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The Casket of Fictional Delights

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Reclaiming Istanbul

by Nicola Prentis

Flash Fiction Thought-provoking, Unsettling

May, 2013

I’m out in a rooftop bar on the European side of Istanbul. I’m with two male friends, American and French, who I’ve no reason to think fancy me. It’s nearly midnight.

My phone rings.

 May, 2007

A rooftop bar on the European side of Istanbul.  Two male friends, American and French, who I’ve no reason to think fancy me.  It’s nearly midnight.

My phone rings. One, two…

My stomach clenches. Three…I scrabble for the phone, it’s always within easily answerable reach. I catch it before the problematic fourth ring. It’s my boyfriend, Yilmaz, calling from his hometown in Artvin, near the Armenian border.

I’m out. I’m in a bar. I’m with two male friends. It’s nearly midnight.

I step away, so they won’t hear me explaining why I’m out, where I am, who I’m with, when I’m going home.

“…yes….not late…soon….Yes, as soon as I get home.”

An icy wind rolls in from The Black Sea. I return and jitter in my seat for a few more minutes, and then make my excuses and leave, night ruined. It wasn’t worth coming out.

May, 2013

I locate my phone somewhere in my bag and answer. It’s a friend wondering if I’m free to meet before I leave town. I step a metre or so away to hear more easily. A warm breeze from the Bosphorus flitters across my skin. We chat briefly and the night carries on as before.  It isn’t worth mentioning.

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About Nicola Prentis

Nicola now claims Madrid as her home and her first novel was published in 2014. She also writes study materials for the EFL market.
Visit Nicola Prentis on the web

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Everyone at The Casket is hoping 2021 will be a better year than 2020.  We have some great short stories and flash fiction lined up for your delight.  We kick of the year with a story by Lydia Unsworth “The Smallest Boxes” and then for Valentine's we have a story by Dylan Brethour which will also be available as a podcast. Later in the summer we have a new Flash Fiction Summer Collection which will be published online and as podcasts read by Menna Bonsels and Richard Hodder.  We hope you enjoy the stories we have for you and look forward to welcoming you back regularly.

Joanna & The Casket of Fictional Delights Team

 

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Text & stories © Joanna Sterling 2021
Stories © various authors
Audio by Menna Bonsels
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