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