Flash Fiction Online #115, April 2023

“Fae Magic on a Friday Night” by Sheila Massie

“Grin Minus Cat” by Rich Larson

“Gently Creaking Boards” by Kat Day

“We Are Not Phoenixes” by John Wiswell (reprint, not reviewed)

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

This issue offers readers a choice among urban fantasy, cyberpunk, and fairy tale.

“Fae Magic on a Friday Night” by Sheila Massie takes place in a magical version of New York City in which humans mix freely with beings of Faery. Patrons of a rooftop nightclub line up to absorb magic from one of the Fae. Although apparently done with the full consent of the being, the loss of magic causes it physical harm.

This is more of an anecdote than a fully developed story. We never learn why the Fae would agree to this painful and dangerous procedure, nor do we discover what happens after the narrator and other humans leave. Perhaps the work is intended as an allegory for the way people take advantage of each other, sometimes with their permission. In any case, the author’s vivid portrait of a crowded, noisy nightclub and its self-absorbed patrons is more powerful than the fantasy content.

“Grin Minus Cat” by Rich Larson features a crooked police officer as the protagonist. The cop goes to a strip club to meet with someone who has stolen a shipment of narcotics from a crime boss and intends to sell it back. Both the cop and the thief have their own secret motives.

As this oversimplified synopsis may suggest, the science fiction content of this story is not strictly necessary. The same basic plot could be used for straight crime fiction, although almost every line contains futuristic details. The author effectively creates the gritty, cynical mood of cyberpunk, and the work is likely to satisfy fans of that subgenre.

The narrator of “Gently Creaking Boards” by Kat Day is a house in a world of fairy tales. Specifically, it is the house invaded by Goldilocks. Some time after that incident, another person enters the house. In discussion with a gingerbread house, the narrator learns that not all humans are alike.

This is a story best described as cute, with all the positive and negative connotations of that word. It makes for very pleasant, light reading, and is something of a relief after the heavier works in this issue.

Victoria Silverwolf drove a rented car to work today.