Escape Pod Flash Fiction Contest, Third Place: Karakuri
By Gideon Fostick.
Read by Dave Leckie.
Bill had no heart for this Karakuri, left behind in the empty house when his love had gone. Small and exquisite, propped at an angle on the tatami floor mat, it was the toughest puzzle he’d known.
Rated PG. Contains puzzles.
I liked this, but would have preffered it if it had ended with a little brave-new-world sort of speech. I think it would fit.
This was hilarious!
People! People, please! Upon discovery of a quantum black hole please do not do as this fictional character did in this dangerous, misleading story, and instead phone your local Quantum Fluctuation Discrepancy Agency for assistance. Be save, live safe…with cosmic potholes.
Issued by the Council for Quantum Discrepancy Control(CQDC)
This was cool!
Great flash fiction instead of vignettes which one tends to find masquerading as a story. Conflict, plot, a character we could care about, unique idea.
Best of all, it didn’t have to break narrative point of view, unlike the winning story.
This should have won.
Saved! I loved the beginning, the whole yearning of a beautiful woman by an unworthy man thing. I gave up on the middle and thought that I had another bomb. Then the end saved it. In retrospect it should have been obvious but I didn’t catch on during the narration so it worked for me very well. It’s rare to find a good flash. It is undoubtedly the hardest thing to write well but this story pulled itself off. Kudos to Gideon.
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