The Arnolfini Funeral by Jan Kaneen Midsummer heat carries his musk up the screw of the staircase, so I know he is coming. I curtsy low averting my eyes, but I need no eyes to see him: that left wrist…
Tar i leith
Tar i leith by Ali McGrane She never went back, not really, only once for a holiday when the children were young. But there’s this. She stands in her kitchen, one hand on the door frame, one foot over the…
Nonna No Name
Nonna No Name by Rachael Dunlop ‘Tell me the story of Nonna No Name.’ ‘There was a woman with a fierce heart and three sons, all cabinet makers. The work they did, so good. They heard about a big job,…
When the Walking’s Done
When the Walking’s Done by Mary Scott The outback never ends. Frank’s seen nothing but orange and brown for hours now. Burned colours. Enough to drive a man mad. Walk, walk. Feet swelled up like melons in their rags. Stomach…
Kom-bat
Kom-bat by Paul Phillips Let’s begin again with the photograph, the one everybody knows. The senior political officer — Yeremenko? — is rising, pistol raised, rousing the men to advance. Seconds later he was dead. And you had to step into his…
2019 Summer Microfiction Competition: Moon Landing
20 July 2019 marks fifty years since the Apollo Moon Landing. To celebrate that small step and giant leap, FlashBack is holding our second historical microfiction competition. We are looking for flash fiction, prose poetry and hybrid work of up…
Why I Left You That Day in a Pawnshop
Why I Left You That Day in a Pawnshop by Riham Adly I pawned you for cheap, for real cheap on the bitter-cold, July night of 1952, amidst the changing face of our city. I went to the pawn-shop on…
Homecoming
Homecoming by K. Noel Moore Someone’s bound to recognize me among the influx of new arrivals to Richmond Barracks. Someone’s bound to realize that as court-martials begin and a steady trickle of prisoners are set free, I remain inside. I’m…
Of Chinwoke
Of Chinwoke by Adachioma Ezeano Papa didn’t drink the pap I passed him. Papa just picked six pieces of the bean-cakes, and pushed over his plates. Chinwoke would have run to Papa. He would have taken the remaining bean-cakes, carried…
Sixteen Time Zones From Home
Sixteen Time Zones from Home by C. G. Thompson for “Lucky” January, 1944. Perched on a bunk in the depths of the battleship, he considers a letter to his parents. The night before, he and his shipmates had crossed the…