Flash Club November Flash Club 2020

[Barbara]

Hello All,

I hope everyone is well and writing.

November's Flash is now open.

To participate, use the writing prompt as well as the word limit given to write a piece of flash fiction, then post below to make your entry. Please make your entry anonymous by clicking the anonymous button. (Note: only Guardians can see who posts.) So take a risk and try something new.

To make the Flash Club the special place it is, we need your votes. You can vote by clicking 'like' or 'love'. If a piece grabs you, please hit the 'like' button. If a piece sweeps you off your seat, please hit 'love'. At the end of the month, I will count up the votes. In a tie, 'Love' will trump 'like'. The entry with the most votes will be the winner. Please don't vote for your own. The Flash Club isn't about about winning. It's about trying something new. It's about grabbing readers with words, and gaging the response. Self-votes don't show if the writing works for the reader.

The most generous voter will get a mention. At the end of the month I will announce the most supportive Flash Voter who will get a special shout-out. The prize? Kudos. And please don't just hit every entry to ensure a win. That's not helping the author. The voting is designed to help writers gage the effects of their work.

And please keep to the word count. Writing to a specific brief is good practice. I'll be strict be strict

when it comes to word count. Those entries which go over the set limit won't be in the running for the top spot. They will be left up, but they can't win. You don't have to use up the full limit. If you want to say something in only 10 words, that's perfectly fine.

The competition is open to all members. Feel free to enter more than one. The main rule here: we ask you not to critique.

Here is this month's prompt.

Word count: 150 (oh, I'm mean, aren't I...)

 

[Anonymous]

Just call an engineer" said the wife. "He'll put the new digital tv aerial up tomorrow."

Six cans of Stella later, I thought I'd have a crack at it myself.

I dont know what the screaming's all about.

Looks alright to me.

 

[Anonymous]

"Once they get your name, you'll never get out!"
"Don't be stupid, Henry. It's not a prison."
Henry shoved Dan until his head stuck through the hole in the fence. "Tell me what you see, punk. Tell me you'd go there of your own free will."
I glanced around. Dirty place, no trees, no garden, no water trough. Flattened and hard ground, well-trod tracks through the weeds. None near the fence. The building glared in the sun, broken windows barred up or wired over. Hollow black eyes stared from within. I wasn't sure if they were real people, but the eyes didn't blink.
"I don't wanna go to school," I whispered, and dragged myself back through the hole. "Ever."

 

[Anonymous]

RESURRECTION​

The village is empty. School desks shut. Abandoned after the storm.

A sheet of paper flits across a room. A breeze blows it through a broken window.



Wind. Hard wind. Hard as a wrecking ball.

Wind shattered the windows, shards sinking to the bottom of a newly formed river.

Yesterday.



Today, the sky is still.

Children search through a stream, lift out pieces of river-glass and squeal with delight.

An artist finds a sheet of paper: a sketch, smudged and indistinct, once drawn by a child’s hand.

She finds glass: perfect irregular pieces, their edges smoothed by time.



Tomorrow, in her gallery, people will stare at a beautiful stained-glass window.

 

[Anonymous]

A liberal tries to make sense of the world

“See that?” he said, pointing to the window. “I smashed it.”

I folded up my Guardian.

“That’s so brave,” I said. “Was it a call for help? An cry of rage echoing through the ages? What is it that you’re angry about? Is it that Black Lives do really Matter? Or do you feel like the Forgotten White Folk? Is it that you hate Trump’s battering of liberal, decent values, or is it that he represents all that makes you mad? Does Brexit make you sick, or do you fear a return to our European overlords? Is it sex? Too much? Not enough? Is the LGTBQ community? Are you with them or against them? Or are you ambivalent? Do you hitch yourself to each passing outrage just to feel the anger, to feel the rage. Tell me my friend. What is it?”

“Nah mate,” he shrugged. “Just bored weren’t I.”

 

[Steve C]

Property for Rent

Location: Close to University. Would suit those looking for cheap and convenient accommodation. Up to sixteen students sharing.

Bedrooms: Two upstairs. 8x8 and 6x8 Back room on ground floor a possibility.

Lounge: Yes. Walk through from front door. 8x8

Kitchen: Yes. Walk through to outdoor toilet.

Bathroom: Yes, upstairs. Currently in use as a third bedroom.

Additional: A well ventilated and desirable property with scope for improvement. Excellent location. Gas and electricity meters installed.

Rental: £ 1,650/month. Negotiable

 

[Anonymous]

The Bright Side of Town

I see them at night; across the greenbelt. Behind their brooding picket fences. Flat screens flickering in their living rooms. Double-glazed windows fogged by air conditioners. No mosquitos, no moths. No night breeze. Cocooned at night in clean, carpeted clones of their office cubicles.

Me. A bedroll, a battered Jetboil, a headlamp, and a book. Dry leaves skitter across my concrete floor when I lay down.

I like my broken window. It lets the fireflies in.