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Flash Fiction Online for January 2010 is here with stories by Tim Pratt, Tree Reisner, Ken Pisani, Bruce Holland Rogers (with an accompanying article) along with a classic from Ambrose Bierce.

Flash Fiction Online is a website with very short stores, updated every month. These are reviews for their January 2010 issue.

"Caltrops" by Tim Pratt starts with two people on a truck passing by a giant cross and then having their tires blown out by spikes, medieval caltrops that used to stop horses. It seems there's a time distortion and you never know what you are going to go up against. Pratt does a great job with explaining this and telling a good story, too.

"Hungry" by Tree Reisner is a grim little piece about a little girl and her reactions to a dying grandmother. There's not much more to say but that this one is another worth reading.

"Last Bites" by Ken Pisani takes place at a funeral parlor and begins with a boy biting off his dead uncle's nose and saying it tastes like chocolate. Soon, it becomes apparent that all the deceased are edible and tasty. This was an absolutely delicious story with a very amusing ending.

The Classic Flash for this issue is "The Failure of Hope and Wandel" by Ambrose Bierce in which two businessmen fail at what should be a profitable endeavor.

All this is rounded out with a nonfiction article, "Ellipsis: What to Leave Out" by Bruce Holland Rogers with an accompanying story called "Okra, Sorghum, Yam" which tells just the middle of a familiar type of fairy tale.

Flash Fiction Online will probably have new stories posted by the time you read this, but the January issue will still be available. Check them out and make a donation at www.flashfictiononline.com.