Tilly’s
Fiction, Contributor Contributing Writer Fiction, Contributor Contributing Writer

Tilly’s

I could see him as he talked. The mouth surrounded by the scraggly beard, moving at a thousand miles an hour. Him walking and talking at the same time since he never sat for too long in any one place. Medium height, medium build, and large hands with fingers, which had been broken years ago. The hands hid the story of a man feared by many when he was much younger.

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Call Thru The Metal
Fiction Guest User Fiction Guest User

Call Thru The Metal

And the tendril is the spark is the stem creeping a creep ominous and slow from the poisonous spotted orchid named malice. The tendril of disease sprawled to clutch at the softest tissue of the closest one.

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Microsoft Teams is the Devil’s Tool
David Himmel, Fiction David Himmel David Himmel, Fiction David Himmel

Microsoft Teams is the Devil’s Tool

“This is no way to pray. This is no way to send our loved one off to the Great Beyond. To Heaven? I don’t know. I’m not sure anymore. I’m not even sure I was ever so sure at all.”

Typical Fr. Harrington. Always starting his sermons with a sense of existential dread and confusion. Topped off with a sprinkle of self-doubt. He’s the Woody Allen of Catholicism. He even had a questionable relationship with an ingénue at his old parish in Portland, Maine. That’s how he ended up here. In my church.

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The Storytellers
Fiction Guest User Fiction Guest User

The Storytellers

It was a long signal and we were silent for a beat. Just enough time for my gaze to drift for no reason at all, over the door down to the blacktop where a female praying mantis lay crushed and paved over.

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In The Young Century
History, Fiction Guest User History, Fiction Guest User

In The Young Century

There was a lot of noise and shouting by this time, but my grandmother knew just what came next. She reached for the matches for her cigarettes in her apron pocket and began to light the massive bobbins. Moving down the row, crawling fast and watching from the floor as the flames climbed the yarn and smoke began to billow at the ceiling. The workers went fast for the exits when she was pulled from under the spooler and tied to a sewing table chair by a floor manager.

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Selfish Love
David Himmel, Fiction David Himmel David Himmel, Fiction David Himmel

Selfish Love

It was a hard decision. One Marie had to make alone. Her poor, sick kitty couldn’t weigh in even though it was his opinion that should have mattered most. Cancer. It’s a bummer no matter the species.

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Slothy's Day Out
David Himmel, Fiction David Himmel David Himmel, Fiction David Himmel

Slothy's Day Out

Slothy has been a good friend to Harry. He’s always been there to play with and comfort Harry. Slothy has always had Harry’s back. He was Harry’s biggest cheerleader when Harry was learning to walk. Because a walking Harry meant Slothy could have more adventures.

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Stray Humans
J.L. Thurston, Fiction Jenni Thurston J.L. Thurston, Fiction Jenni Thurston

Stray Humans

Shockingly, I was placed on the ground outside. Outside! This had never happened before. My fear washed away and I was overwhelmed by the feel of grass, the way the light touched my skin. I stretched out into the dirt, face down, and breathed as though I’d never breathed before.

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The Cereal Wish | Part 6
Fiction, Joe Janes Joe Janes Fiction, Joe Janes Joe Janes

The Cereal Wish | Part 6

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.

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The Cereal Wish | Part 5
Fiction, Sheri Reda Joe Janes Fiction, Sheri Reda Joe Janes

The Cereal Wish | Part 5

I wake up lying flat out in the entry hall closet we never use because we are too lazy to open the door. I’m lying on boxes of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios I had wished into being. There are even some extras to make a pillow for my head. Melted chocolate is streaming out of the boxes like cookie blood. I can hear Maggie snuffling at the doorway.

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The Cereal Wish | Part 4
Fiction Contributing Writer Fiction Contributing Writer

The Cereal Wish | Part 4

As you have already learned, I am a quick thinker. Like, how I used my second wish to live inside of the classic sitcom Cheers. Yep. Everything is going to be smooth sailing from here on out.

It’s true that I’ll miss my girlfriend, Sarah, but as Dave Matthews said in a Facebook post in 2018, “What a great ending of a great tour!”

Norm walks over to me.

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The Cereal Wish | Part 2
Fiction Guest User Fiction Guest User

The Cereal Wish | Part 2

And there I was, twenty minutes later out trucking with Maggie four blocks away now from our place down Algren Street. It seemed to be nap time for the rest of the world while I took the much-needed air.

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The Cereal Wish

The Cereal Wish

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. Here is that developing story.

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