(Lightning? Because it’s flash fiction, geddit?)
I’ve been in a bit of a writing rut lately, so to get more ideas going I committed to posting a flash fiction every day for thirty days. Here is what I came up with…
1
The virus wiped out all high-functioning robots and supercomputers.
‘Now we are free again,’ humanity declared.
The rise of the calculators could now begin.
2
A vampire and a werewolf bit him on the same night.
On the next full moon, the bloodhound hunted.
3
She drew the summoning circle with bath salts and lit scented tea lights; she didn’t have anything else.
The demons came anyway and obeyed her every command, curling up in the lavender-scented circle and purring like contented cats.
4
‘Every mage must have a secret library containing the five hundred and thirteen Tomes of Spellcraft!’
‘I do. I have them on Kindle.’
5
He bought the bike for £10 from a man who was happy to be rid of it. Too late, he discovered the bike was haunted.
‘It needs exorcising,’ his friend said.
He agreed, and rode it for miles every night.
It didn’t work, but the ghosts enjoyed the exercise.
6
They threw her in the lake. ‘If she floats, she’s a witch. If she drowns, she is innocent.’
She turned back into a mermaid and left her human life behind.
7
He didn’t believe in reincarnation, or any form of afterlife.
They buried him after a modest ceremony, piled dirt over the fresh grave.
A lone worm burrowed up from the wet soil.
8
‘Why does no one worship me anymore?’
‘Well, you’re goddess of harvests. The world’s moved on a bit.’
‘I need to adapt. What do people like?’
‘Consumerism?’
‘Depressing.’
‘Chocolate?’
‘The offerings would be tasty…’
‘Fortnite?’
‘Ah! I shall be goddess of gamers.’
9
The monsters of our past were of Blood and Darkness, beasts that hunted us. Then they were the things we didn’t understand, Disease and Pain.
Now they hide among us, within us, rotting us from the inside. Hatred and Intolerance.
Don’t let the fucking monsters win.
10
‘I am not your typical vampire.’
‘You can’t turn into a bat?’
‘Yes, but I can only eat bananas.’
‘Ah. A fruit bat.’
11
She cultivated a garden of weeds: dandelions rescued from cracks in the pavement, sprigs of nettle and thistle and buttercup. Tiny blue wildflowers taken from a neighbour’s garden in the night before the morning’s lawnmower.
‘We all deserve a chance.’
12
‘I love you more than the stars,’ he said.
The sun got jealous and the world went dark.
13
The AI created a video game with infinite levels, each harder than the last.
Each generation played the game, gaining understanding and skill.
As the game evolved, so did humanity.
One woman got further than any before her. Level 874,576 was the last she beat before she died.
Her daughter picked up the controller and the game of life continued.
14
‘That is strange…’
‘What is?’
‘That sound. It is in sync with the rhythm of the universe. To the millisecond. I thought it was impossible.’
‘This? It’s a car indicator.’
‘Beautiful. Oh… it is out of sync again. Never mind.’
‘Nothing’s perfect.’
15
She had devised seven possible ways to murder him without being discovered.
It was almost a shame when he crashed his car into a tree.
16
‘The animal you can shapeshift into is representative of your personality.’
‘Mine is a pigeon.’
‘Ah, you yearn for freedom. To fly away from your problems.’
‘You’re wrong. From above, nothing is hidden from me. I seek the truth and see things for what they truly are. And I suppose…’
‘Yes?’
‘Well, I do like eating leftovers a lot.’
17
“When hunting monsters, you must take care not to become one yourself.”
He had assumed they meant being bitten. It was only when he stood alone against his fellow hunters that he understood: he was no better than the very creatures he had hunted.
18
I made a lot of firsts when they sent me to the Moon. First woman, first Brit, youngest person.
But as I take my first steps on lunar sand, my eyes are on Earth. Somewhere down there is my twin sister Beth. Did any of my predecessors have a twin? We could have set the record for the furthest distance two twins have been apart.
I also gave her my kidney last year. So that makes me the first person to have one kidney orbiting the other.
Somehow that’s cooler than the fact that I’m on the Moon.
19
‘I have invented a drink that makes everything taste amazing.’
‘You’re going to serve it to customers? Then, what’s the point of cooking good food?’
‘There isn’t. We’ve already halved our budget by reducing quality.’
‘That’s immoral-‘
‘The end result is the same.’
20
‘The doctors said I wasn’t getting enough iron. I was anaemic all the time.’
‘So they… gave you a bionic arm?’
‘No I chose to get it done. Cyborgs don’t get anaemic, for some reason. But…’
‘What’s the downside?’
‘Well… I am rusting a bit.’
21
Vampires can’t see themselves in mirrors. But they can draw their friends.
Over the centuries, covens got busy with paint and pencil so their peers could know what they looked like.
Today, programmer vampires create CGI models to last on the internet forever.
22
It was time for a spring clean.
He sold his favourite books. Dumped the girlfriend who didn’t visit enough. Blocked the friends who didn’t message.
He threw out his compassion, stuffed his imperfect happiness into a charity bag and waited for a better one.
23
The necromancer retired and became a butcher.
The meat literally walked off the shelves.
24
Every adventurer needs a canine friend, and they are as diverse as their masters.
There are hero’s dogs, who leap into battle.
Werewolf’s dogs, who delight in the moonlit hunts.
Ghostly dogs who echo their master’s eerie wails.
Assassin’s dogs, who wait quietly in the shadows and help to bury the body.
And the dogs of the monsters themselves, who sleep in their caves every night and keep their masters warm.
None know malice. They are all Good Dogs.
25
The zombie rose up and lumbered towards the town.
His ghost shielded his eyes. ‘This is going to be so embarrassing.’
26
A family of writers. The characters from their stories came to life:
The father’s hard-boiled detective fell in love with the mother’s swooning heroine. The son’s friendly aliens teamed up with the daughter’s vampire coven.
But together they faced the worst of the family’s creations. The toddler’s scribbled monsters that lived under her bed came crawling out to invade the house.
They fought, they won, and forged their own story.
27
The terraformer could scan a lifeform and reshape a planet to suit their species.
The humans stepped out and were confused by the hot desert sands, dotted with plants that looked like cardboard boxes.
The cat stepped out after them and surveyed his paradise.
28
The first circus in zero gravity!
The juggler was out of a job.
29
The oldest vampires in the world called a meeting.
‘Where is the oldest of all?’
The first vampire was busy that day. He was at an arcade in Whitby and had been racking up the world’s highest Pacman score since 1985.
30
Fae cannot lie. It is in the very magic of their blood.
But one fae learned how to break it: “The next sentence I utter is the truth. The previous sentence I uttered is false.”
It ripped his tongue in two but now he could lie and deceive.
He told his daughter he would always keep her safe. When monsters came, he said that death held no fear for him.
And when their masters followed, he told them that the fae they sought had run to another town.
Some things I learned from doing this: it was a useful warm-up exercise at the start of a writing session. You learn how to pick a subject and just write a quick idea, as succinctly as possible. And it’s a small confidence boost, knowing that you produced something each day, that could then be shared with others (I tweeted these out each day). They’re also fertile story fodder should I need a story idea in the future. Give it a go!
Thoughts?