Flash Fiction by David Margolin
Malcolm lay quietly, enjoying the memory of his meal last night. Chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, ham and eggs, and a peanut butter milkshake. None of his requests had been denied. He felt the chilly, dry air on his skin and in his nostrils. He only perceived the medicinal smell when he inhaled deeply. The inexorable click and hum of the machinery of death were barely audible.
Bio: David Margolin lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. During his career as a Neurologist he has done a lot of medical/scientific writing. Now he is enjoying the relative freedom of creative writing. He has work published (or pending) in Friday Flash Fiction, Five Minutes, R U Joking?, Little Old Lady Comedy, Bright Flash Literary Review, Memoir Magazine, Witcraft, Thin Skin, BarBar, Children, Churches & Daddies, Akapata, Freedom Fiction and Bewildering Stories. David’s default writing mode is comedy, as in “Table Manners” (R U Joking?) and “Showdown” (Little Old Lady Comedy). He is often nostalgic, as in “Teabags” (Memoir Magazine) and “The Doctor is In–The Groove (Witcraft), but he can be grim, as in “The Outing” (Children, Churches & Daddies), “Brain Raid” (Freedom Fiction Journal), “The Audience” (BarBar). You can read more of his stories and support him on Substack
Cover photo by Pexels/Polina Tankilevitch
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Short, sweet, sour and addictive (but not enough) like an half ounce bag of Sour Patch Kids candy.
Yes, it’s very short. Flash fiction is for short stories, like haiku is for poetry. A picture of something. When the reader reads it, they know exactly what is up, without tons of words explaining it to the reader. Thank you for your comment.
Great execution! I loved it!
Good pun J. Marquez Jr. I’m glad that you liked it.