I love flash fiction, which is loosely defined as a story told in less than 1,000 words. It is shorter than short stories, but aims to convey truth in unique ways. Think of it as literary graffiti. From time to time, you will find bits of flash fiction on this blog, both from me and from some of my author friends who will be appearing here. So, you might be asking, “What’s with the ‘751′?” Well, every piece of flash fiction showcased here will be spun in 751 words or less to keep things interesting. I hope you like it. I hope you have fun. Feel free to comment as you see fit.
To kick us off, I want to share a piece that I wrote recently, The Return (735 words).
the return
by Kevin Kaiser
I SIT in darkness.
“Are you going to kill me now?” I ask. My throat is raw from days of angry thirst and breathing the damp, stale air of this place.
“We’re a smart man, yes?” the man says to me. “Figure it out.”
He stands no more than six feet away, a smudge of shadow emerging from the darkness that swallows the room. He sways slowly. Back and forth, back and forth. The only light here is a thread of white that seeps between the door and slab floor before it is snuffed by the dark. But it is enough to discern the barest of things.
“You have no right to keep me here! ” My scream echoes in the void.
“Of course not. But, no one brought you here. Or have we forgotten already?” The shadow’s voice is calm and flat, and carries no trace of malice.
I lean into the wall behind me and push to my feet. My swollen hands throb between the chains that cinch them impossibly tight. Needles of hot pain explode through my fingers.
The shadow stops swaying, takes a step closer.
“This is our home, yours and mine,” he says. We need this place. Want it. And yet…”
He steps closer. I close my eyes and wait for a deathblow to crush my skull like a softened melon. The air surrounding me swirls and shifts as he passes close, and I sense him circle once. Only once. He stops behind me. For a moment I wonder if I should plunge for the light in the distance, but it is so far. So far. He would certainly kill me before I made halfway.
The shadow presses close and leans over my shoulder. He speaks with hot breath that drifts across my face.
“You want to leave? Hmm? Is that it?”
I tremble and lick my cracked lips, then whisper, “Yes, yes…I want to leave.”
“Do you really? Then go ahead, leave. No one will stop you,” the shadow says.
“But my hands are bound,” I say.
“Are they?”
Of course they are bound! I feel the weight, I hear the clink of metal, I…what is this? I move them. My hands drift apart and fall to my sides with a soft slap. I lift them slowly to my face and touch my cheeks.
“But, how…”
“Restraints are not needed here. Nor locked doors. This one has been unlocked for years. Still is. But we know this, of course. Yes?”
The shadow steps around me and crosses the room in three strides, the click of his heels ricocheting through the room. Then the door moans with the grind of hinges left to themselves too long and light floods into the room. White hot light. And gentle warmth like a gardenia scented breeze, subtle and beautiful, pushes in like a wave.
The man stands in the doorway for a moment and then disappears without looking back. The soft howl of wind is all that is left.
I stand for a moment, shielding my eyes from the light. I consider the door. The door. Surely this is a trick. Yes! A trick! Hope dangled on a string so the man can lure me into a trap and sink the hook deep into me. Of course…a trick.
Or is it? And what about the chains?
I wrestle the possibilities for a long time. Days, I believe, but cannot say for sure because time is fluid here.
Finally I choose. It is the only choice worth choosing. I know it. I want.
I take a step, then another, and another toward the door. As I draw near I feel the warmth on my face, taste the gardenias on the wind. Somewhere beyond I hear a child or a bird, I cannot tell which.
The light so bright I keep my eyes closed and feel for the door. Finally I find it’s riveted edge, run my hand halfway down and…push.
It protests for a moment then, with the sound of a vacuum sealing, slams home. And the world is silent again. Shadows dark suffocate the world.
I walk across the room, turn and lean against the stone wall. Slowly, I slide to my haunches and then settle to the cool ground. Hands behind me. Where did these chains come from?
Will I die here?
I sit in darkness.
Bravo Kevin. That was quite powerful I must say. I’m passing this on to a few people.
I almost didn’t want it to end.
21.08.2009, 5:02 pmWow. So true.
08.09.2009, 4:45 pm