Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 21th part. The previous 20 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. I have been thinking of several endings for this story, but none is satisfactory. Although the story … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (The End) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 20th part. The previous 19 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Cousin Arjin, Right Now After Fanfan came back, we've had relative peace so far, but it is never … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 20) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 19th part. The previous 18 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. Nalan, Right Now I am not surprised that Uncle Big is a popular guy in the Lakeview retirement community, … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 19) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 18th part. The previous 17 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. Cousin Arjin, Right Now After leaving Nalan's apartment, I immediately go to see my father, who's living in a retirement … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 18) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 17th part. The previous 16 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Nalan, Right Now "Just tell me what you know about my mother. I won't believe you, but I am curious." Arjin … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 17) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 16th part. The previous 15 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Cousin Arjin, Right Now "It was not a swimming accident." Nalan says. "Really? How did you know? That was 19 years ago." … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 16) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 15th part. The previous 14 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Nalan, Right Now Arjin says to me, "I don't believe a word you are saying. What I know is whenever I meet you, … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 15) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 14th part. The previous 13 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Cousin Arjin, Right Now Nalan says to me, "I don't know about you, but I am starving. My blood sugar is getting low since … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 14) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 13th part. The previous 12 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12. Cousin Arjin, Right Now After grandma's funeral, I had a business trip out of town for a few days. When I came back, my wife … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 13) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 12th part. The previous 11 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11. Nalan, Present Day After a socially appropriate period of mourning, my father married again. I was a little shocked to see how sad an appearance my … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 12) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 11th part. The previous 10 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10. Nalan, Present Day Well, that was 25 years ago. Time flies whether one has a good time or not. For this reason, one probably should enjoy as … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 11) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 10th part. The previous 9 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9. With rumors swirling around, my mother was in full damage control mode. Whenever my parents found their common enemy, they would work together against the external threat, real … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 10) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 9th part. The previous 8 parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Nalan , Twenty Five Years Ago I was ten at the time, on the brink of becoming a troublesome teenager. My parents were scared that I would bring … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 9) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 8th part. The previous six parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Cousin Arjin, Twenty Five Years Ago A week later, Nalan came back, carrying a bag of deep fried crispy pretzels with her. She grew taller and had a smile … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 8) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 7th part. The previous six parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The next day, I came back home. Nalan was still nowhere to be found. "Arjin, I hope you have told everything to the police. Don't you cover for somebody else. … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 7) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 6th part. The previous five parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Cousin Arjin, Twenty Five Years Ago Nalan didn't come home that night. When my aunt and uncle asked me, I just told them that I didn't know where she was. "Where … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 6) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 5th part. The previous four parts are here: 1, 2, 3, 4. I didn't know what to do. So I asked my friend Big Head and Iron Ball, who sympathized with me. Big Head suggested that I talked with Altan, who sometimes played soccer … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 5) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 4th part of the story. The three previous parts are here: part 1, part 2, part 3. Nalan, Twenty Five Years Ago When September came, Arjin was getting upset that he couldn't go home. He had to stay here with us, at least for … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 4) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 3rd part of the story. The 1st part is here and the 2nd part is here. Now reflecting on it, I wonder why my parents even bothered to pretend they had a great marriage since my father would find every chance to go on … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 3) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 This is the 2nd part of the story. The 1st part is here. I didn't want to go, but my father insisted and my mother agreed with him. My mother always agreed with my father. They told me that Aunt Hoi and Uncle Dao were knowledgeable people--Hoi … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 2) →

Image by meineresterampe from Pixabay Flash Fiction #163 Nalan and Arjin are cousins, and they described, each from a different perspective, a tragic incident happened 25 years ago that tore the family apart, after which the story proceeds to right now when the mystery is analyzed, and the cause and effect are revealed. This is … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Cousins (Flash Fiction Part 1) →