Tag: #flashfiction

Posted in Challenges

The Streetcar and the Thief

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Every day, when Madison was on the streetcar going to work, she saw the same man. He was always standing on the corner of High Street and 9th Avenue. He was tall and blonde. Their eyes would meet when the streetcar paused there.

Madison was intrigued by his eyes. They looked to be a very light blue. He had on a suit and carried a briefcase. She assumed he was going to work too.

One day, when Madison’s streetcar got to the corner, the man ran over and jumped on. As the streetcar lurched ahead, he grabbed on to the same pole as Madison.

Madison said, “Going to work?” She smiled.

“Yes,” he said. “I had to finally meet you first.”

They chatted and laughed until the next stop, when Madison had to get off. They promised to meet again on the streetcar.

As Madison walked to her office, she realized her handbag was missing.

Posted in Challenges

The Fiery Panther

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“We have to establish a fire break to keep this fire from jumping the highway,” Roger said to Jeff, who was fighting the fire along with him.

There were 30 firefighters trying to hold back just this section of the fire near U.S. 41 in South Florida, but they were having little luck. It was hot and dry, with winds at 30 mph.

The Chief radioed in and told the men two firefighters were trapped in their section. They were asked to try to get to them. Roger and Jeff looked at each other, then at the roaring flames in front of them. They knew there was no way to get to the men. To try would be suicide. They would have to hope their fire blankets would save them.

As some of the men kept piling up dirt near the highway and others were using the hose, two men came running out of the flames, covered by their fire blankets. Everyone cheered! In the arms of one of the men, under the blanket, was a small, black creature. A tiny Florida panther! Separated from its mother and saved by the firefighters even while they were saving their own lives.

Posted in Challenges

Border Crossing

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Jerry, how much traffic backup is there now? Can you see the statistics?” Rhonda asked..

“You don’t want to know. Hundreds of vehicles. Mostly oil trucks. Some are stuck to the road. The snow is starting to falling.”

Jerry and Rhonda were agents working at the Portal, North Dakota border crossing site. Portal is one of only three 24 hour, seven-day per week border crossings from the U.S. into Canada. It was December. Trade between the U.S. and Canada didn’t wait on the weather.

There was suddenly a break in the action. A big oil rig was stuck in the ice on the road. Some of the workers were trying to help. Jerry jumped up and went to the back room of the checkpoint. Rhonda watched the truck for a moment and then followed him.

Jerry grabbed her and said, “At least it gives me a moment alone with you.”

Posted in Challenges

The Estate

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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She sat down at the end of the counter in her favorite diner. She knew she had to eat while someone else was with her very sick mother. Ruby, the waitress, came and took her order.

Her cousin, Mac, suddenly walked into the diner and sat down beside her.

“Ally, we have to talk about her estate,” he said. “She wanted the cousins to share in the estate.”

“What do you want me to do, Mac? There is no will.”

“Make a fair distribution, Ally.”

“If she wanted you to have anything, she would have made a will,” Ally said.

Posted in Challenges

The Accident

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Sasha drove home from town. As she passed a driveway, she almost crashed her car as something hit her in the driver’s side door. She knew instantly it was a deer. She pulled over and jumped out. There she was, by the car. She had hit hard, destroyed the door, but she was still alive. Sasha loved the deer and fed them daily. She knew she couldn’t move her and she called her neighbor to help. She seemed to have a bad chest injury.

John knew she couldn’t be saved and humanely shot her. Sasha felt her heart break.

Posted in Challenges

Garden Party

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Dah-ling,” Veronica bellowed, as Beatrice walked into the rooftop garden above her penthouse apartment. “Is Constance with you?”

“There she is! Oh, Constance, love. Come sit, both of you. The butler will bring another chair.”

“What a beautiful place, Veronica,” Beatrice said.

There was a fine lunch for the women to eat spread out on the table. They talked as they ate.

Veronica remarked that they had to decide on an admissions policy update for their Women’s Club. She suggested that the dues be raised.

Constance said, “Veronica, if we raise the dues that high, we are pricing many women out of the market.”

“Don’t we only want women in the club who are our kind,” asked Veronica. Beatrice got up and walked over to the railing.

Constance also got up and said, “No, if that’s the kind of club this is, I quit.”

“Well, I never!” said Veronica.

Beatrice and Constance walked out.

Posted in Challenges

Murder and the Bats

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Inspector, we know he is on a bicycle because we think we saw him on the village road, ” said the mayor of the Southern Parish of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in England.

“He may be trying to get into one of the deep dales between the Three Peaks.”

“That sounds like a good place to hide,” said the Inspector.

“What is his crime, sir?” asked the mayor.

“Murder, Mr. Mayor. He was in a pub fight with a man who disparaged his wife,” remarked the Inspector. “Since Yorkshire Dales was close, we were able to track him here fairly easily. Even though I’m new on the job, I’ve heard it was a good place to hide.”

“There are many caves in those dales. Lots of places for a murderer to hide,” the major reflected.

The suspect’s wife walked in to assist with the search.

“He won’t hide in those caves,” she said. “He is afraid of the bats!”

 

Posted in Challenges, FFftPP, Flash Fiction

The Guardian

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Damn. He should have known better than to take this car. It was his brother’s car. He didn’t steal it, but The Guardian didn’t seem to be able to differentiate between stealing and borrowing. It didn’t seem to be able to tell the difference between what we considered good and bad. It had its own ideas.

Ever since this thing had descended upon them, the world had gone crazy. It was like a big taser. If you did something it considered bad, it appeared and tased you. When scientists tried to research where it came from, it appeared and constantly tased them. Law enforcement could do nothing with it. It appeared at crime scenes and took over, rendering law enforcement impotent. If someone had committed a crime it considered heinous, it killed them on the spot.

The military had tried to shoot it out of the sky. That didn’t work. It had shot back and killed them all. It seemed the only thing to do was obey it. Now it was pointed right at him. He had borrowed his brother’s car to get groceries. He would take it back.

He opened the door to get in and the car exploded.

 

Posted in Challenges, Flash Fiction, Uncategorized

The Train

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Do you think you can meet me at the town square,” Albert asked quietly.

Juliet replied, “I will have the driver ready to take me to town as soon as he leaves. He is my friend and sometimes my confidant.”

“We will just run away, darling! It doesn’t matter if we’re married,” Albert said.

“Can we go far away? I’m afraid he’ll find me?”

Albert said, “Yes. I will keep you safe.”

Juliet and Albert met in town to leave her abusive husband. When they tried to catch the train, there he stood. Albert knocked him down with one blow.

Posted in Challenges

The World Went Black

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“You boys can take any of those stumps back there behind the corn crib,” Jake said to his friends. “They will make good firewood this winter.”

Jake’s friends walked behind the corn crib and saw all the tree stumps. One turned and asked Jake where he got them. Jake said he cut trees on his property and sold them to a company that makes hardwood floors.

“Jake, you live in the Daniel Boone National Forest. How are you cutting trees, man?”

Jake told them that the trees were at the back of his property. He said no one would know. One of the men in the group stepped forward and told Jake he should not be cutting young trees in the woods to sell. That it was not environmentally conscious. The man went on to say that someone should turn Jake in to the authorities. He turned to walk off.

Boom!! The world went black. That was the last thing the man knew for several hours.