Flash Fiction: “How Duane Came to Be in the Bathroom”

I found it!!! I’ve been searching for this piece of flash fiction for a while now and I’ve finally found it.  Really good fiction stays with you long after you’ve lost the paper it was printed on or the hyperlink to its webpage.  (Really BAD fiction also tends to linger in the mind.)  This work falls under the category of literature that is well written and I’m excited to be able to share it with others who will also appreciate its genius.

What Makes This Story Good

Simply put: the details. In such a short amount of time, I feel like I KNOW Petru. It’s the little things like “His accent always made him sound bored and semi-pissed…” and “Petru was always ordering weird shit online and rummaging through people’s trash.”  For a character who only gets 3 lines of dialogue in the story, Petru is remarkably well developed.

I feel semi-acquainted with Duane, though not as thoroughly as I do with Petru. He seems more generic and could be anyone you know, which I think, is the point.  Giving Duane just enough description to make him an individual, but not so much that he couldn’t be any guy you happen to know (or even yourself) leaves the reader open to make a personal connection with the piece, and empathize all the more with the situation Duane has gotten himself into.

The work itself shows the writer knew how to construct a story well.  The introduction is designed to immediately catch a reader’s attention and keep it.  The conclusion of the story ties back to the introduction, getting rid of any loose-ends and giving the work a “finished” feel. All in all, I enjoy this piece of fiction every time I read it and hope you will too!

Click on the following link read the story: "How Duane Came to Be in the Bathroom" by Jamie Grove

 

 

Photo credit: 3D King

Posted in: free, literature