Name - Really and truly dead
Written by - Emma Burnett
Published on - Flash Fiction Online October 2026
Well, to my understanding, this one has all the ingredients that make a flash piece shine and stay memorable long after it's read. There is somewhat unreliable yet sympathetic narrator, a suitable mystery and hints at poking jabs at our current reality with its problems despite its speculative setting.
Our narrator starts the story in a room full of dead and also ends it there. In between, by the use of an unusual second-person perspective, describe how the world around them has changed into something sinister.
I really loved this little paragraph, detailing how uncertain and illogical life under a fascist regime is for someone suddenly thrust into it, "You knew nothing about it until after the soldiers attacked, clearing out the people and claiming the resources in the name of a state that isn’t this city, but isn’t not this city. All the villages are being emptied out, their residents fleeing to the city. All the resources are now owned by the state, which feeds the city. You don’t understand how this helps anyone."
The story also features an interesting twist at the end, leaving the reader wanting to learn more about the character and their world.
This is an almost perfect flash piece, thus gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from me.
