Fast & Short is a flash fiction collaboration between eight Literate Ape writers. Each was tasked with authoring one piece of flash fiction that would be combined to create a single short story. The writers’ flash fiction needed to serve two purposes: 1. Stand alone as a unique piece of flash fiction and 2. Serve as a vehicle for building a larger story and driving that story forward. Over the next two weeks, Literate Ape will publish all eight flash fiction stories individually with a link to the growing compilation. We hope you enjoy this literary experiment.

—DH2 , co-editors

By Joe Janes

SARAH WAS GONE. All that was in the hall was a big box full of boxes of Product 19 on its side. I hate Product 19, but she wants me to eat it because it’s healthy. She must have bought it to make up for forgetting the cereal. “How is this my wish?” The genie was gone, too. I accidentally wished for Sarah to listen to me for a minute. A dumb ’80s sitcom thing for me to do. I didn’t know what to do, so I took a gallon Ziploc bag of frozen milk out of the freezer and set it on the counter to thaw. I sat down at the island to wait. “Can I microwave milk?” I said as Maggie pawed my leg. Sarah then appeared sitting on the other side of the island. 

“Okay, that was weird.”

“Sarah! What happened to you?”

“I was right here. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. All I could do was hear your voice. You said, ‘How is this my wish?’ and ‘Can I microwave milk?’ My answers are, ‘What are you talking about?’ and ‘You’re an idiot.’”

She wasn’t wrong. I heard a buzzing sound. Maggie started barking. Outside the kitchen sink window, I could see the bobbing of two small drones.