Favorite Flash Fiction - Literary Engineer

When Suzi over at Literary Engineer told me how much she enjoyed my A-Z stories and asked if I'd allow her to post some of her favorites, maybe have me answer a question or two, my response was an absolutely honored yes.   

If you'd like, head on over to see if your favorite stories match up with hers, learn how some of those odd little stories came about, and share your thoughts on whether writing short is easier than writing long.  

Hope to see you there!

IWSG: You Are Not Alone

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I'm not feeling nearly as insecure as usual…and I have you all to thank for that.

My theme for The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014 was flash fiction - stories of 100 words or fewer, corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. I was extremely nervous about putting mostly un-vetted and/or unpublished stories out there. I second guessed myself all the way up to - and including - the publication of the "A" post. 

Then you started reading, and saying such nice things in the comments. You kept coming back, kept reading, kept commenting. I'm not sure if you'll ever know how much I appreciated that, how much I needed to read your comments at that point in my writing career. You all reinforced my writing dreams and goals, and reminded me of why I do what I do. 

Sometimes you have to fight through those insecurities, those fears in order to experience certainty, success. But here's the thing - you are not fighting alone. You've got a whole blogging community at your back, at your side. We're ready - to encourage, support, sympathize, help. We're just waiting on you to make your move, to take that chance. And when you do? Our cheers will shake the Internet. 

Go for it! 

Motivational Monday . . . and The Blogging from A-Z Reflections Post 2014

I HATE HOUSEWORK!

YOU MAKE THE BEDS,

YOU DO THE DISHES ---

AND SIX MONTHS LATER 

YOU START ALL OVER AGAIN."

(Joan Rivers)

Okay, it's not that bad in my house right now. It's not pretty, but you know what? I don't mind so much anymore. I have so many other things I want to put time and effort and energy into. Housework is no longer a priority. It's something I've come to learn in general but it was The Blogging from A-Z Challenge this April that really solidified it for me. 

During this year's Challenge, I was not only a participant but a Minion (Hi, Alex and fellow Ninja Minions!) My theme - a flash story of 100 words or fewer for every letter of the alphabet - pushed me creatively. I visited lots of blogs - regular and new ones. I commented and returned comments. I "followed" and was "followed." I entertained and was entertained. I learned so much about so many things by reading all of your blogs, I'm pretty sure I'm a lot smarter now than I was at the beginning of April. 

I did less vacuuming, less dusting, less laundry, less cooking. Don't get me wrong - no one went unfed, no one went unclothed (except the tortoises, but they prefer it that way.) I was reminded that life is not about how clean my house is; it's about how full and creative and energized and interesting my world is.  

And you all help make it that way. Thank you.

Z is for . . . ZERO CHANCE OF MOVING

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

ZERO CHANCE OF MOVING

Mom asks about his imaginary friend.

“Her name is Cindy, she lives in the hall closet. Her face is all zippers - eyes, nose, everything.” Barry doesn’t like to think of Cindy’s long, stretched out mouth. When she whispers to him, the tracks of her teeth click, gnash.

“Sweetie, it’s only the luggage all stacked up. Daddy got it down from the attic, for when we move next week.”

“Cindy won’t let us.”

But Mom walks away.

“She likes it here,” he whispers.

In the closet, Cindy grins. Her zippered mouth, now glinting with saliva, slowly opens.

*****

Y is for . . . YET SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

YET SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

Clara fumbles her hat, her scarf. Arthritis slows her, doesn’t stop her. She finally maneuvers her wheelchair to the big glass doors. She smiles at the blizzard outside, pretends she’s in a snow globe.

The doors slide open, close. Orderlies and nurses rush, changing shifts. Clara must hurry. She’ll be spotted, scolded, taken back to her room.

She wheels herself into the storm, the cold breath-taking, memory-giving. She sticks out her tongue, catching snowflakes as delicate as lace, as fleeting and fragile as life.

She nods, satisfied. They still taste the way they did when she was a girl.

*****

X is for . . . WHAT'S EATING XAVIER?

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

WHAT'S EATING XAVIER?

Xavier works the old Dudley house alone. The landscape crew sniggers, says its haunted. They give him the hardest jobs, the crappiest equipment. They’re just jealous - of his youth, his good looks.

He’s daydreaming of being rich, famous when the mower rams into the house’s foundation. The machine judders, its gears gnashing. The motor burns hot then dies a cold death.  

Xavier curses. He finds the hole - a small, dry mouth edged with soft, crumbling teeth. He can hide it, no problem. He smiles. 

Until something inside the hole unfurls its tongue and licks him.

*****

W is for . . . WHALE WATCHING

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

WHALE WATCHING

Cheryl waits on the sagging porch, the cutting spade resting across her thighs. Granddaddy used it to saw off whale blubber. She’s heard he used it for other things, too, but its stains tell no tales, fiction or otherwise.

Dusk descends. Varmints scuttle in the junkyard’s bowels. The trap clatters.

Cheryl smiles at the boys’ panicked cries. She’s sick of their nasty pranks and cruel words – Cheryl the Whale.

At 262 pounds, her flesh slushes loose and sweaty within her clothes as she lumbers across the yard, cutting spade in hand, ready to carry on the family tradition.

*****

V is for . . . VISIONS

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

VISIONS

“Something bad is coming. Soon.” 

Nana says this every week, swears she has The Sight or some such nonsense.

“You feel it, too.” Her breath reeks of rotting gums and applesauce. 

I roll my eyes, while hers gleam with glee. She feasts on fear the way vultures feed on mangled flesh. Her ragged nails bite into my arm.

“Ow.” Crazy old lady. I close my eyes, digging deep for patience. But what I find instead shakes me with bone-shuddering terror, soul-shattering despair. I slip to my knees, gape up at her.

Nana cackles, pats my cheek. “Told you so.”

*****

U is for . . . UPWARD MOBILITY

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

UPWARD MOBILITY

Like litter, dirty and crumpled, she skitters down the sidewalk, passing the homeless shelter she slept in before the apocalypse.

She was once a creature of alleys and underpasses. She was once a victim, a survivor, a thief, a murderer.

She still is.

Inside The Tivoli Tower, she hurries through the ravaged lobby. The stairwell’s dark throat spews her out onto the highest floor. She barricades the penthouse’s door, puts away her supplies. She wraps herself in a burgundy cashmere robe.

On the balcony, she pours herself a drink from a bottle older and more expensive than she’ll ever be.

*****

T is for . . . TROPHY WIFE

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

TROPHY WIFE

Paul wanted younger, prettier. Linda never measured up.

Until now.

He buffed her urn then stepped back, admiring how she looked beside his new TV.

*****

S is for . . . SACRIFICE

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

SACRIFICE

Lena thought Mark was chivalrous, heroic. She felt protected, a lit match cupped inside his palm.

Now Mark says her lot in life is to be his. Their son cries, clings to her, alert to his father’s jealousy.

Mark slams her down, slaps her, beyond caring about the neighbors. She’s thankful the baby is far away, safe.

He whispers, “You’re the light in my darkness. You burn only for me.”

But Lena’s not the only flammable one. Pinned beneath him, she flicks the lighter she hid earlier. She smiles even as Mark screams, even as her own skin sizzles.

*****

R is for . . . NO RETURN

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

NO RETURN

The sleek, blood-red convertible was rented, as was the boy toy behind the wheel, but I had no intention of bringing either of them back.

*****

Q is for . . . A QUESTION OF WHEN

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

A QUESTION OF WHEN

The battle - Bad Thing versus Brian - rages constantly inside Brian’s mind. He stares at his army men lined up on the floor. He’s supposed to ignore bullies. Bad Thing is a bully.

But Bad Thing whispers, itchy words that make Brian want to scratch his brain until it bleeds. He smacks two soldiers across the room instead.

Bad Thing jeers, goads.

Brian kicks away all the army men.

Bad Thing licks underneath Brian’s skin, laps up all his strength.

Brian moans, crawls under his bed.

Bad Thing is going to win. It’s only a question of when.

*****

P is for . . . POWERLESS

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

POWERLESS

The power goes out with a pop. Darkness descends hard, fast. Agnes stumbles from the shower. She wraps herself in a towel, awaits the return of light, of beautiful normalcy.

She squints through the rain-streaked window. Shadows shift in the night. Who’s out there now, in the rain?

Moonlight licks the window like a lover’s tongue. It is then Agnes realizes it’s not raining.

Saliva slicks the glass. Rotting fingers smear the shining trails like a child crafting a message in paints. A runny egg yolk yellow eye blinks.

Behind her, the bathroom doorknob rattles.

Agnes lives alone.

***** 

O is for . . . THE ORNAMENT

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

THE ORNAMENT

At the party, she hangs from his arm like a sparkly bauble. First mistress, now second wife.

Accusations, sneers shatter her into shards of shame.

*****

N is for . . . NUDE BEACH

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

NUDE BEACH

Lisa and her dollies lay naked in the backyard, pretending they’re sunbathing at Hidden Cove.

A shadow looms. She smiles, reaches. Daddy.

But it’s not.

*****

M is for . . . MASK

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

MASK

Mama always makes me wear a mask. She says I’m ugly as the sin that made me, says I’ll be handsome enough to go without one when hell freezes over, when pigs fly.

When I leap from our roof, I am hiding a smile inside my pig mask.

*****

L is for . . . LAST CALL

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

LAST CALL

He rowed out onto the lake then slid into the water. He gulped it down, just like he did the vodka that wouldn’t kill him after all.

*****

K is for . . . THE KNISH

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

THE KNISH

Edna wanders the farmers’ market, another lonely old woman trying to lose, and find, herself in the crowd.

A knish stand appears as if conjured from her childhood’s Brooklyn neighborhood. The old man hands her the warm, doughy potato goodness. Grease seeps through the wrapper, coats her fingers. The first bite takes her home - to the corner deli, to Italian ices and chocolate egg creams, to boys playing stickball, to wishing Tony Lombardi would notice her….

“That’s three dollars, Miss.” The old man grins, winks.

Blushing like a fool, she pays, and catches a glimpse of his name tag.

Anthony.

*****

J is for . . . JUMP ROPE

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

JUMP ROPE

Liza drags the jump rope behind her. She pretends it’s her pet snake, pretends it’s okay no other little girls want to play with her.

*****