Is there anywhere more strange and mysterious than a forest?

From the first step within its branches, you can almost imagine that anything is possible. Around any curve of a packed-earth path, you might find the breadcrumbs of Hansel and Gretel or stumble across a buried treasure chest or wander into a secret dragon’s lair… or you might encounter something even more dangerous.

So many of our favorite stories take place in the forest. From a young age, we long to spend our time in the Hundred Acre Woods or Narnia or Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Big Woods. We journey to Lothlorian and Fangorn, to Terabithia, to Sherwood, until we’re old enough and brave enough to venture into darker woods. But what we find in each depends on the type of forest we’re in, and whether our adventure will end with the joy of discovery or the terror of witnessing something we wish we hadn’t all depends on the story.

Our flash fiction stories this month each take us by the hand and guide us deep into a different type of forest, where there are discoveries to be made about ourselves, about others, and about this world that we inhabit.

Wander the diverging paths in Beth Goder’s “Echo Echo Heartbeat,” (Sept 3) where something important has been lost and must be found. Search the forest floor for synergy and fleshy fungus in “A Girl Forages for Mushrooms” by Ruth Joffre (Sept 10). Watch the world change when something new enters the forest in Taylor Rae’s “When the Trees Spoke Back” (Sept 17). And prepare for the bitter winter ahead in “Beneath Her Sweet Roots” by Sylvia Heike (Sept 24).

Though short, these four fantasy stories contain vast and beautiful worlds; you won’t need to look very far to discover the magic within them.

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NEWS

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• We’re still seeking stories of 500-1000 words for our special “ONE HUNDRED”-themed issue! Read the guidelines HERE.

100th ISSUE CELEBRATION!
Here at FFO, we’ve been putting together an amazing retrospective celebration and subscription drive leading up to our 100th issue, which will allow us to continue publishing dynamic flash fiction in 2022 and beyond.

To help us meet our funding goals, on September 24, we’ll be launching our 2022 Super Subscription. For the one-time cost of $100, 2022 Super Subscribers will receive perks both during our 100-day countdown…

• Over two dozen interviews with previous FFO authors, sent directly to your email
• Access to our superfan channels in our Discord server, where we’ll be hosting kaffeeklatsches with past authors
• Coupon for a FREE copy of any one of our annual anthologies
• Your choice of a FREE ebook donated by one of our authors (selections include ebooks from Marie Brennan, Floris M. Kleijne, Frances Pauli, and others!)
• A chance to win a $100 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card
• An opportunity to vote in the preliminary round of the very first-ever FFO Reader Awards

…and throughout the 2022 calendar year…

• 12 monthly issues of Flash Fiction Online (Jan 2022 – Dec 2022)
• Newsletters with exclusive interviews, essays, and bonus content from our newly published 2022 authors
• Access to our monthly Discord chats, Editorial Roundtables, and other special events until Dec 2022