All of the writers I’m linking to today did way more than “pretty well”. Flash Fiction is hard to write. It takes critical thinking, imagination – lots of imagination – and really good flow. IMO, good flow from one section or scene to the next is really important for a satisfying read. If, as a reader, I can’t connect the dots of a story, I lose interest. Now, that’s just my personal opinion and there are plenty of readers who love experimental, tangential pieces. Me, I don’t want someone to have to ‘splain it to me. But, man, do I ever love a clear, well written piece of fiction and these selections fit the bill. And for the first time I have a twofer so you get double delight from L Mari Harris. Enjoy!

“We’re All Just Trying to Keep Our Shit Together at the DMV” by L Mari Harris in Craft Literary

Sobby Robby’s mom catches her breath and sees me staring at her. What sounds like a yelp escapes my throat, and everyone around me stares.

I yelp again and point at Sobby Robby’s mom across the room. “It was her.”

“A Closed Door with a Keyhole” by L Mari Harris in Okay Donkey

I’d pick at her fries and tell her about my great-great aunt’s renegade life, how people called her spinster but they were dead wrong, how she had the ghosts of our ancestors from the old country to talk to and that suited her just fine. I’d tell her I could understand what it’s like having so many people in my life that I can’t wait to get rid of them for an hour or two.

“Your Heart, in a Thimble and on its Way to the Thinnest Home in the World” by Pat Foran in Truffle Magazine

What do you do, where do you go, when you’ve got a heart that can’t read between the messaging lines because who the fuck can? When you’ve got a heart that needs. When you have an elusive, illusory feeling of home that leaves you hanging.

“But They’d Never Believe Me” By Tommy Dean in Five South

Why do I want all the bad things to come from some other cause, refusing to choose? Your father called it a character flaw. The way he made me take a shot in the preacher’s office, straightening my tie, his face reddening, rage a guitar string I’d strummed, one that I can still feel reverberating.

“ORANGE YELLOW AND BLACK OR EVERYTHING IS ARCHIE”
by Patricia Q. Bidar in Pidgeonholes

I am too old for Archie comics. I don’t care. I feel the comic strip characters have wisdom to impart about my failed attempts at friendship. Yellow-haired Betty is like no one I have ever known: wholesome in gingham and shorts. She smells of vanilla and clean sweat. Black-haired Veronica, on the other hand, is like the Mean Carries at school. Nobody is rich in Rochester, but strata exist and are never forgotten.

“When Your Girlfriend Says She’s Catwoman” by Candace Hartsuyker in No Contact Magazine

You turn a corner and there’s your girlfriend. You remember the first time she surprised you with her costume, how she wriggled eel-like into the spandex, the costume molding to the contours of her body perfectly. You remember how she leaned over and whispered in your ear that she always wanted to be Catwoman, ever since she saw Michelle Pfeiffer’s pouty, poisonous lips.