Flash fiction is a type of prose narrative that takes the form of very brief, self-contained stories. Its word count ranges from 5 to 1,000 words on average, and tops out at 1,500. Rather than focusing on plot or character development, flash fiction focuses on movement: each sentence (or even word) peels back a layer and progresses the story. They’re a premier example of everything fiction’s shortest form can do.
I Don’t Need Anything From Here
by László Krasznahorkai
I would leave everything here: the valleys, the hills, the paths, and the jaybirds from the gardens, I would leave here the petcocks and the padres, heaven and earth, spring and fall, I would leave here the exit routes, the evenings in the kitchen, the last amorous gaze, and all of the city-bound directions that make you shudder, I would leave here the thick twilight falling upon the land, gravity, hope, enchantment, and tranquillity, I would leave here those beloved and those close to me, everything that touched me, everything that shocked me, fascinated and uplifted me, I would leave here the noble, the benevolent, the pleasant, and the demonically beautiful, I would leave here the budding sprout, every birth and existence, I would leave here incantation, enigma, distances, inexhaustibility, and the intoxication of eternity; for here I would leave this earth and these stars, because I would take nothing with me from here, because I’ve looked into what’s coming, and I don’t need anything from here.
Useful vocabulary:
Jaybird: a European bird of the crow family, with bright feathers and a noisy call.
Petcock: a small valve positioned in the pipe of a steam boiler or cylinder of a steam engine for drainage or testing.
Padre: a priest, or other Christian minister, especially in the armed forces
Shudder: To tremble with a sudden convulsive movement, as from horror, fear, or cold.
Enchantment: a feeling of great pleasure; the state of being under a magic spell
Benevolent: Characterized by doing good; kind, caring, habitually does ‘good things’ for others.
Sprout: a shoot (new part) of a plant
Incantation: a charm, a spell, an enchantment
About the Author:
László Krasznahorkai is a Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for difficult and demanding novels, often labeled postmodern, with dystopian and melancholic themes. several of his works, notably his novel Satantango (1985) and The Melancholy of Resistance (1989) have been turned into feature films by Hungarian film director Béla Tarr.