Grab a cuppa and enjoy the ride on the short road to big fiction. This multi-genre anthology features over 40 flash-fiction pieces by 17 authors, who are as diverse as these exceptional stories. Consider this anthology a chocolate sampler filled with "verve-alicious" bite-sized reads, divided into four scrumptious categories: Relationships, Psych, Intrigue, and Life and Death. It's a perfect book for waiting rooms, short commutes, and coffee breaks. Grab one for yourself, one for a friend, one for your handbag, one for your car, and one for the loo! See you on the road! (Compiled and Edited by Janet Fix, thewordverve. Cover art by Rick Sanders) Message from the Editor VERVE FLASH started as a challenge to our authors and staff to try to write a compelling story in short form. The submissions absolutely blew me away and proved to all of us how we can stretch out of our comfort zones and write great stuff. This multi-genre collection is the cumulative brain of seventeen writers who contributed anywhere between one to five stories to the anthology. These are flash-fiction stories, under 2000 words. The neat thing about this type of storytelling is not just in the "meat of the matter"--the brevity of story and character development--but also in what is NOT written, leaving readers to participate in the vision in their own ways. We look forward to your feedback and ideas, which will prepare us for future volumes in a collective format like this one. VERVE FLASH truly is "the short road to big fiction," and we hope you enjoy the ride. Janet Fix, publisher, author, editor, thewordverve inc.