Welcome. In case you’re new here, Lost in Story is a monthly newsletter full of all my writer happenings, but I occasionally offer book recommendations & share snippets of my fiction. This fall I’m working more deeply in the craft of flash fiction, inspired by Emily Barnett’s Flash Fiction Magic prompts, so I’m practicing the art of sharing my stories here weekly on Lost in Story. If you just stumbled across my post, consider subscribing so you don’t miss out on the fun!
I’m a bit late to the game this Friday with my weekly story, but it’s been homecoming week around school1 and today’s culminating events of a shortened schedule, pep assembly, and parade left me a little frazzled.
Nonetheless, I have a story for you that—feels a bit dark this week. It’s a little spacey, but also not, and a story that I don’t imagine myself having written without a prompt. Perhaps that’s the magic of flash fiction: the more I attempt it, the more my mind finds stories in the crevices, boldly ignoring my inner editor.
So here’s to more flash fiction on the weekends and weird little stories.
For more stories, follow #flashfictionmagic on Instagram, check out Emily Barnett’s Instagram page or follow her over at Wonder Between Worlds.
Sweaters & Squids
We gathered together, our family, and watched the squids move through the stars. A rare event we never expected to see in our lifetime.
Their arms were graceful, powerful even. Quiet in the vacuum of space.
I curled my sweater around my shoulders before stepping into the sleep pod along with the others, the squids numerous outside our portholes.
It would take us one thousand years to reach the end of the galaxy and another one thousand in cryosleep.
The world would disappear ten times over, and we would be all that was left.
None of us knew what lay on the other side of our sleep. It would be but a blink to us, he promised. We would awake in the new world.
The Prophet spoke of a place beyond our dreams. The cephalopodborealis a sign to start anew.
The carving of the next world would usher us into a new realm, for beyond the galaxy lay an ending more beautiful than we could dream.
It is what the Prophet promised.
But only if we left together.
My mind felt hazy as the sleep began to take effect.
“We will see each other there,” he praised, closing my eyelids with his own hands. “In the next world. Together.”
The stars echoed on the backs of my eyelids as a needle pricked my arm.
The new world was near.
I’m Caitlin, a writer, hobbyist, and creative who believes in the power of story, and that things like nature, wonder, faith, grief, hope, and art are worth our time and attention. I write stories for young readers centered around the themes of grief, belonging, loss, hope, and found families. Lost in Story is my monthly newsletter where I share about my writing life & offer book recommendations, but I also write nonfiction & poetry over at
. My writing here will always be free to read, but it does take time and research to write. Please consider supporting the work I do by giving a one-time or monthly donation, or by subscribing to my monthly newsletter.I teach high school for those new here.