them, revealing a captivating blend of azure and emerald hues swirling within its depths. “This is what will help you relax,” she explained. “What do you think?”
Walter leaned forward, his eyes widening as he focused on the pendant. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “Where did you even find that?”

(…)

Thirty Days

“Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?” the red-skinned female demon with four horns and a swishing black tail, asked as she uncrossed her legs.
“The bad first, always,” Jordan replied with a sigh.
“Well, you’re definitely going to die,” the supernatural creature smirked. “I can’t take your brain cancer away.”
“Great!” he gazed out the window of his apartment, regretting the moment he had conjured an emissary of Hell. “If you can’t help me, then why did I bother with the fucking sacrifice.”
“Easy there, tiger. The tumor can’t be removed but I can slow its progress. I can give you thirty more years, give or take, but not for free.”
Jordan turned back to face her, the shadows in the room seeming to warp around her figure, accentuating the glimmer of her crimson skin. Her eyes sparkled like molten gold, and he could feel their weight pressing on him, an invitation wrapped in a promise laced with danger.
“Thirty years?” he echoed, his voice a mixture of disbelief and desperation. “That’s more than I’ll get from any doctor. What’s your price?”
She leaned forward, her tail curling around one of his ankles as if to draw him closer into her world of temptation. “I want your service,” she purred.

(…)

What You Can Become

Alice had always thought of her Aunt Esther’s house as a labyrinth of wonders, each corner filled with the scents of antiquity and the whispers of forgotten tales. The air in the basement was thick with dust motes dancing in slants of light filtering through a barred window high above. It was an otherworldly glow that turned ordinary shadows into lengths of mystery, stretching across the cobblestone floor like ghostly fingers beckoning her closer.
As she stepped down the creaking wooden stairs, the smell of old paper and leather wrapped around her, a comforting embrace from another time. Boxes piled high against the walls held a plethora of relics: tarnished silverware, faded photographs with faces she couldn’t quite place, and trinkets that shimmered under layers of neglect. But what drew Alice’s gaze was an ornate chest resting atop a pedestal, its surface etched with swirling vines and arcane symbols that seemed to pulse as if alive.
With a heart full of curiosity, Alice approached the chest. The latch was cool beneath her fingers, but still smooth despite its age. She could feel the thrum of something magical within; it hummed, promising secrets beyond compare. With a gentle tug, she released the latch, and the lid creaked open like a portal to another world.
Inside lay an ancient book bound in deep crimson leather, its spine cracked but sturdy, and adorned with gold filigree. It contained spells woven through time, incantations murmuring to be awakened.

(…)

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