Category Archives: Flash Fiction

Don’t Judge a Can by its Label – #99WordStories

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Committed to being an attentive daughter-in-law, Maud always made a Black Forest gateaux when Teresa came to dinner.

“No gateaux today, Teresa, because Colm ate the cherries—again!” The two women glared at Colm.  

‘How can I stop him from stealing the cherries, Teresa?’

‘I have a plan,’ Teresa replied.

Next time Teresa was due a visit, thoughts of juicy cherries bursting between his teeth made Colm drool. He caved.

When he lifted the ring of the can and peeled back the lid, the sight and the smell of beef and liver dogfood, put him off cherries for good.

Written for Charli Mills #99WordStory Challenge. July 25, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story based on the phrase “commitment in a can.” What is the commitment and to whom? Describe the can. How does it expand the story? Go where the prompt leads.

Featured image Image by Dsndrn-Videolar from Pixabay on Canva.

How I like it – #99WordStories

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Some call me a hermit. Others say I’m odd. They don’t want to know me and that’s how I like it.

I look at myself in the mirror. My grey bob hairstyle, almost invisible in comparison to the long dark locks it once was. My eyes like pools of coffee with no need for makeup around them.

Before I embraced this simple life, I lit up the big screens and adorned the pages of glamour magazines. I unwittingly paid for every friend I had. I was owned.

I’m not their dark-eyed beauty anymore and that’s how I like it.

Courtesy of Jerzy Gorecki

Written for Charli Mills #99WordStory Challenge. April 17, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story of something/someone dark-eyed. What could be a dark-eyed situation? Or is it a dark-eyed beauty? A dark-eyed junco? Maybe it’s a futuristic piece of technology. Go where the prompt leads!

Thank you for reading.

Would you like a peek inside the pages of my recently published novel? It might just be your cup of tea!

Mister Beast – #99WordStories

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Heather held the silk scarf to her neck. It felt smooth against her skin. She didn’t need another scarf. She willed herself to put it back but the thing inside her was too strong. Edwin called it Mister Beast.

For over fifty years, Edwin chaperoned his wife everywhere. When he couldn’t be with her, he locked her up. To protect her. From it.

Since Edwin’s death, Mister Beast was in control again. Heather could go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted—unfortunately.

She zipped open the flap of her shopping trolley, just enough to slip the scarf discreetly inside.

Written for Charli Mills #99WordStory Challenge. April 10th 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about “the old lady and the beast.” What does age have to say about the story? Who is the beast and why? Go where the prompt leads!

Identity #99WordStories

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Sandra looked closely at each photo on the table. She immediately eliminated the first one; his eyebrows met in the middle. She studied the pale blue eyes of the man in the second photo. Not him.

In photo three, a pair of soft grey eyes conveyed kindness and warmth. No. The fourth photo showed beady eyes that were more green than blue. Definitely no.

Photo five. Impossibly blue eyes, round like perfectly cut sapphires, cold and vacant. She would never forget those eyes. She handed the photo to the sergeant.

‘This is the man who attacked me,’ she said.

Written for Charli Mills #99WordStory Challenge. March 27 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about something impossibly blue. You can go with sky or any other object. What impact does the color have on the setting or characters? Does it lead to action or create a pause? Go where the prompt leads!

Featured blue eye image compliments of Phtorxp.

Hey… before you go, you might like to have a quick look at my recently published novel. It might just be your kind of read!

A story of love, deception, and stolen diaries filled with sins and secrets. Set in a gossipy small town in Ireland at a time when marriage is for keeps and sexuality is repressed, Secrets in the Babby House is a family saga over three decades that starts in 1956. 

Available on Amazon, buythebook.ie and Barnes and Noble

Here’s an Amazon preview if you’d like check it out!

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