Friday Flash Fiction - The Wedding

The Wedding

It was the worst wedding I had ever been to. Seriously, how were you supposed to enjoy watching your ex, who you’re still a teensy tiny bit in love with, say vows to a stick insect with perfect hair and still have a good time? Impossible, right? Right.

I don’t really know why I’d been invited. I wouldn’t have invited me if I’d been them. The ex-girlfriend? Not just someone he’d dated for a bit. No, I’m the ex he lived with for a couple of years. The ex who thought he was going to propose on that holiday in Greece. The ex who should bloody be standing up there instead of the stick insect with perfect hair.

Breathe. Breathe. You can do this. You can watch him get married and be the bigger person, congratulate them with a smile of your face and pretend you don’t care. You can.

I scanned the church and saw a man sitting by himself three pews from the back, more intent on looking anywhere than at the happy couple. He looks about as miserable as me. Oh! Wonder if he’s her ex.

After the beaming couple walked down the aisle, I made a beeline for “miserable man”.

‘Hi, I’m Penny,’ I said.

‘Josh.’

‘You look about as miserable as me if you don’t mind me saying.’

He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. ‘Really?’

‘Yup. I’m the ex.’

‘Ah. Yes, well, me too.’

‘Kinda weird, isn’t it? Inviting us, I mean.’

‘Weird alright.’

‘Are you going to the reception?’

‘Supposed to be.’

‘D’you wanna go get pizza instead?’

He smiled. ‘Sure, why not?’ 

©2014 Laura Besley

Flash Fiction Diary  

Snippets: A Collection of Flash Fiction is now available!  
Amazon UK/Amazon US

Many thanks to those of you who have already downloaded and read my collection of flash fiction. Also my thanks go out to those of you who have helped me to promote it by posting on facebook, twitter, sending emails or word of mouth. It's all much appreciated! 

I've had five 5star reviews, which have obviously made me extremely happy. 

"This is a wonderful collection of flash fiction and short prose. What I liked most was the variance of the storylines and their tone because I think they really complimented each other well. Some were humourous, others romantic, some dark and some topical (and relevant)."  Michael Diack

"If you like flash fiction, you're going to love Laura Besley's collection of stories in Snippets. If you don't like flash fiction or if you haven't tried it before, read Laura's book. She just may convert you." - Clint Morey

Friday Flash Fiction - week 39

Some Would Call it Luck

I’m going to a wedding on Saturday. Louise’s. D’you know her? She was at school with me, so I’ve known her for ages. Anyway, the guy she’s marrying is her boyfriend’s best friend. Ex-boyfriend. I mean, dead boyfriend. Louise had been dating Josh since our last year at high school. They did some English assignment together and after that were glued at the hip. I think his best friend was a bit peeved. Anyway, when Josh finished uni he bought himself a motor bike. They were engaged by then, so technically he was her fiancé. You can see where this is heading, can’t you? He was in a horrific accident and died within hours. He was the only young person I’ve ever known to die. Anyway, about a year later Louise started seeing his best mate, Sam. The same best mate from school. Crazy. Turned out he’d always had a bit of a crush on her. And now they’re getting married. So, she’s been proposed to twice. No-one’s ever asked me. Some girls have all the bloody luck. 

Laura Besley

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Flash Fiction diary

Spag Bol is a simple story of a couple preparing dinner for friends. Or is it? You'll have to read on to find out. Click here for Flash Fortnightly #9 - Spag Bol.




Tonight's the night! As mentioned previously, in March this year I'll be featured in IMPRINT, the annual anthology of Women in Publishing Society. Also, the committee have asked me to read my piece at the launch party on 15th March. Very honoured and excited to have been asked. Despite getting up to talk in front of my students every day, reading in public makes me extremely nervous. I can only hope it goes as well as last time. I'll keep you posted!   
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Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count. 

On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.  

Thanks, as always, for reading.