It’s been too long since we posted some flash fiction here – apologies, we’ve got a bit of a backlog. Anyway, here’s some blue soup from Elizabeth Stott – but rest assured, Bridgit Jones it isn’t. It’s A for Alice>>

Perhaps inspired by the current vogue for open studio days, when artists welcome the public into their workspaces, Anna King has her canvas primed and ready and her pallet knife poised like an offensive weapon.

Read her paint-spattered, sharply rendered little tale, The Artist>>

Bob-a-job has been re-branded Scout Community Week, but Martin Chambers’ curmudgeonly yet likeable protagonist, Babbage, won’t know that and won’t much care. And he probably thinks the Big Society is some kind of exclusive bridge club.

Read the story, Babbage and Bob-a-job>>

“Something was lacking. If only he could reach Japan and study the old masters, preferably by a bilingual fountain and a rustling bamboo … ”

A lovesick Japanophile and a case of mistaken identity combine to drastic effect in Martyn Halsall’s nightmarish little comedy, Plane ticket, phrase book, kimono>>