Flash Fiction Friday 2022 – Week 30
Flash Fiction Friday continues in 2022. New pieces appear every Friday on my Patreon throughout the year. The minimum pledge to read them before anyone else is $3 per month. Find out what they’re all about and read some excerpts from the latest update in this post.
Excerpts
First-Timer
The bubbles floated upward in the glass of champagne and Tristan couldn’t take his eyes off them.
“How is this working?” he asked, blue stare completely focused.
“What’s working?” Vivian smiled. His date for the night had promised him something amazing if he were to just relax for a moment but this didn’t make any sense.
“It’s like I can’t move,” he muttered, hands glued to the restaurant’s table. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s not a matter of understanding, dear. Hypnotic suggestions operate beyond normal consciousness. It’s all about the sensations, and the willingness to accept and let go. Each bubble is like a thought inside your mind and as they rise, it’s as if those thoughts are floating away from you until they pop and you find yourself going deeper, and deeper, and deeper…”
“Can we stop now, please?” he struggled to breathe.
(…)
Nothing Matters
Jenny entered Priscilla’s bedroom and was surprised to find her best friend still in bed, windows closed, her head buried under the fluffy pillows as if she were dead. The air was heavy inside the stuffed division and reeked of bodily fluids.
“Pris? Pris, what are you doing? We’re going to be late to the market again.”
“I’m not going,” Priscilla responded, her voice sounding incredibly distant like it was coming from the deepest of the fiery pits of Hell.
“What do you mean you’re not going?” Jenny opened the window closest to her to allow the warmth of sunlight to envelop the dead room. “We’ve been planning this for months.”
“Plans change, and I’m not in the mood for it. How did you get in here, anyway?”
“You gave me a key for emergencies last time, remember? And since you weren’t picking up the phone, I figured it qualified.”
(…)
The Medal
Alexandra Ryder parked her new car in the underground parking lot that connected to the secret base where she was stationed and entered the silver elevator that was to take her where she needed to be. As the doors were closing on the outside world, her phone rang. It was General Hayes as usual.
“Alexandra?” he began, his voice hoarse as if he was suffering from a nasty cold.
“Yes, General?”
“Have you arrived yet? Everyone here is waiting for you.”
“Yes. I’m on my way down. I apologize for the delay but traffic was hellish today.”
“You don’t need to lie. Melvin picked up your vehicle in the traffic cameras ten minutes ago and it seemed like you were having too much fun. How did you avoid a speeding ticket?”
“You already know the answer to that question, sir,” she replied, watching the numbers on the chromatic display above her going down like a beautiful hypnotic countdown.
(…)
When Natalie’s Away…
Ava peeked into the kitchen to see if Natalie was still around and sighed with relief. At last, a moment of solace! As much as she loved her girlfriend, sometimes she could be a little too much. In those – admittedly rare! – occasions, some time to herself was exactly what she needed and nothing said it better than streaming a Korean drama with a bowl of strawberry cheesecake ice cream in hand.
Ava opened the refrigerator, and that’s when she noticed the note Natalie had stuck to the door with a colorful magnet. It was a chore list, accompanied by the following words,
“Hey, lazy girl, I know you’re thinking you can do whatever you feel like now that I’m gone, but we’ve been through this and you require structure to be the best version of yourself. These are all the things I expect to see done when I come home in the afternoon, and before you roll your eyes and throw this piece of paper in the trash can, remember this – when Natalie is away, the maid comes to play. Love you.”
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