Category: Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction – Freeze Dried

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Zippy Flash Fiction

Inspired by: 5 Words #70

Galahad’s eyes flung open as he gasped back to life. He rolled onto his side, choking on the thick oxygen that burned his dormant lungs. Blearily, he looked around the room. Repair Wing 120 was painted in big, red letters above the door.

“Where am I?”

A nurse droid quickly wheeled across the room.

“Just relax now. You’re safe,” it said, nudging him back into bed with silicone tipped fingers. “What is the last thing that you remember?”

Galahad put a hand to his forehead. He rubbed his eyes, the fogginess beginning to lift.

“There was an explosion… I was getting off my shift at the osmium mine on Carpasia.”

“And what year was that?”

“What year?” Galahad said incredulously.

“Yes.”

Galahad stared into the robot’s dead mechanical eyes.

“416.” The droid seemed to be waiting for more information. “A.E…”

“Ah. And what is your species?”

“My spe…! Dasypus Sapiens,” Galahad said, despondent.

“Recorded. Thank you.”

“How… Exactly what happened? Why am I here?”

“Your remains were discovered on an osmium-rich asteroid in the Silactic Belt…”

“Remains?! I was dead?”

“Mummified, actually. Crushed beneath approximately 600 tons of salt.”

Galahad looked down at his scaly arms and tapped two long claws together. His stomach fell out from under him as he felt the rush of time passing him by.

“What… what year is it?”

“1437 T.C.E.”

“How long ago was 416 A.E.?”

“Approximately 53 million years.”

Galahad gulped. His throat felt dry.

“Yeah… that’s what I thought.”

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Flash Fiction – Mushroom Monday

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Inspired by: September 24: Flash Fiction Challenge

Archibald Portobello, acting CEO of DeCOM Enterprises, popped another cashew into his mouth as the turtle taxi lumbered slowly beneath him. He reached into his coat pocket to retrieve a buzzing cell and shouted to the cabbie before answering it.

“Can you pick up the pace! I have a board meeting at the Log in twenty minutes.”

He flipped open the phone.

“Talk. What? No! Sell! Now!” He slapped the phone shut. “Pfft, analysts.” Then to the turtle, “Can’t this thing go any faster?”

Archibald Portobello, acting CEO of DeCOM Enterprises, sighed and popped another cashew into his mouth.

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Flash Fiction – Antsy

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Zippy Flash Fiction

“Now boarding Stalk 147! Now boarding Stalk 147!” the Conductor announced.

Bingham grabbed his bags and climbed aboard. He always said he’d “get off this nowhere dandelion one day!” and today was the day. He waved his antennae to the other ants and was gone with the wind.

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Flash Fiction – Terminal Velocity

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Zippy Flash Fiction

Inspired by: 5 Words #59

Jakuu looked back at the parachutes of black oil billowing from his fly pack. He could already feel the heat building, making his back sweat through two layers of dispersal cloth.

That’s when the coupling blew.

Jakuu put an arm over the back of his head as one of the thrust canisters flailed about wildly. His body fluttered and whipped in the air as the canister fought to free itself. He was losing altitude.

Straining against the stuttering inertia, Jakuu took a long grapple from his waist and fished over his shoulder for the canister.

It caught.

Jakuu pulled the grapple rope through a ring clasp on his belt and wrenched the thrust canister back into place.

Then the other coupling broke.

The rope burned through Jakuu’s gloves as the canister sped away, still attached to the grapple. It hit the end of the rope and jolted Jakuu sideways at the hip where the rope was anchored. Struggling against the rush of air, he reached down and punched the rope release.

Nothing happened.

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The rope went slack. He punched it twice more, still nothing. Jakuu pulled a knife from his belt. The canister hit the end of the rope again. He was jerked in a new direction, whipping his arm backward. As the knife rolled out of his hand, he reflexively clenched his fingers catching the small wrist strap.

Jakuu cut himself free of the errant rocket and began to tumble. The remaining canister on his back, destabilized, was pushing him into an odd spin.

Jakuu killed the power to his fly pack and went into freefall. With arms and legs spread wide, he gradually righted himself. The ground sped upward at a sickening pace.

Slowly, Jakuu pumped a lever on the side of his fly pack. Only one shot. He had to time it just right.

Five seconds to impact.

Jakuu slammed the lever down. The thrust canister whirred, flared, and shot its guts out in one magnificent blast. The G-force nearly knocked him unconscious, but it was enough to give him some forward momentum. Jakuu hit the snow, rolled, bounced, and skidded to a stop.

For a moment, the whole world was still, cold, and quiet.

Jakuu rolled onto his back and sat up in the snow. His hands were shaking as he peeled the scorched rubidium cell free from the shattered fly pack. He turned the scarlet-colored device over in his hand, took a deep breath, and looked up at the sky.

“Woooo!”

Blog – Zippy Flash Fiction

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Hello Readers, Writers, Teachers, and Children! Meet Zippy, the Flash Fiction Dragonfly! I like writing flash fiction a couple of times each week to keep my mind moving. So, when you see Zippy, know there’s some super quick fic to follow!

If you’ve got some flash fiction that you’d like to share, leave it or link it in the comments below, and maybe you’ll get a feature from Zippy!

Check out the archives: Zippy Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction – Breach

Zippy Flash Fiction

“Wall’s comin’ down, Bud. Nothin’ you can do about it,” Rodrigo said.

Bud just kept staring up at the crumbling wall. Distorted sunlight scattered greens, golds, and oranges over the landscape.

“We gotta go, Bud. We gotta get off.”

Bud sucked his teeth and scrubbed his stubble hard with a rough hand. He watched as another impact shook more rubble loose from the wall.

“Bud. Hey, Bud! Listen, man, it’s over. The planet’s turned on us like we’re a disease.”

Bud powered up his armor as more dust and stone tumbled down the wall. The armor began to glow as channels filled with hot, orange oil.

“Rodrigo. Go.”

“What?”

“Go.”

“We’re not leavin’ you here, Bud.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Bud-“

“I said, go! This is my home; my planet! I won’t turn my home over and run! Even if I’m the last person on Spherta, I will take my home back myself! Now, go!”

Rodrigo hesitated, stared at Bud, watched as chunks of the wall came down. He chewed his lip, looked at Bud, and nodded.

“I’ll be back.” Rodrigo said.

He turned and ran to the ship, thrusters powering up. As he entered, it slowly lifted off the ground. He turned, and his eyes met Bud’s. Bud was smiling as the wall crashed down.

Flash Fiction – Radio Ga-Ga

Zippy Flash Fiction

Inspired by: September 10: Flash Fiction Challenge

Narrator: Nearly paralyzed with fear, she inches closer to the open window. The cold, night air chills her skin. Closer… closer… hands trembling, she reaches for the window seal. She swallows hard and looks out. A shadow in the darkness; a gruesome disfigured hand reaches up and… and…

Woman: Ahhhhhhhh!

[Silence]

Announcer: We will pause here briefly with this ad for Radium Water. Radium Water, it’ll cure what ails ya and leave you with a healthy, vibrant glow. Radium Water! Available wherever NukEx products are sold.

Narrator: And now… for the thrilling conclusion of… The Withered Hand of Rrrrrrrrasputin!

Flash Fiction – Ika Seigi no Yamato

Inspired by 5 Words #24

Yamato stared up at the massive squid towering above his ship. The creature wrapped on long tentacle around the mizzenmast and pulled itself aboard. Its suckered arms spread out over the deck like the roots of an ancient tree.  One giant eye focused on Yamato as a horrendous beak appeared. The creature trembled all over and let out an earsplitting screech.

Yamato stood with his feet apart, hands grasping the red sash around his waist. He held his ground as the blast of squid breath blew away his toque.

There was a calm silence.

“Hah! I am Yamato of the Seven Lands and Nine Seas. You are trespassing in this atoll and terrorizing the citizens. I cannot tolerate mistreatment of the innocent.” He pulled a cleaver from his sash and pointed it at the squid. “Leave now!”

Again, there was silence.

The squid’s amaranthine skin flashed cobalt and scarlet. With lightning speed, a deadly tentacle exploded from the sea and whistled through the air at Yamato.

For a moment, time seemed to stop. Yamato narrowed his deep-set eyes and spoke in a low tone.

“You have been judged.”

The chef became a blur of light as his kitchen knife flashed left, right, up, and down. He reappeared with his back to the squid.

The monstrous creature was paralyzed, frozen like a hideous statue. Yamato returned the cleaver to his sash as the squid collapsed into ribbons of calamari.

“The food you have provided clears you of your debt to the people.”

Flash Fiction – The Stumbler

Zippy Flash Fiction

The giant lumbered in a wide circle. Its bolted feet grinding stone into dust. Ralz gazed through crystal binoculars glinting in the sharp sunlight. A gleaming sparkle atop a dusty mesa.

“There he is,” Ralz said, “The Stumbler.” He passed the binoculars to Caz.

“He’s a big one, alright,” Caz said, whistling. “Just what do you plan to do?”

Ralz sniffed hard and sucked his teeth.

“Well… the way I figure it is… the reason he’s always stompin’ around in a circle is because the hydraulics in his left leg are shot out, right?”

“Right,” Caz said, intrigued.

“Well… the way I figure it is… if we can get that left leg straightened out, then he’ll start movin’ straight ahead instead of walkin’ in a circle.”

“Yeah, but how are ya gonna do that?”

“See that pillar of rock over yonder? He comes within fifty feet of it when he circles. If I can get a grapple on that bad leg and tie him up ta that rock, I figure he’ll keep on movin’ against that grapple until he falls. If we’re lucky, the tension on the filament will pull his leg back right.”

“Alright, I’ll buy that. But what next? He’s just gonna get back up and walk off.”

“Sure, but not before we get aboard,” Ralz said slyly.

“Are you nuts? That thing is electrified!”

“Yeah, but when he falls, his shields go down for 45 seconds. All of the electricity gets rerouted ta the front of his body ta form a magnetic field that softens his fall. Afterwards, it takes about 45 seconds for his generators ta power back up ta full. All of his electronics will be down, including the locks. We can walk right in.”

“Walk right in in 45 seconds or get electrocuted,” Caz snorted.

“I’d make it 40 just ta be safe,” Ralz said. Caz stared into Ralz’s eyes trying to determine whether he was crazy or just stupid.

“Okay, say we don’t get shot out the sky attaching the grapple. Say the filament holds and he falls. Say his leg twists straight. Say we get onboard without gettin’ crispy. What then?”

“Well, that’s where this comes in handy,” Ralz said, pulling out a large, aged roll of paper. It crackled as he unrolled it.

“Schematics! Where in the world did you get a hold of this?”

Ralz sucked his teeth and smiled.

“I’d tell ya, but then I’d have ta kill ya, and I need ya ta help me get inside that big beautiful walkin’ rust pile,“ Ralz said. He ran his finger along the yellowing paper. “Right here on his back is the hatch. Shouldn’t be too much trouble gettin’ inside. I got a pound and a half of rubber explosive ta bust the rust. Once we get in, it’s a long drop down a dark hallway. This thang wasn’t meant ta be boarded lyin’ down. We’ll have ta close the hatch, and attach ourselves ta the floor usin’ these electromagnets until he stands up again. After that, it’s a straight shot ta the core. An access ladder runs straight up ta the control room from there. Only problem is the control room rotates on the main gear shaft. We’ll only have 30 seconds to get inside every 5 minutes, and if we mess up the entry code, the access hall locks down and spins onto a gear tooth.”

“In other words, if we put in the wrong code, we’ll be axel grease,” Caz said.

“Uh-yep. Ready?”

Flash Fiction – Rotten Iron Wrought in Green

Zippy Flash Fiction

Inspired by 5 Words #47

…Chunk ka-chunk ka-chunk…ssssss

The heavy, rust-pocked bulk came to a halt and depressurized with a hiss of steam. Spyglass eyes flashed brightly and dimmed as the machine revved down to a rumbling idle. Its head swiveled slowly one way, then the other.

Painted along the wall was the word “CAUTION” in bright yellow letters half-covered in grime. Beyond that, was open air and a thirty-foot drop onto a jagged, broken foundation. The entire corner of the derelict factory had sheered away at some point.

Near the edge, among the rusted out teeth of a shattered floor, an air plant held fast. Its bush of green tendrils swayed in the breeze like a patch of unruly hair.

Sheenk sheenk sheenk… sssss

A round hatch on the belly of the machine turned jerkily and swung open with a screech. A slender figure stepped out, wiping sweat from her brow. She took in a deep breath. The air was better here; it was healing. Removing a thick glove, she knelt and scooped up the lonely plant and peered out across the horizon.

A new day was rising, and the world felt like… hope.

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