Flash Fiction Online #132, September 2024

“Tornado Breakers Don’t Cry” by Stefan Alcalá Slater

“The Hanging of Billy Crabtree” by H. A. Eugene

“Nosebleed Weather” by Marilyn Hope (reprint, not reviewed)

“To Harvest a Cloud” by Rich Larson

“The Ruby Level” by L. L. Madrid

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

The emphasis in this issue is on dark fantasy, often with a strong dose of surrealism.

The protagonist of “Tornado Breakers Don’t Cry” by Stefan Alcalá Slater can rope twisters as if they were cattle. During a battle with a particularly powerful storm, a metal weathervane in the shape of a rooster pierces her heart, but does not kill her. It speaks to her, encouraging her to give up her dangerous profession.

The story deals largely with the relationships among the protagonist, her brother, and their late father. This aspect of the work is more effective than the fantasy content. Once readers accept the idea of controlling a tornado with a lasso, they may find the additional premises of a talking weathervane and surviving with a pierced heart a bit too much to swallow.

“The Hanging of Billy Crabtree” by H. A. Eugene is even more surreal. After the title character is executed, tiny locomotives and other symbols of technological and cultural progress come out of his body. Those witnessing the hanging become involved in equally strange events.

I presume the author is trying to say something about the emergence of modern society, but the point escapes me. Those who enjoy weirdness for its own sake will best appreciate this bizarre tale of the Old West.

In “To Harvest a Cloud” by Rich Larson, a man who can produce rain by cutting himself arrives in a town suffering from a drought. At first, he is willing to offer his rainmaking blood in exchange for food and other forms of payment. However, the town’s increasing ambition causes the situation to get out of control.

The story can be read as an allegory of the misuse of a natural resource, given the town’s excessive growth once rain becomes available. As a cautionary tale, the work inevitably ends badly for the townsfolk, but some may find the climax overly melodramatic.

The protagonist of “The Ruby Level” by L. L. Madrid experiences various odd and frightening happenings. Flashbacks reveal her uneasy relationship with her sister, and the tragic event that followed.

In essence, this is a traditional tale of a haunting. The use of social media and other modern technology adds a small amount of originality, but the basic plot is a familiar one.

Victoria Silverwolf has never experienced a tornado.