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The Casket of Fictional Delights

Brooches Podcasts Stories

1-2-5

by Gina Headden

2018 Flash Fiction Competition Runner-up

Flash Fiction Thought-provoking, Unsettling

The barracks washhouse is quiet now they’ve gone. Bone-weary and bruised, Experiment 125 takes off her stained utility-suit and sets it down beside the cleansing machine. This new model offers a range of programs: Medium-deep, Purify and Freshen-up.

So far, 125’s run Freshen-up as instructed but tonight she’s using Start Over, the program she discovered on Shtum Browse in a moment of illicit communion with her zone of irreconcilable discomfort.

She fills the dispenser with powdered Eco-soul-clean, opens the front-loading door and, clutching her Instruct-o-file, climbs in. She presses a button; the door clicks shut. Once settled, 125 syncs Instruct-o-file with Shtum Browse and activates Start Over.

‘You can do this. Life can be good. What would you do if you knew you could not fail?’ Soft music cradles the words that weave their way around her. A blind descends, blocking out the wider world, creating a hemisphere of twinkling stars, a satin universe that heals her tattered spirit as suturing-light repairs a ragged wound.

Flicking a switch, 125 releases the Eco-soul-clean. The sparkling powder ignites and a fiery whiteness envelops her, stripping the day’s dirt and disappointment from her body, drawing it from her mind.

White light turns to hazy red. The music morphs into the lubble-dubble of an occupied womb sustained by the rhythmic beating of a mother’s heart.

‘Almost done,’ whispers Instruct-o-file, as the programmed environment recedes.

125 climbs out of the machine and puts on a fresh utility-suit. She memorises her Shtum Browse map then secretes Instruct-o-file beneath the washhouse floor.

‘Process complete,’ says the hidden device, a moving red light flashing on its screen as 125 slips away from the building, eludes the night-scanners and passes into the darkness beyond the compound gates.

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You are listening to
1-2-5
by Gina Headden

https://www.thecasket.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1-2-5-mini-version.mp3

Story read by Ana Clements for The Casket of Fictional Delights.

About Gina Headden

Gina was a runner-up in The Casket of Fictional Delights 2017 Flash Fiction Competition, Gina’s story 'The Ties that Bind' was recorded as a podcast and published on a number of audio platforms. Her writing has also appeared in fiction and non-fiction magazines, most recently in Longleaf Review and National Flash Fiction Day’s Flash Flood. Gina lives in Scotland and tweets @gmdfreelance.

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Sending

2 responses to “1-2-5”

  • Douglas says:
    October 16, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    This is very interesting – very interesting indeed. So much that I am left wanting more of this world. Thanks

    Reply
    • Gina says:
      October 16, 2018 at 11:52 pm

      Douglas, thanks for your encouraging comments. I’m delighted you found 125’s world so captivating.

      Reply

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News

Christmas is Coming

We are gearing up for Christmas here at The Casket.  We have two stories by Morgan Parks  in December

A Bigger Tree Each Year

Lucky Elf

And the Brooch of the Month comes from Estonia.

Don't to forget to let us know what you think of all our stories and our brooches  @casketfiction.

 

Check out other short stories on The Casket of Fictional Delights

The Goldsmiths' Fair

Journeys through Jewellery

Rue Pigalle designs women-only trips around the world, for intimate groups of art, jewellery and culture lovers.  Isabelle describes herself as having three passions; jewellery, art and craftsmanship. She takes her clients on journeys of discovery around the world, destinations include Paris, Barcelona and New York.  There are trips to London planned in 2020 and as a prelude Isabelle asked me to write two pieces on this year’s Goldsmiths’ Fair. Followers of my Brooch of the Month blog will know I regularly visit and shop at the Goldsmiths’ Fair, so I was delighted to take up the challenge and report back all the highlights for readers of Rue Pigalle.

Goldsmiths' Fair Week One

Goldsmiths' Fair Week Two

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Text & stories © Joanna Sterling 2019
Stories © various authors
Audio by Menna Bonsels
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Brooch photography by Mark Colliton