Here’s some very very short excerpts from very short stories that only take a minute to read.
“We figured it was dumb, but you’re allowed to be dumb once, and it’s good to be reminded.” At Smokelong Quarterly, “Hip” by Kim Chinquee.
“You sit down next to me, your chest hanging open like a neglected surgery patient, a zipper undone, a black hole of abandonment, and you lean over and press your hand underneath my sweater and pull down my skin like the flap of a tent until you see my own trembling muscle, my shriveled puzzle-piece living behind a tar-coated cage of stained bone.” At Word Riot, “The Waltz” by Lisa Aldin.
“It’ll have to be a headshot. A wounding shot may still give the man time to detonate his explosives, and a shot to his torso might set off the bomb anyway.” At Flashquake, “The Valley of the Black Pig” by Scott Crowder.
“If I hadn’t gotten distracted reading them, I wouldn’t have heard how someone entered the next cubicle and masturbated slowly, whispering, between gasps, an uncommon name: mine.” At Pank, “Cenicienta” by Sofia Rhei translated by Lawrence Schimel.
