Flash Fiction Friday 2022 – Week 35
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
Classified
The enigmatic parasitic creature wriggled inside Private Hudson’s brain to the shock and fascination of the group of scientists looking at it.
“Impressive!” Dr. Taggart said.
“Indeed,” Dr. Graves agreed.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Dr. Hughes scratched his gray beard.
“What can you tell us about how the origin of this organism?” Dr. Taggart addressed the only other person in the room, Colonel William Davies. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with a square jaw and piercing gray eyes who had served in two wars with distinction and was now slowly approaching retirement age. Not much of a talker, most of the people who had worked with him over the years, knew more about his grunts than the actual sound of his voice.
“That information is classified.”
“How was the Private exposed to it?” Dr. Graves adjusted his glasses.
“That information is also classified.”
(…)
Leather-Clad Muse
Jeff stared at the digital clock atop his desk. His five-minute break was up and the multi-colored spirals were already spinning in his mind once more.
“Do I really need to keep going?” he asked, sweaty fingers resting by the laptop’s keyboard. “I’m tired.”
“I don’t care,” Trish replied, a flogger in her right hand and a spiked glove in the other. “Do as you’re told.”
“But…”
“I don’t want to hear any more buts, Jeff. You have a deadline to keep and you’ll do it no matter what. Be thankful I haven’t used these today yet.”
Jeff sighed. The two-time Pulitzer award winner had a writing routine that served him well for almost eight years but after the pandemic and being infected twice in a month, something had snapped inside him, rendering all future efforts useless.
(…)
Sick
“Judy, I don’t feel too good,” Melissa said.
“That’s because you’re burning up, sweetie,” her best friend replied, checking the thermometer. “102ºF. Things are not looking great.”
“What? That can’t be!” Melissa slurred, flailing her arms on the sofa. “I was fine just now.”
“We’re always fine before we get sick, but don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.”
“No, I need to go home. My family…”
“… can wait. I already called them, saying you fell ill. Once the fever breaks down a bit, I’ll drive you home myself but not sooner, okay? I need you to trust me on this.”
Melissa nodded. She trusted her since the day they had met, almost a decade ago. Judy was the nerdy, librarian-type girl who always got good grades while Melissa paraded the beauty of her teenage years in beauty pageants and occasional cheerleading activities. Wrongful detention had set them on the same path, giving rise to a strong friendship that had resisted many turbulent days.
(…)
There’s Nothing Wrong…
Walter glanced at the video on Rebecca’s phone and dismissed it right away.
“That didn’t happen.”
“How can you say that?” his friend shrugged. “The evidence is right here and we should talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I know what it looks like but it’s not real. The images must have been doctored somehow. The question is why? Why are you showing me this?”
“Because it’s true, sweetie, and I’m tired of seeing you lie to yourself. Please, let’s sit and discuss this like grown-ups.”
The two of them were in his apartment in downtown New Jersey, with Rebecca standing by the kitchen threshold looking rather weary and Walter trying to drown away his sorrow with a hot cup of coffee with a hint of bourbon.
“No!” he exclaimed. “If that’s not fake, then it’s your fault. You did this to me!”
(…)
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