Flash Fiction--What is it?

Flash or short fiction tells a complete story with beginning, middle and end... but in the fewest words necessary.

My Dreaded Pleasure

 

Happened again! In bed too late, overslept, missed work (some, not all, groggily performed). I hate getting snagged. Can’t help it. Powerless when it strikes. In the same spot at other times no ill effects. Soundless sleep. Alert on arising. Mindless of time at work, to the point of arriving late for dinner. I track each occurrence with pseudo-scientific star ratings. Five, “Beware.”   

Three’s, no problem. This brainy system keeps me sane, an alert employee, happily married—most of the time. Until it hits. No one to blame. Just me, hoping not to get caught but wanting surrender. I know what I like. I sniff around temptation, drawn to it like a... brain’s fogged, create your own simile.

Still it’s rare, all things considered. When I creep into the high fours, I know I face grave danger (loss of sleep, defective production, “Don’t bother me, Honey”). I even pray—last resort of a half-baked believer: “Not a five!

Thank you, God or god or Krishna,” whoever’s protecting me on temptation’s path. Close call.

Let me be honest, though, not even prayer can save me from the throes of a can’t-put-it-down novel.

(194 words)

 Copyright @ 2023 Alfred J. Garrotto