Worthing Flash

PERSEVERANCE My father was a clever-clogs. His degree Finals paper set three compulsory questions and one optional. Choosing the gyroscope question, his result was ridiculous; another method – same result, yet another – same again. Time was now up; he’d failed. When the results were posted, his name was top. He visited his professor to get the error corrected. You were the only student to tackle the gyroscope question. The professor said. But I didn’t solve it. Father responded. You did! Gyroscopes generate astonishing forces, as you demonstrated three different ways. Remarkable! He’d passed! Frances Aitken

UNPLANNED B by Gary L. Dozier      She lays in bed by the phone waiting for Nate's call.  He never calls. She takes a warm bubble bath with a glass of wine and candles waiting  for Nate's text.  He never texts.  She blows the candles out.  Drinks the  last swig of wine.  Exits the tub.  The doorbell rings.  She answers the  door dripping wet in her bath towel.  To her surprise it's Jonathan with a  bottle of wine and massage oil, ready to supply her demand.

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Fisherman’s Shanty Fog swirled around Dorian’s feet as he walked the length of the pier, posts and boardwalk disappearing behind him as those ahead revealed themselves. Yellow up ahead—must be Robert. The older man sat on a bench, his yellow cap muted in the mists, his fishing pole dangling in the water. Blue smoke curled from the joint in his hands, the floral bright in the otherwise damp air. “ He’s gone,” Robert said, his face red and crumpled. Dorian rested a hand on Robert’s leg, staring out into the fog. “Tell me stories, then. Let him live just a bit longer.” Bio: K. Andrew Turner is a queer m/m writer with hEDS and AuDHD. He writes contemporary and speculative poetry and prose exploring connection, complexity, and what it means to be human. His work delves into self-reflection, mental illness, and the messy intricacies of relationships—from the mundane to the fantastical. His published work includes The Heretic and the Broken Man (Lazuli Press), Heart, Mind, Blood, ...

Father and Son  Trevor built a large house, maybe the best in town. He meant it for his son Tom and the family Tom would have. Then Tom went away for college and decided he wouldn’t come back. Trevor lives in the house still but lets it go to shambles, unlike a home meant to last.

Fail-Safe Menu (Word count: 100) by Marcelo Medone Flaunting my status as a refined and solvent man, I invited a gorgeous woman to the most expensive and exclusive restaurant in town. “I suggest an aphrodisiac menu,” I said, winking at her. I recited the options: roast sirloin with figs, honey and cinnamon, clams with red asparagus and black caviar, prawns marinated in olive oil, mustard and mango, black truffles with blueberries, and Egyptian dates stuffed with blue cheese and grapes. All washed down with a well-chilled late-harvest rosé wine. “At your age, I suggest a little blue pill for dessert,” she said, laughing. I think she meant it. BRIEF BIO Marcelo Medone (Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions nominee fiction writer, poet, essayist and screenwriter. He received numerous awards and was published in more than 50 countries, including the US. He currently lives in Montevideo, Uruguay.