Dangers, Heroes, and Cell Phones

MicroFiction Roundup #2

FlickerFics

Missed Connection

“Walk down the abandoned tracks,” they said. “The surroundings are beautiful. You’ll gain perspective.”

They lied. I froze as the train roared towards me on the not-abandoned tracks. I gave a silent prayer and took a breath.

Then, it veered off… down a branch line I had not noticed.

Heroes We May Deserve

We were a motley bunch of heroes:

• Captain Courageous: Leader. Two dozen superpowers. Moral compass.

• Scream: Vigilante. A terror on the streets (and the sheets, allegedly).

• Feet-4-Arms: Feet for arms.

• And myself: A billionaire who’d rather crush some skulls than crush world hunger.

Toxic Safety

Rocco squeezed another rivet into place and threw the pin over his shoulder. He’d clean after the bunker was complete.

Muffled yells broke his concentration. He turned to his bound family and winked at his wife. “I’m keeping y’all safe. Don’t you like the perks of having a crafty spouse?”

Lightning 100

Repel

Ayla powered down the street, keeping a brisk pace.

“Seriously, can you believe Dimitri?” she asked on her cell phone. “He came at me with that knife after I told him not to, so I had to let him have it. I’ll give you one guess at what I did.”

She paused and nodded. “That’s right! And after I waved his sad little fingers in his face, I told him he could have them back when he learned to behave. They’re in my fridge now.”

Up ahead, a frightened serial killer slunk deeper into the bushes he was hiding in.

“Ladyfingers? Nah girl, I already have those.” (Photo by Patty Zavala on Unsplash)

Phone Home

“Nana, this isn’t a phone.” I squinted at the screen with the strange glyphs on it. “At least not one I recognize.” I’m not even sure I’m holding it right.

Nana tutted. “I have to unlock it with my DNA first.” She licked her finger and poked the screen. “Okay, it’s on. Now I’m sure you can see the problem.”

Thank god, now it’s in English. “Uhh… you have an app called ‘Crop Circle Stencils.’ Is this an alien phone?”

“What? No! I got it at the pawn shop. Now, can you please figure out how to download Candy Crush?”

Fact in Fiction

There’s not much to say here other than I’m glad to have actually posted something two weeks in a row! Still not sure if the next flash fiction story will be the first of the prompts voted on last week (results here for those interested) or if I’m doing something different to offset the polls another couple weeks. As I type this, prompt #1 is a tie, so I’m expecting to have to figure out a tie-breaker. I wasn’t expecting to have to do that so quickly, but here we are, barring an eleventh-hour tie-breaking vote!

Share Corner

I want to take a second and plug the two accounts that provided the microfiction prompts I used in this issue and the last roundup.

Helen Whistberry - Grief Monster, Too Wide, and Heroes We May Deserve are thanks to her whistpr prompts that are currently on hiatus. Regardless, consider following her for her lovely art, and if you’re on Bluesky, check out the awesome feeds she put together for things ranging from writing prompts, book reviews, and nature images.

Half Baked Prompts - Missed Connection and Toxic Safety came from prompts they gave. I enjoy that they give an entire idea (a mood, imagery, quote, etc.) rather than a single word. They also post leaderboards if you’re feeling a little competitive.