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This flash fiction was prompted by the work of an artist friend, Sarbani Bhattacharya, and a drabble challenge from a fellow-writer.

Flash fiction and I are an old pair.

Last few weeks have been an editing purgatory, and the next round is about to begin again, so I wanted to pop by and share a tiny piece with you.

This flash fiction was prompted by the work of a super-talented artist friend, Sarbani Bhattacharya, and a drabble challenge from a fellow-writer.

They’ve met many times now, inside his tent. It is never enough.

In her head, writhing snakes that never pause as she keeps pots from boiling over, snails from decimating the garden, snarling children from killing each other.

He sits quiet by the ponds that open like dark flowers on the grassland, rich-smelling, deep, filled with hulking, whiskered fish. Raises a mouth organ off and on, sending soundbursts into the air, like smoke from a burned home.

Tonight, they’ll meet again. One of them will vanish—never be seen again—the other return as food for fish and snails.

 


If you’d like to challenge me with more Wrriting Prompts for my new One-Shot Gazette where I’ll be sending out flash fiction, CLICK HERE. You can also subscribe to the other gazettes (I send out one with writing resources, another with reading hacks and recommendations, or the latest with short fiction) using the links below.

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What recent short stories or novels have you read? Do you write or read flash fiction based on art or writing prompts?

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Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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