Winner of Flash Fiction Contest #12!

We’d like to announce Graham Downs as the 12th Flash Fiction contest winner! Graham won a $10 gift card to Amazon for his piece. Please enjoy He Disappeared Into the Darkness below.

Thank you all for your great entries, and we hope you had a fun time writing and submitting them to us.

Congratulations, Graham!

“He Disappeared Into the Darkness”, by Graham Downs

“Damn, it’s misty. And I’m late.”

I squinted, struggling to see more than a metre in front of me as I crawled the car down the narrow country road. Trees closed in on either side. I loosened my tie and undid my top button.

As I looked up, I saw a man standing in the middle of the road. He waved at me.

“He’s crazy. Gonna get himself killed.”

I slammed on brakes and missed him by centimetres.

He stopped waving. I exited the car.

“Can I help you, sir?”

The man stared at me blankly. I noticed a small cut above his left eye, and he was deathly pale.

“Sir, are you okay?”

No response.

This was getting ridiculous. I was so late, and it was getting darker by the minute. My phone battery was almost dead, and I had no hope of finding my way once it was full dark.

I threw my hands up in frustration and got back into the car.

The man didn’t move.

I started the engine. Still, the man didn’t move.

I rolled the car forward slightly. Still maintaining his pose, staring stupidly at me, the man blinked out of existence!

A second later, he reappeared, a few metres down the road.

I panicked and floored the accelerator, no longer caring about my destination, just wanting to get out of there.

Once again, before I reached him, the man blinked away. This time, he reappeared behind the car. Still standing, staring blankly at me.

In my rear-view mirror, he waved at me again.

I was breathing heavily, sweating profusely. I couldn’t keep my eye off the rear-view. I swerved to avoid an animal of some sort, and a tree jumped in front of me. I crashed into it.

Just before I lost consciousness, I remember watching the man in the mirror. I watched, as he disappeared in the darkness.