Category: Flash Fiction

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Moonshiners

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Barney, be quiet, for God’s sake. Don’t alert the whole county that we’re out here,” Lester whispered.

“I’m trying, Lester, but the leaves and limbs on this forest floor make noise when you walk on them.”

“The moonshine still is right over here, Barney. Behind the old car. Just stand right there.”

Lester grabs the something that turns out to be a camouflage tarp and pulls it loose. A moonshine still was under it. Barney got the supplies for the mash to make the ‘shine out of the truck and they went to work. A combination of water, cracked corn, sugar, and yeast. Lester told Barney to go on home.

Lester was serving as the guard of the still that night. Before Barney left, he got Lester’s guns out of the truck. A pistol and an automatic rifle, an AR-15. That should take care of snoops and lawmen.

Posted in Flash Fiction

Morphed

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“My God, Nathan, let’s stay out of that old house,” Karen said.

Nathan and Karen were college students doing a field study on water pollution in the Everglades in South Florida. They had spent most of the morning taking water samples from the swamp. South of Everglades City, they had happened on an old, deserted house.

Nathan went into the house, wanting to explore. Karen followed.

Nathan reached to grab the banister and Karen screamed no. On the post, there was an otherworldly green lizard-like creature.

“Polluted water isn’t all there is here,” he thought, jumping away.

 

Photo credit by Shaktiki Sharma

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Material Life

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The doctor didn’t know how he was going to get through the day. The same way he got through the other days, he supposed. He hated these people, these patients, that came in to see him. So needy. So many of them.

It was 8 a.m. and the doctor was already in his office, going over charts for today and filling prescription requests from yesterday. Too much was expected from doctors now. The money just wasn’t worth it.

A knock at his door. The Director of the Practice came in. He was fired! He told him to clear out his office. Patients had been complaining for months, he said. He didn’t examine them. Some were having complications. They got incorrect prescriptions.

He wouldn’t be able to support his life. His wife had left him. His children were grown and gone. He didn’t need the big life, the big house anyway. For the first time in his life, he could do what he wanted on the little bit of savings he had.

He went home, packed a things, and hit the road. He was free and the happiest he’d been in years. He would make it.

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Piano Girl

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Gracie loved her piano. She started taking piano lessons at four. She could play the classical musicians at seven. At ten, she was an accomplished pianist. She played when she was happy or hurt. She played four hours a day.

Gracie had a wonderful piano teacher when she got to college – Mrs. V. Mrs. V said she could help her get a partial scholarship to a big music school in the east. Only partial. Gracie’s family had no money for the rest. Gracie understood. She kept playing.

Until one day she didn’t. There was no time. She had to go to work and she studied for better jobs when she returned home. She closed her beloved piano for many years.

Years later, when Gracie didn’t have to work anymore, she started playing again. It took some time, but she remembered it all. It still brought her joy. Wasn’t that the point, after all?

 

Posted in Flash Fiction

Siblings of the Heart

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Mary lived in the country, outside a small town. Ben’s family moved next door. She was ten and he was six. Ben’s sister, Dina, was one year old.

In the summer, they played outside. Boy games. Baseball. They camped in a tent in Mary’s backyard. They were imaginative like kids are. They would have been lonely without each other.

They would lie on a blanket on a hill in the yard and watch the clouds overhead and name their shapes.

They grew up and drifted apart. Much later in life, they all found each other again. Siblings of the heart.

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Windfall

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“It’s impossible to get a good price for cattle nowdays, Desiree,” Clint said as he passed through the kitchen.

“What’s wrong, honey?” she replied.

“I’ve taken all the cattle to Ed Davenport to be evaluated and priced except that one calf that’s too young. The price of cattle is pretty low. I’m just afraid we won’t get the price we need to change our business model.”

Clint and Desiree had inherited Clint’s father’s ranch and were looking to start a large organic farming operation in place of raising cattle. They had environmental concerns. One was the bee population in their area of the U.S.

The phone rang. It was Ed. The price he gave Clint for the cattle would more than give them the startup capital for their dream. They danced around the kitchen, celebrating.

FFfAW

Posted in Flash Fiction

Snowball Fight

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Daniel, this the first snow in five years. It’s beautiful, but I wonder what it means?”

“Yes, Kate. Since that very warm winter we had in 2017, the weather during the last five years has been unheard of across the U.S. as well as right here in Kentucky.”

“Daniel, when were growing up, and even as young adults, we had big snows and brutal cold here. Now that type of weather is only in northern Canada.”

“Kate, let’s just go take a walk in the snow and enjoy it. We still have coats, don’t we?”

“Snowball fight!”

Posted in Flash Fiction

Fear of Flying

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Violet had never been afraid of flying. She was flying to her new home in South Florida late this afternoon. She was terrified. She had scheduled an appointment with her sleep doctor for something to take the edge off so she could even board the damn plane. He would also have the results of her sleep tests.

She was shell-shocked when she walked out of his office. He had given her a prescription for her fear of flying along with her diagnosis. PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He wanted to know what had happened since he saw her last.

She knew now what was wrong. The last time she had been at an airport. The airport in St. Louis. A traumatic experience. The man she loved had flown away – forever.

Violet put the prescription in the trash. That was not going to destroy her life.

Posted in Flash Fiction

Dolly

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Caroline, you have disobeyed me,” her mother said, slurring her words, as she stepped toward her daughter. “Give me that doll you have behind your back.”

Caroline sobbed. Her favorite aunt gave her Dolly. Her aunt that was so nice to her. She would not give it to her mother.

“No,” she shouted. “I didn’t disobey.”

Her mother staggered toward her and grabbed Dolly from behind her back. She was drinking and she dropped Dolly on the hard floor. When Caroline looked, Dolly’s stuffing was all over the floor.

“You killed her,” she screamed at her mother. “My only doll.”

Posted in Flash Fiction

The Light Show

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Cyrus had worked all day. A convention was coming to Las Vegas. A convention of Harley-Davidson owners and bikers. The convention hotel was planning a light show for them on the Strip as they rolled into town tonight and a crew of technicians, including Cyrus, had been installing the equipment. It was finally done. Now to sit back in his room, overlooking the strip, and watch the fun.

There they came. Those beautiful bikes! Hundreds of them.They stopped at the barrier erected on the strip, before getting to Cyrus’s room.

The light show started. Lights coming from everywhere. They all sat still in awe. They didn’t expect the finale. A chorus of white angels in the sky before them.  Just a little touch thrown in. There were gasps in the crowd. All the bikers revved their bikes at once. Cyrus heard later it was a great hit!