This is one my most favorite short stories ever. This is what I want, when I say there’s not enough really good fiction on the internet. This is a master class on how to write fiction that succeeds online.

It’s very short, so there’s not a lot of scrolling. It grabs you right from the first sentence, and each paragraph afterwards contains a really compact yet wondrous little detail that propels you like a maglev train to the end. And then the last sentence turns the whole thing on its head and spins it suddenly away from you.

Every time I read this I just sit there, stunned, staring at my monitor. This is flash fiction: there’s no story arc in the traditional sense, no business about the journey the protagonist takes, it’s just a flurry of relatable human experiences, broken down into their most intense emotional components. My only complaint is that this story isn’t tattooed on the inside of my eyelids.

You can find other stories by Myfanwy Collins at her website.