Flash Fiction Online #142, July 2025

“Recitations” by Jacob Baugher

“A Concise History of the Goldfish Trade” by Jason Pearce (nongenre, not reviewed)

“To Ashes” by Emlyn Meredith Dornemann

“The Sacred, The Sacrificial” by Kel Coleman (reprint, not reviewed)

“My flesh, my beating heart, a willing meal that refuses to remember the danger of being eaten” by Deanna J. Valdez

“The Harrowing of Hell (Third Circle, Sausage Counter, Contracts Office)” by S. L. Harris

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

In “Recitations” by Jacob Baugher, teams of responders journey to planets throughout the galaxy to offer technologically supplied emotional support to humans and aliens who are the victims of disasters. The narrator, a member of one such team, changes his attitude to the process.

I have probably explained the premise very badly, as I found the procedure of storing empathy in crystals difficult to understand. It might be seen as a metaphor for offering sympathy rather than direct aid to those in need. If so, the intergalactic trappings of the background add little to the story’s allegorical power.

In “To Ashes” by Emlyn Meredith Dornemann, a multitude of airplanes appear from nowhere. They undergo a transformation and carry people away or destroy them. The narrator worries for a lover’s safety.

There is not much to this story other than the surreal premise. Any situation that places a loved one in danger could serve the plot as well. The fantasy content begins in an original way, but evolves into something more familiar by the end.

The narrator of “My flesh, my beating heart, a willing meal that refuses to remember the danger of being eaten” by Deanna J. Valdez is tormented by a monster that no one else can perceive. She has to remember not to look at it or fall prey to its hunger.

Without giving too much away, the ending makes it clear that the monster is a symbol for a particular kind of threat all too common in the real world. The story can be read as fantasy or as an account of the imaginings of the narrator. As a minor quibble, the lengthy title with its lack of capitalization (taken from a sentence late in the text) runs the risk of seeming overly arty and pretentious.

In “The Harrowing of Hell (Third Circle, Sausage Counter, Contracts Office)” by S. L. Harris, two high school students commute back and forth between the mortal world and Hell in order to work at a fast food company in the underworld. One of them sells his soul out of financial desperation, and the other tries to win it back.

The premise suggests wacky comedy, but the story is narrated in a deadpan style that minimizes the comic effect. The author effectively conveys the theme of taking risks in order to help a friend. The plot depends on the fellow who sold his soul not wanting to renege on the deal, out of a sense of honor. Even in a tale of pure fantasy, that strains credibility.

Victoria Silverwolf has never worked in a fast food company.