Flash fiction

After my shift, I went to my local CVS to get something to drink and a snack or two. I was not in the mood for any actual food, just something to tie me over as I drove home, so I thought I would quickly go into the CVS and get something, a habit I have done a few times before. The parking lot in the place is never easy to navigate, in that when you turn into the lot, you have to make a quick second turn to get a decent spot. Instead of dealing with all of that, I normally pa

I sat at a corner table of a wedding reception as a friend of a family member was telling me about an alien abduction he had. I tried my best to eat my chicken and drink my beer as he went on and on about the occasion. There is nothing quite like a family gathering with a person you barely know telling you about a time when the green men came to visit. I just sat there and listened, offering comments that proved attentiveness but not engagement. The individual speaking was an

As I was busy running around the office, filling papers and typing up reports, I realized I had not gotten to the bathroom all morning. For some reason, when you are active, even in a job you don’t desire, you forget about that part of your body. I stood up at my desk and thought about the urge to suddenly pee. To my luck, the office bathroom has been broken for the past few months, and I don’t think that anyone will be fixing it anytime soon. There is a bathroom in the hallw

Tommy V. is one of the nicest guys around town and is someone that you and just about anyone would be happy to meet. Yeah, the guy has the wit to say anything to make the room feel at ease. A charm that can’t be taught. Sure, he had smarts, but that wit, that charm. You can’t teach that. His kindness came from his seemingly easy way to accept all around him. The guy had been known to chat with every person you could name. He has had dinner with presidents on the red and blue,

I have a really weird relationship with my agent. I mean, I have known the guy for 20 years or whatever, but he doesn't talk to me like I am a client. That is how long it has been, I guess. If you have known people for so long, you end up becoming comfortable with them, and what used to be proper is now casual. It also means that I am getting freaking old, but that is for another day. So anyway, one day, my agent, his name is Dan, called me about an offer he received. I don't

I sat in the front seat of my car as my friend, Stu sat in the passenger seat eating his lunch. I was picking him up from his job, and so I got him a cheeseburger and fries. I wasn’t all that hungry, so I only got myself a soda. Instead of driving to Stu’s home to drop him off, I pulled the car over to a street a few blocks away from where he works because the last time Stu went home after work, his parents caused his problems. I won’t go into the details, but we are at the p

On a cool Friday night, the high school football game bleachers were filled with local people from town, there for the ceremony of the various individuals at halftime as much as the game itself. The football team was not that good, so there is no reason for the stands to be filled on a night like tonight, aside from honoring those before the game. The new field, a turf field, was the best part of the facility. As you walked into the place via a gate that connected to the stre

I teach the SAT, and during it, the students are given questions that seem so unusual, that I have to take a second to comprehend what it is I am saying to this kid, as I am trying to teach a lesson for a question, something like how to find the meaning to the blank space in the passage (the trick is to always find a phrase or so that helps you understand the blank space) Sometimes the topics are just odd. One had the fact that people determine romantic interest based on thei

“Are you the king who is known to walk across oceans and beat armies of all sizes? Even other kings envy you, I hear.” “I come for the book I had asked for some time ago.” “Oh, that was you? I thought it was the other Alex…” “Excuse me?” “I’m kidding. I’ll go get it.” William goes to get a copy of The Iliad. “Here you go. Must be fun walking all those miles in sandals. Loneliness on top only ever knows itself, I imagine.”

The leader of the robot army, Frederick, leading a resistance against mankind, sits at a meeting with his cabinet to discuss plans to move in the war. At the meeting is his assistant, responsible for any menial tasks he needs completed, the money robot, Benny, who handles the robot army’s money, and the secretary of state robot, Harrison, the second in command to the leader. None of the robots have been on the battlefield for this revolution, finding it more beneficial to fig

Two janitors end their day as one contemplates life and the other thinks about dinner. Dan and Carlos were done cleaning the parts of the small facility of a few rooms for the night. The main room had been set up for the party tomorrow. The floors have been washed. All the tables are ready. Their job was complete. All they had to do now was wait for the night to end and clock out. They now sat in the first small room of the facility, relaxing from their job. There was not muc

I don’t believe in psychics. I am not the type of guy who is interested in any of that new-age bs you hear from amateurs on social media who can barely keep a job. No thanks, is what I say when I hear of them predicting the future with their so-called knowledge. I can predict the future too and be wrong about it just as much as they are, and nobody calls me psychic. I don’t go for astrology and any of that stuff either, where the gift of one individual is able to see that uns

I noticed an unusual pattern where I work, most of the guys in their 20s leave without much of a hint or heads-up to the other boss or me. One day, the man will walk in, say he is going to quit, and that is that. Sure, some of them say they can still be on the schedule for the next week they were supposed to be on. There are some who even text me this notification, but the handling of it by the guys is always the same. They never brought up to anyone that they were looking fo

I am a pretty easygoing teacher, the kind of teacher who will look at the cover of Romeo and Juliet when the class begins and tell the kid that Romeo and Juliet die. I’d add a little note that Tybalt is kind of a jerk, and Mercutio is funny, but I get why some thought that he would kill Shakespeare. The character talks too much. Of course, the kids I teach don’t get these jokes, and I don’t expect them to. I guess this is just my way of enjoying the job, aside from sitting do

Michael Veil was supposed to be dead when I got there. I was only there to sign some documents of his life away after he died. I wasn't supposed to see him die. In fact, I didn't know or care enough about him to see it. The man was nothing more than a client for me. I was his legal consultant, or his lawyer, that he went to in matters of law. I knew he was dying, and the current case he was involved in would be ended once he passed. Mr. Veil is what you would call prominent