Tag archives for Flash fiction
Bjorn the Beardless [Short Story]
Bjorn the Beardless is an origin story for one of the supporting characters in Yngvild the Fierce. Here we see the first voyage of Bjorn Johansson (AKA Old Bjorn), and his original nickname of Bjorn the Beardless. There's also the kernel of his later nickname, Counter of Battles, in the question that Ragnar the Red asks him. Bjorn the Beardless Viking helmet and axe (photo: Morket via pixabay) The tide was out in the fjord, and the ship’s prow rested on the strand. A red and white vertically striped sail was furled against the spar ready to be dropped when the ship sailed. Oars were still, ready to help the ship manoeuvre off the beach when the tide came in. A black haired youth with his brand new battle gear, approached the ship. He bounced with each step, despite the…
Babylon Falls [Flash Fiction]
An abandoned warehouse in the US (photo: lburgan via pixabay) I wrote Babylon Falls as short story for the NYC Flash Fiction Challenge round 2 back in September. The prompt was to write a horror story set in a warehouse and including a kids lunch box in under a thousand words. The premise I went with was something strange happened in Babylon in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion. Ten years on some mysterious entity is getting its revenge on some of the US troops involved in thwarting it's nefarious activities. The title is a twin clue, Babylon Falls directly referring to the capture of the site of the ancient city. It also refers to the location of the warehouse. I wasn't entirely happy with Babylon Falls at the time, which is why I didn't post it sooner. I've had…
Sticky End [Flash Fiction] [WW2 SOE]
Sticky End is my flash fiction for the first round of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge this year. The first round was last weekend and the group I'm in were assigned a spy genre story to be set in a prison cell and featuring glue. The story had to be under one thousand words and written within 48 hours. (Last year I wrote Down the Harbour and Burning to Leave for the 2017 flash fiction challenge). I spent a bit of Saturday thinking about it, the hard bit for me was trying to work in the glue naturally and believably. Some help from Google showed me that the WW2 Special Operations Executive (SOE) used to include tubes of bostik adhesive in the containers that they dropped to the Jedburgh teams. The bostik was used to camouflage improved explosive devices…
Burning to Leave [Flash Fiction]
English: A houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Burning to Leave is the second round of the NYC Flash Fiction Challenge 2017. My challenge was to write a drama set on a houseboat and featuring a birthday candle. Burning to Leave is a two meaning title, see if you can work out what they are when you've read it! Burning to Leave The breeze blew the curtain, chilling the houseboat pleasantly after the daytime heat. It was cloudless with a bright full moon. Green candy-striped birthday candles fell from the packet onto the sill, one bounced into the water. Cory bowed his head to pray. After a moment he lit a birthday candle and let wax drip onto the metal sill before setting the candle down. Cory crossed the houseboat in three strides, knelt to…
Down The Harbour [Flash Fiction] [Harwood]
Down The Harbour is a flash fiction sequel to Rounds which was written for my Open University Creative Writing course. Rounds was also included in my book Themself. Down The Harbour was written for the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge 2017. The challenge was to write 1,000 word romance set in a harbour with a bandage in the story. The Challenge gives you 48 hours, but I was at cub camp that weekend and it left me only a couple of hours of writing time to get in a 1,000 word story that met the requirements. Here's a slightly edited version of the story. Down The Harbour Alice swore softly under her breath and threw bandages from the delivery into the store cupboard. None of the midwifery supplies she'd ordered had arrived. It wasn't one of her better days. She'd promised to get Dianne a date with Ed,…