Flash Fiction Friday 2024 – Week 49

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.

Beneath the Surface

“Admit it, Jack. You married a control freak!” Paul muttered over a beer and a handful of peanuts.
“No, I didn’t!” Jack defended himself as if he had heard the most outrageous thing ever.
“Then why aren’t you drinking, huh?”
“I don’t want to…” he shrugged.
“Right… So she didn’t forbid you to have more than two beers?”
“Of course not!” Jack shook his head and averted his gaze. The limit was actually one, but Paul didn’t need to know that.
The two friends were sitting on the hood of Paul’s car, under a starless sky. It was half-past three in the morning, and all the bars in the neighborhood had already closed. Jack wanted to go home, but he couldn’t leave Paul alone, especially because he was in no condition to drive.
“We should go now,” he said.
“Not until you admit Vicky is a control freak…” Paul munched on the remaining peanuts.
That wasn’t true, Jack thought. Sure, she was possessive and liked to tell him what to wear, what to eat, and how to spend his free time, but that was only because she loved him… perhaps a little too much.

(…)

Release

Karen glanced at her watch – only five minutes until the end of her shift.
“Oh, thank God!” she muttered to herself. The fluorescent lights overhead hummed in a monotonous drone, flickering ever as if they too were weary from the long day. The scent of antiseptic lingered in the air.
Her feet ached, each step a reminder of how many times she had rushed through the labyrinthine hallways of St. Michael’s Hospital that day. Time felt both elastic and fleeting; it stretched when the clock’s hands crawled during a night shift but whipped by in a blur when emergencies erupted. Today was no exception. From comforting anxious families to tending to patients in pain, every minute dripped with responsibility.
Karen rubbed her temples, feeling the tension unwind just as she reminded herself that freedom was mere moments away.
The steady beeping of machines and distant chatter of nurses echoed down the sterile corridor. Each sound seemed to wade through her fatigue like thick molasses, each step towards the exit feeling heavier than the last. She loved her work but there were days she couldn’t stand it. Today, was one of those days.
As the clock struck the hour, she gathered her belongings – the crumpled notepad filled with scribbled notes, a half-empty coffee cup that had long since gone cold, and her well-worn stethoscope. Each item felt like a weight lifted from her shoulders as she slipped them into her bag. With one last glance at the bustling nurse’s station, where a group of colleagues exchanged laughter laced with exhaustion, Karen pushed the double doors open and stepped outside.

(…)

Trust and Obey

The vase flew across the room and hit the wall behind Tabitha. A few inches to the left and it would have hit her straight in the forehead.
“You fucking bitch!” Matthew growled. “How could you do this to me?”
Tabitha recoiled at the fury etched on Matthew’s face, her heart pounding in her chest like a caged animal desperate to escape. With wide eyes, she watched as the fragments of the vase cascaded to the floor, a colorful mosaic of shattered porcelain reflecting the light from the overhead chandelier. Each piece glimmered like a memory – fragile, beautiful, and now violently broken.
“Matthew, please!” she exclaimed. “You’re not thinking straight! I would never…”
“Never what?” He interrupted, his voice rising to a fever pitch. “Never cheat on me? I saw him!”
His heart raced as he clenched his fists, fingers digging into his palms until he was almost certain they would break skin.
“You saw a man leave the house, but that doesn’t mean I was cheating! If you’ll let me explain…”
“Explain what?” he spat, the memories flooding back: the way she laughed by the front door, how they leaned too close for comfort, whispers exchanged like secrets meant for lovers only. “Go on, tell me! I can’t wait to hear what crazy story you’re going to come up with!”

(…)

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