Break

by Mishell Baker

A piece of flash fiction

"When I shook Femi's hand in the office break room on my first day, everything faded: the snot-colored linoleum, the nauseous fluorescent lighting, the wheezy hum of the refrigerator. "

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy

1 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Author of Nebula finalist/Tiptree Honor Book BORDERLINE. Repped by Russell Galen. Mother, language nerd, MH advocate, Guardian of Liberty.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review.

this is the SIXTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards.

GR has deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. i have tried to restore the ones i could, but my to-do list is already a ball of nightmares, so that's still a work-in-progress. however, because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case GR decides to scrap 'em again.

i am doing my best.
merry merry.

DECEMBER 10: BREAK - MISHELL BAKER

She laughed, a sound like doves taking flight; no, like bells tumbling haphazardly onto satin sheets; no, like the sound sunlight would make if it made a sound while shining on a sleeping kitten.

i'm back here on the shorter side of the short story spectrum, with this perfect example of how to throw an emotional suckerpunch in a very small space.

it's such an efficient trap of a story; all funny and light and then it turns on you, sinking its teeth in and closing with an achingly sad whisper. it is devastating and original and awfully sharp and i loved it.

read it for free here

THE STORIES:

DECEMBER 1: NIGHT STAND - DANIEL WOODRELL
DECEMBER 2: MR. DEATH - ALIX HARROW
DECEMBER 3: THE FRUIT OF MY WOMAN - HAN KANG
DECEMBER 4: THE TINDER BOX - KATE ELLIOTT
DECEMBER 5: BABYCAKES - NEIL GAIMAN
DECEMBER 6: HIS MIDDLE NAME WAS NOT JESUS - NOVIOLET BULAWYO
DECEMBER 7: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE - LILLI CARRÉ
DECEMBER 8: DARK TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 9: DARKER TIDE - MARK LAWRENCE
DECEMBER 11: A RUMOR OF ANGELS - DALE BAILEY
DECEMBER 12: THE ENGLISHMAN - DOUGLAS STUART
DECEMBER 13: IT CAME FROM CRUDEN FARM - MAX BARRY
DECEMBER 14: NO MOON AND FLAT CALM - ELIZABETH BEAR
DECEMBER 15: A STUDY IN SHADOWS - BENJAMIN PERCY
DECEMBER 16: ART APPRECIATION - FIONA MCFARLANE
DECEMBER 17: THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
DECEMBER 18: WE HAVEN'T GOT THERE YET - HARRY TURTLEDOVE
DECEMBER 19: THE DUNE - STEPHEN KING
DECEMBER 20: THE WORTHINGTON - EMILY CARROLL
DECEMBER 21: SUNBLEACHED - NATHAN BALLINGRUD
DECEMBER 22: BLOOD DAUGHTER - MATTHEW LYONS
DECEMBER 23: THE LINE - AMOR TOWLES
DECEMBER 24: PIGEONS - NIBEDITA SEN
DECEMBER 25: WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED, WHAT WE WILL FORGET, WHAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FORGET - EUGENE LIM
DECEMBER 26: ONE/ZERO - KATHLEEN ANN GOONAN
DECEMBER 27: MATINEE - ROBERT COOVER
DECEMBER 28: ACCESS - ANDY WEIR
DECEMBER 29: UNNECESSARY THINGS - TATYANA TOLSTAYA
DECEMBER 30: HOOK - DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN
DECEMBER 31: HE'S VERY WELL READ - CATHERINE LACEY

previous years' advent calendars (what's left of 'em):

2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

come to my blog!

[Syeda Zainab Salam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was funnily bizzare, and then it was very sad.

[Sidsel Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute
Don't mess with love magic, it's just never a good idea :)

[Patty Hagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whiplash of a love-hate story! Magic and science and home-dyed hair… a few of my favorite things.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun flash fiction, it was an amusing premise with lovely style.



https://dailysciencefiction.com/fanta...

[Ab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but a little short with abrupt ending.

[izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why everyone is dogging on the ending, I loved it!! I think it worked very well. Didn't have much expectation for this little thing, but I love it for what it is! So neat :3

[tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

flash fiction, aka 'did i understand the ending or do i still have to scroll down'

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little piece of flash fiction. http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...

[Nona the First · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre but not in a good way