easytopia!

If you were with me for Flash Fiction February, 2024, and Flash August Fiction last year as well, you might remember Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald. Two stories. The Cheeseguard and The Stoics . Here they are again. Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald were skittering through a field. They heard about a pile of refuse at an abandoned campsite. They had to see if there was anything left for them to forag...

“Do you think the ghouls who own the processed food companies laugh when they use the word ‘cuisine’ on the packages of toxins they sell?” Matty asks Susan, as they hang out together at the homeless shelter. “I think that’s not all they laugh over.” She answers. “I had a weird dream last night.” He continues. “It’s not related to the food, but in a way it is, I guess.” There is a pause. “Are you...

Slim had a pretty good trailer. He hadn’t rolled it in years, he kept it up on blocks to save the tires. The edge of the woods suited him well. He came home, after getting a week’s groceries and supplies, and laid his assorted bags onto the little trailer table. Then he reached outside onto the window sill and picked up a little chess piece that was laid in the window frame, and places it on the l...

It is told that the head of the staff is the knuckle to a long talon of an ancient dragon. The length is 6 feet. It once rose to from the ground to rest beneath the eye of a Wizard who protected a realm. He named his staff, Cloven , due to the appearance of the gnarly knuckle. It was of three, as a hoof. After a great war, when the Wizard gave his life in victory, in defense of his people, the gre...

Last year there were two nice ladies, Marla and Kasey, in a story called The Resident . Here they are again. You’re welcome. I’m Commercial Herschel, and I’m here to help. Marla was mixing the dough for the cookies she was preparing for the block party that would start at 1 PM. These were her well known almond meltaways. Several of her neighbors had mentioned them to her when the block party was a...

The Chair calls the meeting to order. The banter and catching up by the members subsides, and the mostly symbolic gavel is lightly struck on the block. Items brought to the table are a short list of the usual sort. * New member candidates * Hosting for guest presenters * Budget priorities * Surplus allocation * New Business First orders are handled, then, per usual, the members recess briefly to r...

Blue River is a unique little desert town. Although, it has had a difficult time perking itself up. There was a lovely river that flowed right through the center of town. One side had a sloped, grassy bank, adjacent to the residential neighborhood. It was quite lovely. The other side was more steep and rocky, lined with a street. It abutted the business district with restaurants, a theater, and ot...

“This is BARN BUSTING news!” Gena said, as she perused the blouses at the thrift store. “These blouses are a JAW-DROPPING 3 for 10$!”What I do is this. As soon as I wake up, I prepare myself with a normal morning routine, and then I sit down and write a story about whatever comes to mind. More often than not, it is a surprise. “IS IT FINALLY HAPPENING!?” Her friend Mary exclaimed, “I’M GOING ALL T...

Mr. Marduk kept an old Plymouth Belvedere with a Slant 6 in his garage. He never drove it, but once in a while he’d get out there, open the hood, start the engine, and admire it. “These motors are miracles,” is what he would always say. He didn’t like the idea of driving it very much anymore, because it was a classic. He had it since he was a teenager. It had fallen out of his hands several times...

Max had the weirdest feeling that someone was looking at him. He had that feeling one has when one walks into a room and all the eyes are noticing. Or maybe that nagging feeling, sitting in a classroom, and the feeling like someone is staring, and then a careful look over the shoulder reveals, that in fact, someone is staring. Liking is the cake, and sharing is the icing. What do you not like abou...

“Hi. Welcome to Blasters, can I take your order?” “Yes, thanks, I’ll have a Double Bomb, a medium Range Chicken Fries and a small Diet Agent Orange.” Kleigh orders his lunch from the polite young lady behind the counter and checks his phone for the time. “Would you like an upgrade to the Fat Man for a dollar?” She asks. “That will be enough.” He hands the attendant his money. This is Flash Fiction...

Clarrisa has her morning routine of walking her dog, named Big, every morning while she drinks her coffee. It’s her last relaxing time before she starts her day as a Staff Manager. Whatever anyone thinks of that job, it is very demanding, and it requires a lot of organizing and people skills. These morning routines with her pug, Big, mean a lot. YCR.INFO Please share that link, OK? Even if you can...

Here’s a short chapter that revealed itself. I have about 45 of these little stories about this small town. They just keep coming. Liking is nice, but sharing is caring. Paul has to replace the old hammock that hangs in the big Willow Tree. Usually it would be brought into the house and folded up for the Winter, but at some point, someone forgot. It was probably one of those things his mom did, an...

I prepare myself with a normal morning routine, and then I sit down and write a story about whatever comes to mind. More often than not, it is a surprise. Many people call this “Flash Fiction”. This is Flash Fiction February . Miller Paul is a valiant optimist. There doesn’t seem to be much that can derail him from his efforts, in whatever he happens to be into. He does get himself into things. Fo...

What I do is this. As soon as I wake up, I prepare myself with a normal morning routine, and then I sit down and write a story about whatever comes to mind. More often than not, it is a surprise. Many people call this “Flash Fiction”. This is Flash Fiction February . If you are not familiar with the OVALS concept I started to develop last year, it’s a thing I started in 2017, then in 2023 started...

Welcome to Flash Fiction February 2025. I’m interested to see what happens today, day 1. Hello subscribers; to Troubled Minds Radio, and hello Auckland, NZ, 88.4 Underground Radio. Hello to everyone listening, or reading. Here is a link to my website, where my book of flash fiction from last year is available. It’s called, You Couldn’t Resist: 85 Flash Fiction Stories . Or simply go to YCR . INFO....

Can you guess what this is about? This is one of those cryptic lyrics. Thanks for listening and reading. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. i woke up in a brand new room today the writing on the wall did clearly say “the door’s closing behind you and the ceiling’s caving in it’s a serious situation that we’re in” there must be some way out of here not using TNT i took a walk thru the sep...

Thank you so much for listening or reading. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. despite the notes you pass under the table it`s clear to us that you are still unable to see that you`ve become the falling fable and you`re children are not such good spies at all no, you`re children are not such good spies at all they see their future lies at where you fall like you. they’ll take their pay a...

Thank you so much, new follower and subscriber, Judy Driggers . Another friend from Hard Lens Media . Most of my followers and subs come from outside Substack. no flags are waving in the skies of the mind no bloody soldiers to suppress the hope we find no states no countries, in the soul’s terrain no borders, no boundaries in which we must remain come on, the babies are sleeping tonight walk softl...

Very short lyric recitation podcasts for a while I do other stuff. I hope that’s OK with you. Let me thank new follower Geno Merryman . I always thank new followers and also new free subscribers, like Viesha Lewand . Thank you for listening, or reading. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. monster 1998 this man, he found a monster he didn't think to just leave it lay he thought he’d take i...

if u were 2 die I would get some flowers and burn them with your corpse and spread you over a rain cloud to rain down into the forest deep into the valley and into the river then spread on up the roots into the trees on through the branches out through the leaves and photosynthesize mingle with the sky to form a brand-new rain cloud if i were 2 die would you get some flowers and burn them with my...

In my podcast, I’ll just be loading up one lyric per day from a lot of my old songs. Really very short podcasts. Thanks. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. out beyond the hills deep within the trees underneath a stone lays a mystery seldom seen but, a simple fact of a single world and its single history how come not more blessings for every single one every single time under time? how co...

People are imaginative about song lyrics and poetry and even short stories. Sometimes people project the wildest things onto other people’s writing. They reveal a great deal about their imaginations and themselves when they do that. The simplest, nicest, most innocuous songs can be heard by some people in the weirdest, and sometimes creepiest ways. It’s pretty gross. Of course I’m going to talk ab...

I’m not going to do an amalgam story for the end of the month. It’s not Flash Fiction, and I just don’t feel like it. Here are my favorites from the month, and then the most downloaded inside forty-eight hours. My avg. downloads increased by more than twice over the last month. 20 is a lot for my content. 10 is above avg. In the audio, I explore a little bit about why I think some of my favorites...

THE FINALE OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald have become pals. Did you ever listen to The Cheeseguard from Flash Fiction February ? These two had an impromptu meeting, and they remained cohorts. Today they are avoiding capture by a cat. This is one of several animal stories from this month. Stoicism is a mixed bag. It’s part strength, and part denial, in a way. Thanks to a ne...