Worthing Flash

  The planet is groaning, Mother Earth is chastising, Nature is rebelling, human destruction needs stopping! Creatures of all kinds yearn for freedom; They cry “Enough of the martyrdom”. Animals in all countries took action To prevent further their habitat destruction. On humans they have exacted their revenge To force the quagmire to change. On humans the earth struck a major blow Affecting what they revere; their cash flow. Humans are asked to stay in for a while, Most of them complaining “this is vile”. Unwilling to live indoors for weeks as recluse To abide by the rules, many of course refuse. As all species, human or animals, are connected, For the sake of the planet, Covid 19 must be deflected. Meanwhile, nature is breathing out of its every pore. Many once-hidden sounds unexpectedly come to the fore The sky is a dazzling blue, devoid of airplanes, the air is clean, The chirpy birds are elated, the grass is a rich vibrant green. In the spring of 2020 the ...

Recipe for life Mixed blessing broth Ingredients : Imagination Good memory A pinch of humour First, reflect on everything that was good in your life as early as your memory allows.   Add a pinch of humour to bring out the funny side of things.   Next, share this dish and enjoy it in a convivial atmosphere.   Mix individual memories with others to form a basis for self-reflection.  Ensure the balance between blessings and bad happenings is right to enhance the final taste.   Add another pinch of humour if the dish is tasteless and full of regrets. Andrée Roby  August 2020

OMG, what is going on here? I had woken up, startled, feeling a strange numbness in my mouth. I thought I tasted blood. I didn’t feel my teeth. My tongue erred in the empty space like a creature, dashing around, lost, and exploring a barren wasteland. It was a landscape full of ridges but no peaks. There were no two ways about it, I had to see what this empty, barren space was all about. I got up and went to look in the mirror. The sight it reflected hit me hard. Never would I have expected to see my mouth completely empty apart from my tongue either darting from side to side or sticking out. I opened and closed my mouth, resembling a fish more than a human being. No, there was no mistake. Nothing to see from my lips to the back of my throat. What a pitiful sight. I looked so ugly without teeth. I didn’t believe it. Never had I looked like this. How did this happen? How was I ever going to smile or talk, let alone go out to work, shop or meet my friend...

I looked at the opening I had created a few moments ago. It had caused me pain and sadness but it had also taken determination simply to carry out my decision. There was no going back. I felt there was no other option. Truly I was not sure how it got that far in the first place. I was only in my twenties, where had it all gone wrong? When had this feeling which permeates my life started weighing on me like a boulder? What had led me to this momentum day? I thought back to a younger me, at 9 years old. Finding out that the hero I worshipped and had put on a pedestal had fallen from it with a big bang. My dad, my hero! Well, how would I know at 9 years old what having a nervous breakdown means? What did I know about mental health? I just could not believe that this man, in my eyes always tall, strong and whom I loved, was the same as this whimpering, crouched up, crying man, rocking in a chair. This man who had fathered 3 children was now a child himself, unexpectedly req...

Do people ever really know the impact of their words on others? Do they actually comprehend the depth of joy or sorrow words can bring? This is a question I have been asking myself from an early age. In fact from as far back as I canremember. It all started with the whispers from the adults around me, talking to my parents, or behind my parents’ back whilst towering above me as a young child. I was not the best looking child amongst my siblings or in our neighbourhood, but to hear people’s comments such as “ My goodness, not very pretty is she?” “ Poor child, she is no oil painting, bless her”. They would say it with a mixture of disdain, superiority, pity and even plain enjoyment at saying something hurtful to my parents and in turn, later on, hurtful to me. Why would they want to do that to an innocent child? I guess the reason was that people were jealous that I was born in a powerful family in days gone by, so they relished the fact that we had lost everything and, ...

“Passengers for flight EZY8691 to Las Palmas please make your way to gate 69. The flight is ready to board”. In my chest my heart was thumping with excitement.   It is incredible that people around me could not hear the noise it was making.   “This is my flight.   I am going to Gran Canaria”. I thought with exhilaration whilst making my way to Gate 69. I had finally managed it.   It had taken me 6 months of savings to afford a break in Las Palmas.   This was my treat for my 50th birthday and I will be celebrating it in Spain. I still had difficulty realising that I was at Gatwick Airport, on my own, ready to board a flight to a destination I had never been to.   If it had not been for the documentary I had seen on the special beaches and the sand dunes in Las Palmas, I would never have thought of going there. Not mentioning the unusual night clubs with the flamboyant characters that performed there every night of the tourist season. I...

In a big old-fashioned house, on top of a green hill in Cumbria lived a rather strange-looking young woman. “ Strange” may be a bit strong, maybe unusual would suit her better. Her hair was long, blond, often unstyled, her fashion sense non-existent. She favoured flowing Indian skirts more 1978 style than 2018. Sandals adorned her bare feet whatever the weather prompting the question of whether she had a stash of similar sandals as they only varied in colour. Her tops were also very 70s and she wore oversized jumpers on cold days. Definitely not the usual appearance of a Cumbrian resident! Villagers at the bottom of the hill were intrigued by her but very few of them actually knew anything about her. Some said her name was “Emma” and others swore that they heard her call herself “Lura”. One thing they all knew is that she lived alone in the house which used to belong to a distant cousin of the Royal Family, on the Prince of Wales’ side. The cousin had died but some villagers ...

Régine, originally from France, has a passion for the word and has written several poems and flash fiction. She is a linguist, a language teacher and lives in West Sussex. Régine, who writes under the name of Andrée Roby, published her first novella called "Double Vision" in January 2019. It was voted "Book of the month for April 2019" by the publisher Tredition.  She is currently writing a sequel called "Failed Vision". “Oh no! There it goes again…” This repetitive “what do you want from me?” that I hear through the thin walls of my flat…  Since moving in 6 months ago, I kept hearing the woman next door saying “what do you want from me?” on a regular basis. Although it was muffled, she sounded quite distressed at times. What was going on in that flat?  Was she having an argument with her husband? I was baffled because when I saw the young couple in the street, they seemed happy and loving so what was causing their recurring argument indoor...