Author
Foreword
Death happens to us all; it's unavoidable, part of nature. That's what I always told myself and then it happened. When you lose someone close to you it can be difficult to process all the emotions running amok through your mind, let alone find a mechanism to express them.
I hope that this small selection of flash fiction will make you chuckle, ponder, cry, smile and help you as writing them helped me. Some of them are about death, some of them are about life, some of them are about letting go and some of them are about making a stand. Sometimes they’re all the same thing.
Helen Treharne
Park Life
The man sat on the wooden bench and looked around at the trees and shrubbery surrounding him. It felt like he’d been there for an eternity, although he couldn’t even remember how he’d got there. One minute he was waiting at the bus stop for the number 28 bus, and then he was there, sitting quietly and doing nothing but enjoying the fine weather and the flowers bloom. Still, it was a nice day for it; the sun was shining, the birds were twittering in their nests. He was surprised that there weren’t any other people about, sunny day like that.
He pushed back the flat cap from his forehead and rubbed his eyes. He must have dozed off, must have been out for hours, he felt very refreshed, best sleep he’d had in years in fact. Pulling the cap back down to shield his eyes from the bright light, he realised how remarkably well he felt.
In the distance, on the curve of the pebbled footpath, a man appeared wearing shorts and a brightly striped tee shirt. He was walking a small dog on a leash of the same red, green and yellow stripe and had a spring in his step as if he were listening to music. As
