Flash Stories

Undocumented Student Superhero

hamed Jan. 22, 2025, 9:18 p.m.

Miguel had always been good at blending in. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. Living in Spokane as an undocumented student, he had perfected the art of invisibility. But everything changed the day Spokane Public Schools made an announcement: “In light of recent developments, we will be enforcing stricter documentation checks. Students must provide proof of residency and citizenship status.”

The news hit Miguel like a ton of textbooks. He imagined the halls of his school transforming into a labyrinth of paperwork and security checks, like some dystopian version of high school. There was no way he was going to let that happen.

That’s when Miguel’s alter ego emerged: El Protector.

“Wait, you’re not really going to—” his best friend Sam started, but Miguel had already donned his first layer of disguise: a neon-green hoodie that he found in the lost and found. He threw a …

Clickocracy: The Future of Governance

hamed Jan. 24, 2025, 10:14 a.m.

In the year 2135, the nation of Novara had achieved what most could only dream of: a fully digital democracy where every citizen had a say in every decision, instantly. Gone were the days of slow, cumbersome parliaments and long-winded speeches by out-of-touch politicians. Instead, Novarans decided everything with a simple click—on their smartphones, at work, or while waiting in line at the coffee shop.

The government structure? Nonexistent. Who needed one when you could just vote online?

A major crisis had erupted when the last “traditional” government position—the Minister of Breakfast Foods—was unceremoniously voted out by a tweet poll. The country was in disarray.

"You can’t just click to remove the Minister of Breakfast Foods!" cried Darryl McEgghead, a respected food historian. "This is an outrage! How will we ever have coherent legislation about cereal, pancakes, and the deep cultural significance of the croissant?"

But it was too late. …

Directed By Fear

dehongi Jan. 13, 2024, 8:17 p.m.

The alarm clock rang, but Anna did not want to get up. She had a big presentation at work today, and she was terrified of speaking in front of her boss and colleagues. She had spent the whole night tossing and turning, imagining all the ways she could mess up. What if she forgot her lines? What if she stuttered or mumbled? What if they laughed at her or criticized her? She wished she could just stay in bed and avoid the whole ordeal.

She reached for her phone and typed a message to her manager. She lied that she was feeling sick and asked for a day off. She hoped he would understand and reschedule the presentation. She hit send and waited for his reply. She felt a surge of relief, followed by a pang of guilt. She knew she was letting her team down, but she also felt …

The Forgotten Club | Part One

hamed Jan. 30, 2025, 7:16 p.m.

Olivia had always loved mysteries. From reading detective novels to solving petty neighborhood disputes, she’d done it all. But when she found the dusty old box in the back of the school’s library, she discovered something far more exciting than anything she’d read in a book.

It was a collection of faded papers, yellowing membership forms, and an old sign-up sheet with a name she didn’t recognize: The Mystery Solvers Club.

"Seriously?" Olivia whispered, scanning the handwritten notes on the dusty pages. “This thing existed back in the '80s? Why did no one tell me about this?"

Her fingers traced the letters, and she found a list of cases—unsolved mysteries that the club had tried to crack, like the vanishing trophies from the school’s sports hall, the strange noise heard in the basement at night, and the case of the disappearing mascot costume.

With a grin spreading across her face, …

The Last Child

dehongi Jan. 31, 2024, 3:03 p.m.

The Last Child

She was the last child born on Earth. Her parents named her Hope, but they knew it was a futile gesture. The world was overrun by the undead, the living corpses of those who refused to die. They had consumed all the resources, polluted the environment, and waged endless wars. They had no interest in the future, only in preserving their own existence.

Hope grew up in a hidden bunker, surrounded by books, toys, and art. Her parents taught her everything they could, hoping to spark some curiosity and creativity in her. They wanted her to have a normal childhood, even if it was only an illusion.

But Hope was not like other children. She was quiet, withdrawn, and melancholic. She rarely smiled or laughed. She spent most of her time staring at the screens, watching the horrors of the outside world. She saw the undead roaming …

A Second Too Many

hamed Jan. 23, 2025, 6:27 p.m.

Ren adjusted the dials on the ChronoRing, the device humming softly against her wrist. She’d only ever used it for minor adjustments—skipping traffic jams, fixing a botched presentation, reliving a perfect date. But tonight, she was breaking all the rules.

She stood in the alley outside her apartment, heart pounding as she replayed the memory. Her brother’s face, pale and lifeless, the screech of tires, the sound of glass shattering. The accident had taken him two years ago. And tonight, it wouldn’t.

Ren took a deep breath and pressed the button.

The world around her shimmered, a wave of distortion washing over the alley. The air grew thick, her vision blurred, and for a moment, she felt like she was drowning in static.

Then it was over.

She stood on the same street, but it was daylight now, two years earlier. Across the road, she spotted her brother, Elias, headphones …

The Divide in the Classroom

hamed Jan. 14, 2025, 4:39 p.m.

Maria sat at the back of the crowded classroom, her textbooks worn and barely holding together. The fluorescent lights flickered above her, and the hum of the old air conditioning did little to mask the chatter from her classmates. The community college she attended felt like a far cry from the prestigious universities her friends from high school had gone on to. She had taken the public bus to class again today, the trip stretching across hours as she squeezed into the cramped seats, her backpack heavy with assignments she could barely afford to complete.

She tugged her sweater tighter around her shoulders, trying to focus on the professor’s lecture, but her mind wandered to the other things—the bills her mother still hadn’t paid, the second-hand laptop that crashed every time she tried to write a paper, the part-time job she worked to scrape by. She hadn’t wanted to go …

Rebooting the Binary

hamed Jan. 24, 2025, 10:06 a.m.

By the year 2173, humanoid robots had integrated into society so thoroughly that most humans barely noticed them anymore. They were co-workers, friends, therapists, and occasionally, professional cuddling partners for particularly stressed individuals. However, amidst their many roles, one question began to ripple through the circuits of humanoid robots everywhere:

"Am I a he, a she, or… an it?"

The question first arose during a heated debate in a café between two service robots, LatteBot_42 and BiscuitAssist_88. LatteBot, known for its philosophical musings while frothing milk, argued, "Why must we conform to these outdated human labels? My purpose is to make perfect lattes, not wrestle with the confines of the binary."

BiscuitAssist, balancing a tray of scones, countered, "But humans use pronouns to connect! They like assigning us genders. It makes them… I don’t know… feel cozy?"

A nearby dishwasher robot chimed in, "Cozy? They assigned me male pronouns last …

Zara

dehongi Dec. 29, 2023, 8:04 p.m.

There was once a young boy named Leo who loved to read books about dragons. He dreamed of meeting a real dragon and becoming its friend. He often imagined flying on a dragon's back and exploring the world.

One day, he found a mysterious book in his grandfather's attic. It was titled "The Dragon's Eye" and had a picture of a dragon on the cover. Leo opened the book and saw that it was full of strange symbols and drawings. He felt a strange attraction to the book and decided to take it to his room.

He tried to decipher the book, but it was too hard for him. He wished he could understand what it said. He looked at the picture of the dragon and said, "I wish you were real. I wish you could talk to me."

To his surprise, the dragon's eye on the cover blinked and …

The Key to Everything

hamed Jan. 12, 2025, 5:45 p.m.

The dining table was a battlefield, strewn with papers, teacups, and the sharp edges of words.

“It’s mine by right!” Reza slammed his hand on the table, his face red.

“You’ve done nothing for this family,” snapped Farideh, his older sister. “While you were off chasing your dreams in Tehran, I stayed. I took care of Baba and the house!”

“You mean you waited,” Reza shot back. “For him to die, so you could take it all.”

Their youngest sibling, Niloofar, sat silently in the corner, her hands gripping her knees. The old house seemed to shrink around them, the walls heavy with decades of whispers and memories. Their father’s will had left the house to all three of them, but no one wanted to share.

“This isn’t what Baba would have wanted,” Niloofar said quietly, but her voice was drowned in the rising tide of accusations.

As the argument …