Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is a short story genre that focuses on brevity. Its aim is to convey a powerful tale in as few words as possible. At Story Shack we judge anything under 1.000 words (with the occasional exception) to be flash fiction, and are proud of the high quality work by around 400 authors and over 50 illustrators. Every single story is illustrated.
Explore the story genres
Discover a wide selection of flash fiction
Skip list of stories- The Tortoise and Hare Revisited
- The Case of the Unfortunate Pause
- Salsa
- Last Spring
- Starstealer
- Peacefully Coexist
- Feeling Rain
- In Step With The May Dance
- The Servant
- Choir
- Absolute Zero
- Jump Cut
- Four Strangers Near the Weathered Statue in a Downtown Park
- Paint the Sky
- Finley’s Airplane
- Reindeer Pictures
- The Tank
- The Lion of Abilene
- Lost My Signal
- In Case You Go Bald
- The Halloween Outhouse Caper
- The Smartest Kid in the Room
- A Song of Heroes and Malloths
- Mad Hattie
- Faces
- End of the Line
- The Trumpeter in the Sky
- Lobster Meat is Sweet
- Alchemy
- Heroin Hero
- The Red Rose
- Octagon
- The Ghetto Ain’t Forever
- The Light
- The Story of How the Dragon Got Its Scales
- Future Lost
- Digging for Victory
- Court
- Midnight Labor
- The Number Reader
- Sparing Partners No More
- Pandora
- Walking on Pins and Needles
- Blue Sambo
- The Last Night
- The Beast Lord
- The Magical Night
- Coincidence or Retaliation?
- Born to Play
- Right Hook
- Inversion
- The Prank
- End of This World
- A Really Good Day
- The Mannerisms of a Broken Fork
- Noel
- Bjorn Noordvidarvdervarn and the Shape-Shifters
- The Pond
- Cacophony
- Wedding Day
- One of Us
- Alicia #1
- A Travelling Salesman
- My First Deer
- Advice
- Feeding the Ducks
- Katiebug- Two DImes
- The Smell
- Love on the Savanna
- Tinderbox
- Simple Holidays
- The Canine Connection
- Saving Sylvia
- Noises
- The Dungeon
- The Virus
- Late Again
- Baby and Me
- The Fixer
- Wolfgang’s Handkerchief
- At the Seams
- A Family Matter
- The Tattoo
- Chuck the Canadian Corpse
- Getting It Right
- The Summer Bride
- Going Up!
- Absolut
- He Eats Sparrows
- My Time of Exile
- Uniforms
- We Appreciate Your Business
- Love Unto the Dog Star
- EMO-Mail
- The Summer Drive
- McNicholson’s 14th Annual Cider-Bean Festival and Dance Off
- The Bunny Hunt
- The View
- Hold Me Close
- The Talent
- The Mopsos XIII
- Bat in the Belfry
- Nanny’s Room
- Why Can’t We Save Ourselves
- The Search for Terry Brown
- The Creatives
- An Oasis Of Calm
- Replacement Turtles
- Whispers of Love
- Pulse
- Wings
- The Wish
- It Could Be Us
- Bloody Revenge
- Corner Store
- The Dervish and the Little Girl
- Sparks
- The Banana Peel Slip
- Humanity
- Tara and the Back Yard Bear
- The Kama Sutra Aficionado
- Shining Armor
- The Last Tequila Stinger
- Daddy, Is Santa Claus Real?
- Summertime
- Reunion
- Obregon
- Fear of Honesty
- The Ghost
- Between First and Final Breath
- Godfrey Give Me
- The Gymnasium Duel
- The Leap
- Prophets
- Nathan #1
- Broken Glass
- Even Rat Pups Laugh Once In A While Part 4
- Down the Hill
- In the Wake of Technology
- Checkmate on an Empty Board
- Paradise of Tolerance and Change
- Skybound
- The Meadow
- Love for the Mistress
- Under Cover
- It Was Frogs
- The Brownies Episode
- A Fairy’s Tale
- Shadow Dad
- New Beginnings
- From One Story to Another
- Déjà Vu
- Blank
- Howdy Doody’s Dad
- Rainbringer
- Ghost Hunter
- Banana Slugs
- My Daddy Used to Say
- Garbage Day
- The Case of the Shouldering Thief
- Like No Other Muse
- A Burned Image
- A Hog’s Heart
- Roboguard
- Footnotes Only!
- Guilty
- Under
- When Mikey Stole Melissa
- Mitzi
- Vertigo
- A Waltz for Two
- Frozen Baby
- Spirit of the Beanstalk
- One Last Cigarette
- The Daughter of the Gold-Rich King
- Sunday Morning
- The Gas Station
- Postcard for Arizona
- Lachrymosa
- Flesh
- To Supersede, To Sit Upon
- A Day of Such Good Cheer
- Aunt Jessie’s Box
- Melancholy
- Scrap Suit
- Chlorophyll and Romance
- The Morning After
- Caucus at the Parking Meter
- The People Went About Their Day Under the Sun
- Inked
- Pedicab
- Prom
- Remember the Good Times
- Delivery
- Not Afraid of the Dark
- After A Little While Amongst The Cows
- Read My Story
- Firefly
- Jogging to Cadaverville
- The Case of the Troubling Shoes
- Sweet Ps
- The Thunder’s Roar
- Chicken Breast and Rump Roast
- A Cabin With No Fireplace
- Broken
- The Exhibit
- A Pint and a Pie
- A Secret Admirer
- Hype
- A Quiet Conversation
- The Rude Chambermaid
- The King of the World
- Grandma’s Photograph
- Double
- Incident On A Windswept Hill
- Dear Susan
- Not Now
- An Act of Love
- Pickles And Whispers
- George & Gladys
- The Book
- Slimeballs
- School Days
- The Scar
- A Mind of Its Own
- The Juice in the Golden Keg
- The Scene
- REM
- The Stars are Juliet’s Eyes
- Masquerade
- I’d like to go back…
- The Brothers
- Still Dark
- Cause and Effect
- A Wonderland of Books
- Dubs and Me
- The Lone Pine
- Grull
- Dragon’s Breath
- Blah Blah
- How Wars Begin
- Fowl Luck
- Dear Principal Chen
- It’s Almost Sunday Morning
- A Guest Presentation on Mental Health from Your Post-Secondary Institution
- Chris Salis
- McGillicuddy’s Wake
- Turkey’s Revenge
- The Crow King of The Junkyard
- Mikey Frick Finds a Flower
- The Light From Within Grows Dim
- The Beast
- The Twelfth Day
- Dear Mom
- Lunch is on me
- Jimmy Johnson
- The Last Song
- Collecting Ticks
- Eve
- Ghost Writer
- The Pick of the Stand
- Saving Tim Murnane
- I Hate the Sunshine
- The Ferryman’s Wife
- Brothers
- Constellations
- Night Watch
- Time to Leave
- Lull of The Tide
- Avocational Confession
- Countdown
- Jimbo
- Maybe It Was Sleep Apnea
- Memories of Life
- The White Man
- Seventy Years
- Chicken Fajitas
- I Bumped Into the Pigeon Man
- Headstone
- Chip in the Handle
- Ordinary Moments
- Calling Home From A Phone Booth Outside A Pub In North Dublin
- Hand Drawn Sky
- Night of the Dragon
- The Delivery Guy
- Erasing Charlie
- Bartholo
- Bane
- Captain Daddy
- Changes Are Coming in 2085, the Senator Says
- Parking Lot Superhero
- Jessica and the Rabbit
- Swingers
- Harry and Clyde
- A Career Driven Woman
- The Usurper
- Lesbians in a Dragon
- The Goons
- A Tale of Two Cities
- The Call Was for a Foot
- Perchance Not to Dream
- Homecoming Queen
- The Boers
- The Rift
- We Won’t Be Right Back
- How Akram Came to Fly Business Class Back to Yemen Double Fisted
- Check Mate
- Running with the Wolves
- Calypso
- New Life
- The EMTs
- 441
- The Digger
- Nin’s Glory
- The Folded Canyon
- The Will
- The Playground
- Sand
- Milk Cartons
- Jeopardy Double
- Black Steel
- The Last Stop
- Nothing Special
- Fetch
- Dedication
- A Humming Night
- The Long Way Home
- The Morning After
- A Smidgen of Green
- Marriage after a really, very long time
- Turkey on Wheat
- A Lion on the Shore
- Skinwalking
- Magic
- Glass Eye
- Inside Lookin Out
- A Disgusting Thing
- Ashes
- You don’t know anything
- The Car with Three Wheels
- Dodge in the Driveway
- Dirt Soup
- A Cry For Attention
- New Year’s Resolutions
- They Always Come Back For More
- Fish or Cut Bait
- Done In Before the Blue Ice Melted
- Lost Mitten
- Sea Monsters
- Soldier | Part One
- The Beach
- How to Fail at Telemarketing
- Ghosts
- Monsters
- Lawyers, Car Dealers, and other Whores
- Cronus
- The Newcomer
- Getting Rowdy
- A Ride For Family
- Face Paint
- Audiocide
- Even Rat Pups Laugh Once In A While Part 1
- The Mystery of the Wantom Flippsbury-Brown Nutcracker Hare
- Sudden Creation
- Skype Credit
- The Baker’s Tale
- Hide & Seek
- Conscience As Wide As Hell
- Rentless Love
- Tight Forty-Five
- The Tree and the Hourglass
- Lady Marmalade & The Ratcatcher
- Artificial Wife
- Love Knows I’m Hurting
- The Fairy and the Tree
- Santa Claus Has a Space Ship
- Yellow Light
- The Sadie Escapists – Part One
- Testament
- Shell Shocked
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Changing Tactics
- But I’m On The ‘Do Not Call’ List
- Exposed
- Lying in Wait
- Middle School
- Father, Not Dad
- A Casualty of My Own War
- Cloudy Skies Burned Clear
- My Bowl of Congee
- Thanksgiving Bite
- The Graveyard of Broken Swords
- Different Worlds
- Make Believe
- Diary of an Unknown Soldier
- Space Hunt
- Desperation
- Pecan Pie
- The Lesson
- The Hairbrush Murderer
- Famous Common People I Have Known, Mick Hensley
- Angry Women Museum
- I am He who watches over you
- The Game
- Crystal
- Pamphliterature
- And It Was All Terrible, in the End
- Phantom Lake
- The Convenience Store
- Reluctant Punk
- The Day I Became a…
- Midnight Elvis
- Golden Acres
- Shredder
- Voices
- Trains
- The Hole
- The Night Sweeper
- Blood, Sweat, and Tears
- The Irony
- A Butterfly’s Gift
- Spring Firefighter
- The Tired Doctor
- The Notebook
- I Saw You Standing At The Funeral
- Even Rat Pups Laugh Once In A While Part 5
- The Blinds
- The Briefcase
- Art Is The Child
- The Mystery of St Aidan’s
- The Eye Sees More
- No Fury
- Summer’s End
- Past Relations
- Heart Trouble
- The Aloo Tree
- Through the Storm
- Lemon Pie
- The Hall of Familiar Faces
- Blue Dress
- Zoo
- Touching Foreignness
- Making the Eyes
- Disorderly Conduct
- The Flip
- Henny Comes Home
- Fallen
- Incandescent Friend
- D-4842
- Because of Pictures
- Fruit Breakfasts
- I Live Two Lives!
- Paddy Murphy’s Wake
- The Icon
- Nomen oblitum, or, Forgotten Name
- The Wages of Sloth
- Overheard
- Warehouse Wars
- The Interview
- The Tourists Attraction
- Clara
- Leilani
- Julie’s Got a Gun
- Going Dancing
- The Others
- Lunacy
- Spin
- Laugh It Off
- Inheritance
- Yard Dogs
- Christ in the Desert
- Shoot the Mail Carrier, Burn the Letters
- Isaiah
- Sentry
- Gabby Goose Gets Going
- Rupert
- Bars
- Legionnaire
- Kites
- Is This An Emergency?
- The Brothers
- Warm Smoke in November
- 10:42 P.M.
- The Puppeteer and the Gardener
- 6V
- Genesis
- Living the Hero Dream
- To Love Again
- The Option
- Phoebe
- The People We Never Know
- The Pin Insulator
- Hunger
- Stuffing
- Peaches
- A Final Distress Call
- Cold and Hot
- The Wild Man
- Rage
- The Captain
- Ambience
- U-Turn
- What If Mary Had Chosen Otherwise
- Even Rat Pups Laugh Once In A While Part 2
- The Feather Palace
- Nocturne
- Need You Now
- Everything in One Room
- Mercury
- The Early Bird
- Maji
- Submersion
- Frankie Ties
- Clouds There, But No Water
- No Woman’s Land
- Mama Knows Best
- Even Rat Pups Laugh Once in a While Part 6
- Critics
- This is How it Began
- Luminous, Passing By
- Summer 10
- An Immodest Proposal
- Jack and Jill
- A Literary God (in Love)
- Exploration and Love
- The Dodecahedron Skirting the Round Hole
- The Grave Sweeper
- The First of the Year
- Hitchhike
- Hard Work Pays off in any Profession
- The King’s Wife
- Melted Ice Cream
- The Navigator
- Forever Never
- Dogs and Apples
- Movin to the Moon
- Foot Steps
- Red Cabin
- Steak for Tuff
- Hold On
- When You See God, Keep Your Hands Off His Face
- The Hill
- A Song for Sweetie
- The Condemned
- Truong
- Just One More Time
- Our Daughter Laments the Past
- Two Minute Emotional Whirlwind
- Señorita, Oh Señorita
- Making Lemonade
- Tomato Soup
- Rowena
- Raketa
- Rainwashed
- An Affective Disorder, the Doctor Said
- Under Watchful Eyes
- Follow Focus
- Big Tree
- Self-Portrait
- They Know Your Face
- The World Bell
- The Plague of Caterpillars
- A Not So Distressed Damsel
- The Kickball Game
- Bubblegloop
- XOXOX
- Beard Club
- The Boys
- The World’s First Intervention
- 1A
- Punching Bags
- Fire ‘Em Up
- The Tooth
- Forever In Blue Jeans
- The More Deceived
- One Below
- A Miner’s Canary
- You Bought Me a Plane Ticket to Come Home for Christmas
- Happy Valentines, Ringo Starr
- Vaila And The Ant
- Tarantulas in Flagstaff
- Message in a Rose
- Pyre
- Soldier | Part Four
- Cadillac Love
- A Matter of Time
- The Road to Cortez
- Time Lapse
- The Picture House
- Misfit
- L717
- Imagine
- The Maiden and the Legs
- Doppelganger
- The Revolt for Hannah Smith
- And Jimmy will go to sleep in his own little room again
- The Muhurtham
- An Unexpected Encounter in Jerusalem
- Marooned in the Tarantula Nebula
- Nightswimming
- The Protest
- The Touch
- The Valley of Doom
- Ryan and Mr Fisher
- Killing Geckos
- Cat Army
- Tim
- Baby Bea
- The Mask Maker
- Helplessness
- Soldier | Part Two
- Susan
- Reunion with Em
- Muzzle
- S’mores
- American Medicine
- So Long as I have Yesterday
- The Lonely Kiss
- Miss Apprehension
- Vend
- Helping Hand
- You Read About Local Politics and Hate the Sox
- Three Uninvited Guests
- The Baby Blue Ford
- Amanda
- Mr. Fox
- The Oaken Chair
- Guilt
- Fridge City
- Cohabitation
- The Bus Stop
- Drive
- On Mannerheimintie
- Traveler
- No Time Like the Present
- Nothing Stands Against a Hero!
- The Boat of Prestigious Pirates in Plankwalk and Pillaging and Pillaging
- Child's Play
- Clown Relief and Aid Providers
- Android Adoption Day
- In Memory of the Brightwell Family
- Tsaonetsi
- Paper Cut Girl
- And Death Shall Have No Dominion
- Patsy Foley Was Roly-Poly in 1947
- The Quiet Section
- The Bully, The Psychopath, Libby and Lorraine
- The Ants Go Marching Two by Two
- Forever
- Sunco
- Mollified
- The Brief and Insignificant Life of a Lowly Tower Guard
- Two Drink Maximum
- Carbonara
- Let Him Find Another Door
- The Working Man
- And so the Hat Dropped
- Choose Me
- Reap the Whirlwind
- The Stepfather
- A Swingin’ Cat
- Indulging
- Through the Eyelids
- There is Something Going On
- Song for a 51 Year Old Bar Fly
- A Creased Heart
- King of the Mountain
- The Railway Incident
- Soldier | Part Three
- But
- No Thank You
- The Forge
- Snow
- The Weather Girl
- Jackass
- Early Retirement
- The Presence
- Mind Freak
- Rex
- Ballast
- The Other
- Rearview Mirror
- Weight of an Echo
- Keeping Up Appearances
- German Baba of Dhoot Kalan
- A Walk with the Damned
- Cow
- Jesus and the Devil Walk into a Bar
- The Mountain That Eats Men
- The Secret School Prize
- The House With No Windows | Bringing Chuckie In
- Snap
- Clenched Teeth
- Melee
- White
- Candy Girl
- The Body by the Pond
- Stones
- Pituitary
- The Submariner
- Love and Anger at 80, According to Elmer
- What’s Funny?
- Got Tickets?
- Helios Fallen
- A Cloud on the Prairie
- Guys and Dolls
- Future Robots
- The Great Bandini
- Handle with Care
- One Year
- Pickled Love
- Undefeated
- Writer’s Block
- What Dreams Are Made Of
- Through A Child’s Eye
- Feline Fireball
- The Cadillac
- Before We Had TV: a Memoir
- The Relay
- Strobe
- Bug Catcher
- Emptied
- God’s Creatures
- The Rings
- Whale Song
- The River
- Crunched
- A Pillar of Truth
- Prerogatives
- Our New Home
- The Onyx Halls
- Prudence Demands…
- Reggie and the Pre-Afterlife Waiting Room
- Love of God
- Jack
- Dollar Store
- Henry Showed Wendy His Paintings
- That Old Chevrolet
- Prom Night
- Rental Property
- The Convalescent
- Time to Learn
- Behind the Barn with Carol Ann
- Mr. Peanut Takes a Bride
- Unwritten
- Crime writer’s book sales soar after husband slain like twisted plot
- The Character-Driven Story
- The Soul Mechanic
- The Scoop
- The Cat’s Owner
- Jimmy the blind Man Says He’s in Love
- Felix
- Impetus
- Serial Killer Sentenced
- La Folie á Deux
- The Board Meeting
- Speedy Mart
- Strangers in Peoria
- Sea Level
- Shades
- The Angel Watches
- Gretchen in the Box
- The Improper Princess
- A New Life
- Season’s Greetings
- The Orchard
- Too Far
- Death and the Purple Hat
- A Puzzle in the Woods
- Bury Your Soul Six Feet Under
- To Post or Not to Post
- No Biggy
- The Night Bus Doesn’t Stop Downtown
- Seventeen Year Itch
- Change
- First Date
- Ménage á Trois
- Finding Herself
- On Display
- A Cold Holiday
- Perspective
- Flameborn
- That Good Night
- The Waiting Room
- On Her Toes
- Sasha the Shapeshifting Cat
- Fifth Floor
- Under the Sheets
- The Gift
- Technical Support
- Layers, Maybe. Does it Matter?
- The Wager
- Kassidy’s Roof
- Too Short A Goodbye
- Mary’s Birthday
- Little Knight
- In the Evening
- Vindication
- The Walk
- Conversation with the Wilderness
- Brown Haze
- The Gravedigger
- The Sleepover
- Vine
- Should I Leave or Stay?
- The Urinal
- Albeit of Salt
- A Forgotten Feast
- Mud Boy
- Lady of Spades
- The Pope
- Nail Varnish
- Those Eyes
- Coffee
- The Penguin Who Loved to Crunch Ice
- Even Rat Pups Laugh Once In A While Part 3
- Dream Wheel
- Defining Shoulders
- Old Love
- The Wrong Old Lady
- It’s Just a Car
- The Continental Ladies’ Academy
- The Wolves are Howling in the Darkness (The Darkness is Hungry at the Door)
- High Rise Love
- The House of Gravity
- The Finest Print Money can Buy
- Poached Egg
- Leap of Faith
- Fish
- Sand in my Shoes
- Light
- Nobody Will Believe Anything Manny Says
- The Collector
- In a Flash
- The Jester
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
- True to His Word
- Drainpipe Daughter
- Little Princess
- Stockholm Shadow
- The Man with the Lined Face
- Posted
- The Housewife
- Herb is dead
- Lisa
- Dance of the Whale
- A Tale of Two Glasses
- New Word to the Pa-Ayello
- Bird of Paradise
- Lilac
- The Organization
- Black Diamonds
- Hunting for Evidence
- Chasing Armadillos
- On / Off
- The Paranoid Husband
- If I Know a Song of Africa
- The Farm
- A Homecoming Revelation
- Going Postal
- Pottering About in Thailand
- Crackpot
- The Hour I First Believed
- The New Guy
- Puppy’s Multiple Homes
- The Tea-Time Visitors
- Danger Zone
- Soldier | Part Five
- A Great Love
- The Weight of Reveries
- Time in the Park
- Pink Slip
- Beautiful Baby
- Merritt Bogdrosian Hunts Injun Style?
- Child’s Play
- The Dragon’s Inn
- Fillet
- In the Dark
- A Veiled Lady
- Just Tonight
- Funeral for Charlie
- A Flash of White
- Smack Head
- Still Drunk
- The Creator
- The Charlatan
- Coffee Apocalypse
- Baby Doll
- Men
- Black Firebird
- Cassie’s Paradox
- Meandering in Silence
- The Missed Free Throws
- The Next Chapter
- Clockwork
- Miss Missouri
- If Only Someone Had Cared a Little More
- Attie and the Owl
- The Birthday Party
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