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