Other Household Toxins by Christopher Allen

His name is Christoph and they can speak English and what a pleasure and won’t he sit down. The tie - Laiq sniffs it - is populated by a million micrococci and other pathogens.Ī pall of rose water and lactobacilli - a woman - leads Laiq to an office where a giant lurches towards him. From the donation center Laiq took one blue tie, one white shirt bleached but still tanned with sweat under the arms - subtle but Laiq sees it, knows its chemistry. But the cut of the jacket is perfect, as if the little man who owned it is giving Laiq a full-body hug.

The dark blue trousers are thin at the seat, the seam resewn with beige thread. It took them weeks to find a suit small enough - these huge Europeans. All the dress shoes at the Lutheran church were three sizes too big. He tucks his black sneakers under the bench. He’s sitting outside the company’s blinding glass high-rise, early because his German is still basic and he tends to get lost. Immigrants always go overboard on perfume. Not too much, his interview trainer warned him. Mal-a-sez-zia, Staph-y-lo-coc-cus e-pi-der-mi-dis, Cor-y-ne-bac-te-ri-um, Ko-cu-ri-a rhi-zo-phi-la. He’s masked their odors with a fragrance made by the company interviewing him today - his first. He pronounces their names slowly to make them harmless science, to convince himself that they’re not demons. Colonies of microbes pullulate in his sweat. ~Vanessa Gebbie author of The Coward’s TaleĪlso available on Kindle worldwide.The afternoon is warm for the suit Laiq’s wearing. “A real cornucopia of flash skills.all sparking joy.” ~Christopher Allen author of Other Household Toxins personal stories and those concerning larger cultural themes.” “There’s humor and pathos in these stories, conventional plots alongside innovative structures. ~Nancy Stohlman, author of Madam Velvet’s Cabaret of Oddities a wonderful cross-section of flash fiction.” “From lush description to plot surprises to current events and complicated relationships of all kinds. So much to enjoy, make you think, and inspire you to write your own stories.

The stories cover many topics: relationships in all their forms, familiar, strange, tragic or benign war and displacement the climate emergency historical subjects the fantastical and surreal. This anthology, the fourth from the Bath Flash Fiction Awards, contains 137 micro fictions of 300 words or under by writers from all over the world.

Other Household Toxins by Christopher Allen