Flash 9/2008, #1: Stephen Book

Beyond The Pale

I’ve seen a lot of dives in my line of work. Tonight’s bar was no different. The sign over the door identified the place as Beyond The Pale, and from the condition of the lounge it was clear this one lived up to its name. A dingy film covered the linoleum floor, giving it the color of bile.... But the décor, or lack thereof, was of little concern. I needed a drink, and I needed it fast. Read more: HTML PDF

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More great stories for you, whether you’re a grown man who’s been shaken up, a child dealing with her father, or a boy going a little bonkers. Or maybe you’re an ancient Greek being channeled by Edgar Allan Poe. And if you’re a writer, you can see how Bruce Holland Rogers uses rigidity to get creative. Read more

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Flash 9/2008, #2: Tess Almendarez-Lojacono

Just One Thing

“You have to be the best in the world at something.”

My father couldn’t have made his point any clearer if he’d spoken in all caps. Maybe he had.

I must have been about eleven, which would shuffle my brothers’ and sisters’ ages from thirteen for Maria, twelve for Joaquin, then myself — the bridge between older and younger — and so on to Bell, little Boo, and Miguelito, who was only ten months old.... Read more: HTML PDF

Short-Short Sighted #4: Bruce Holland Rogers

One Loopy Sentence At A Time

The latest installment of Bruce Holland Rogers’s “Short-Short Sighted” column discusses fixed forms — using rigidity to inspire creativity. His 400-word story The House of Women serves as an example. Read more: HTML

Classic Flash #10: Edgar Allan Poe

Shadow — A Parable

Ye who read are still among the living; but I who write shall have long since gone my way into the region of shadows. For indeed strange things shall happen, and secret things be known, and many centuries shall pass away, ere these memorials be seen of men. And, when seen, there will be some to disbelieve, and some to doubt, and yet a few who will find much to ponder upon in the characters here graven with a stylus of iron. Read more: HTML PDF

Flash 9/2008, #3: Christof Whiteman

The Trick

He just wants to go home. He just wants to go home. He just wants to go home, but he can’t go home so he bounces. Boing. Bounces to pass the time. If only he were a year older he could go to school and he wouldn’t need to be dropped off here. He wishes that were the case. Because Roger doesn’t yet know that schools can be much worse places. Read more: HTML PDF