Flash Fiction

The red-haired woman opened her eyes and screamed. Thick rope looped around her body, binding her to a stake on the village green. Her scream grew louder as consciousness returned. “Ah, it’s awake.” The village elders sat on large chairs beneath the shade of a marquee. Villagers crammed behind them, jostling for the best position […]

I don’t normally write continuation of flash stories as I prefer the tales to be ‘self-contained’, but this is a companion piece to last week’s Third in the Polls. * * * Footsteps echoed along the wood-panelled corridor. Running the length of the east wing, the corridor’s walls groaned beneath the weight of valuable paintings […]

Dai didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but as the new boy, the task fell to him. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping that his leader wasn’t the type to shoot the messenger. “Enter.” A deep voice boomed within the chamber on the other side of the […]

It took Henri sixteen minutes and thirty four seconds to decide which mask to buy. Marc stood by the door, checking the football scores on his phone, while she deliberated over feathers, glitter, metal filigree or Swarovski crystal. He’d already bought his souvenir mask the day before, a dark red leather affair designed to look like the […]

He crouched low on the roof, fingers curled under the edge of the tiles. A city spread out in all directions, a maze of red roofs, haphazard towers and imposing churches. A maze without street names. He’d scaled the Campanile and skittered across these roofs so many times through the portal of his PS3. Enough […]

The man in the pinstripe suit strolled down the alley. To his left lay a Chinese restaurant, to his right, the Joseph Street Mission. He chose to ignore both, heading for a set of stairs at the rear of the mission. His footsteps rang out on the rusty iron, and he descended below street level […]