Call them flash fiction or sudden fiction or short-short stories, but these brief fictional narratives, more about mood than the plotlines, the larger part of which is unwritten Flash fiction doesn’t often come with a plot, although like most other forms of narratives, it comes with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s more about a mood, a thought, a memory, and a prompt to make the reader think deeply about the story that is usually larger than what is written. Flash fiction can go as short as six words, but there’s no hard-and-fast rule as to how short it should be to classify as a microstory, instead of short-short story.
Here are four short-short stories written to explore brevity, a key attribute of this genre. Of these four stories, only one, “Fling,” numbers more than 200 words. Kiss They met at a bar counter.
The conversation over single malts was mindblowing, so was the connection. He knew from the get-go that the stranger at the bar was gay. He read through the pick-up lines, the hints being thrown now and then to test if the attraction was mutual.
It never crossed his mind ever if he himself had gay tendencies, never found the male body attractive, but when the stranger leaned in, he didn’t recoil. When the stranger kissed him, he let him. He closed his eyes, trying to see if those lips would feel any different.
They didn’t. He could be kissing a girl. He made a mental note to stop, but he let the stranger go further.
Swing They were married for 10.