Sometimes, the best stories come in bite-sized pieces. This could be a scary Tweet or a 1,000 word personal narrative about falling in love. There's an art to crafting quality flash fiction and Solari Publishing loves the stuff. So, here's a Flash Fiction story for your Friday commute.
Sandalwood Motel by Frederick S. Blackmon
What was this place?
Definitely western, it sat on the corner of an eastern street in an eastern city on the tip of eastern chaos. Yellow, electric lights hung from its wooden rafters, which dimly lit its three open corridors and orange doors. There were matching chairs outside of every room, all facing a central, rectangular-shaped pool. Vines and bushes overran the surrounding gate, which gave off the illusion of a western style prison. It was a garden, tended by melancholy souls and the company of silent faces.
The residency itself was simple and fair: one door, one bed, one dresser desk, one refrigerator, one bathroom, and two chairs. It had a cosy air, thick in my nostrils that reminded me of the city with every day and week that passed. Noisome air conditioners and the constant drone of passing cars came to replace the sound of chirping birds, (which rarely chirped anywhere near the Sandalwood Motel).
The walls were thick enough that I rarely heard my neighbours. The details of their daily living were concealed behind hardwood and white brick facades. That didn’t necessarily mean I didn’t know them. When their orange doors opened, tiny glimpses of their private lives seemed to seep out like unwanted gas. The outside air was temporarily saturated with their scents, and with care and caution I inhaled them, at the same time etching their impressions on the pages of my mind. I spent most of my time at that garden prison sitting outside, watching my fellow residents, and copying their design into my memory.
Wanna read the full story? You can find "Sandalwood Motel" and other Flash Fiction stories in our collection. It's called "In A Flash" and it's available in paperback and ebook. You can find it on Amazon.
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