The Gift by Steven John
His daughter sent him a mobile phone for Christmas, together with instructions on how to turn it on and charge the battery. There was an earplug on a long, fiddly wire to help him hear her, when and if she had a moment.
Lopsided Angel by Meg Pokrass
This was the quality Christmas had: Mom working on her plans of escape. Dad with his closed-door dreams. The Christmas angel drunk on top of the tree. Dad had recently come to think of Mom as a threat to his happiness.
Special Issue: Holiday Noir
Happy Holidays from New Flash Fiction Review! We hope you will enjoy our very first Christmas feature, with dark(ish), sad, and strange holiday stories from NFFR’s own fiction editors and friends. This special issue collects work published as part of our “Holiday-Noir” feature.
Leaves by Caitlin Myer
You’ll never leave here, said the man at the bar. You’re going to meet a nice Norwegian man and get married—he squinted at me. No, not married. But you’ll move in together, to a cabin in the forest.
Issue #19: Prose Poetry
Featuring flash by Theresa Wyatt, Louella Lester, Valerie Fox, Jeff Friedman, Alec Prevett, Gary Fincke, Kathleen McGookey, Olga Dermott-Bond, Michael Loveday, Frances Gapper, Melissa Benton Barker, and Lorette C. Luzajic.