Sure, we all love hunkering down with a big, juicy novel…but there’s something to be said for the powerful punch of flash fiction. Flash fiction (loosely defined as short stories that are no longer than a page) has had something of a reinvention lately. Could it be because of our dwindling attention spans? Perhaps. But, as writer Julian Gough puts it, “This is not a catastrophe; it is an opportunity. We are free to do new things, which could not have been understood before now.” His advice to young writers? “Steal from The Simpsons, not Henry James.”
Here, for your short-attention-span reading pleasure, are five great examples of flash fiction, available for free PDF download. (Hint: print one out and keep it in your pocket in case of fiction emergency.)
- “Chai Wan Four,” by Helen Phillips: “It makes us uneasy, that parade or whatever it is.”
- “Two Corpses,” by Clemens Setz: “A man stood in front of a small salamander.”
- “Skellig,” by Vanessa Gebbie: “Where the old stones no longer meet, high on the outer terrace, Michael is watching a gannet following the horizon.”
- “Justice: A Beginning,” by Grace Paley: “One day, waiting for a bus, standing on a street corner in Lower Manhattan, somewhere near Canal; having completed jury duty, having in fact judged another human being and found him guilty, she thought of justice, that heavy word.”
- “We See Our Mother Go To Bed,” by Josefine Klougart: “We see our mother go to bed soon after dinner; she places her plate in the dishwasher and leaves, dragging a pale trail behind her like one dredges the bottom of the sea, her feet a rake across the ocean’s floor and up the stairs.”
