'A Mongoose to the Rescue' by Rathin Bhattacharjee

Davina kept staring at the dead body of the ferocious mongoose. 

The teenagers were running all around to get into the school buses. She checked the time on her watch. She could get the 5 o'clock bus if she hurried a little.  

As she was waiting for the bus near the shop across the road, she saw the cobra slithering on the open road! She was paralized! She knew she needed help before it was too late but no sound came out of her throat! 

The mongoose sprang out of the bushes on the side of the road. The cobra didn’t shy away and kept lashing out at the mongoose with its fangs. But the later was one plucky fella. The ferocity with which he attacked the snake was something unbelievable! 

At the end, bloodied, both were lying dead! 

Davina thanked God and the Mongoose for a lucky escape. 

Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'It's Time' by Cally Ann Kerr

'The end of love' by Birgit K. Gaiser

Ivelina was furious. Zitko’s “100% certain investment opportunity” failing hadn’t come as a surprise; he had prior form. But this time, everything was gone, even the account they had started for their daughter. How could he? Had he no shame?

Crying with rage, she brought the bolt cutter down on their love lock, squeezing until the metal snapped. Ten years ago, they had stood here, written their name on the lock and thrown away the key. Now he’d thrown away their future.

“Ivelina!” Zitko was running towards her, red-faced, breathing heavily.

She flung the lock into the river. “Leave me alone! I want you gone. Out of my life.”

“Can’t we talk?” he asked hopefully.

Massive arms emerged from under the bridge, lifting Ivelina and Zitko by the waist. They found themselves face to face with the bridge troll.

“You humans talk too much,” the troll said. “And I’m hungry.”

 

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'The Surprise Party' by Karen Crawford 

'He holds my hand as we wait in line for the Zippin Pippin' by Allison Renner

I wriggle my fingers against his palm because I can’t believe it’s real. Can I nestle my head on his shoulder during a roller coaster ride? Does this mean we’re going steady?

The cars pull up and we’re still touching as we step closer, our turn next. I sit down and before I know it, abracadabra he’s gone, and the attendant buckles a kid who’s already crying in the space beside me, snot on her chin, and I look around wildly, desperate to correct the mistake, but he’s gone.

We race along the wooden tracks clunk-ka-clunk and I think I see him at the snack bar, laughing with those boys from school, but from this dizzying height I can’t be sure.

 

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'Coriolis Effect' by Mikki Aronoff 

 

'Robot Wars' by Geraldine McCarthy

Eithne remembers the evening he proposed on the beach – the sun a blaze of orange between sky and sea – and how he’d promised fireworks. She now stands rubber-gloved at the kitchen sink, wrist-deep in scalding water, ankles tingling after a 12-hour shift. Outside the window, the souped-up lawnmower passes by at speed. She hadn’t programmed it for today.  Between palpitations, she rips off the gloves to phone her daughter. After six rings, it goes to voicemail. Soon Eddie will return, reeking of whiskey, leather jacket unzipped.  ‘I’ll set that shagging thing alight,’ he’ll roar. He’d bought it for her birthday, but she couldn’t manage it – couldn’t cajole it, or say she didn’t mean it, or promise it would never happen again.  

 

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'The Real Sound of Music, Hillview Rest Home, August 1992' by Kate Axeford 

'The Leaning Tower' by Maria Sanger

Michael noted that the bird-cage had been balancing on the roof of the boat next door for the past ten minutes. He wanted to call the number on its side and tell the owner that the cage’s imitation of the leaning tower of Pisa was an accident waiting to happen, but then he noticed that the cage was empty.

He deliberated whether he should head for the lock. The fate of the bird was none of his business. The woman’s voice floated up from inside the boat. She was obviously talking to someone. He glanced at his watch. Wouldn’t be long before she’d appear in her floppy sun hat and that dress smothered with roses. 

He climbed onto the roof and knocked on her door. A movement at the window caught his attention. A white crested bird with rosettes on its front was fluttering, trying to escape. 

 

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from another story.

Source text: 'The Garden Party' by Katherine Mansfield

 

'A Matter of Survival' by Beth Sherman

Denise picks through trash after her daughter has fallen asleep in the back seat. She scoops up discarded meals – half-eaten fries, broken donuts, torn chicken nuggets – trying not to think about other people’s germs.

Her ancient Honda is parked under the bridge. Twice the cops showed up. She could blame the economy, politics, bad luck. Who would listen?

The summer night is muggy and all the car windows are open so Jewel can get some air. To stay awake, Denise hums tunes from the Before Time. Nothing But Texas. Devil You Know. The Star-Spangled Banner.

 

Monsters, Jewel bleats. Mama, make them go away.

 

Jewel’s tears rinse her dirty cheeks.

It’s alright, Denise croons.

 

Jewel used to have her own room, a first-grade teacher, clean shorts.

Above, the moon spills light onto the car, the river a silver thread.

 

Jewel snuggles closer and Denise can’t help thinking the monster is here. 

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'Beating Odds and Keeping Time on Magnolia Street' byJen Wyrauch Edson.

'Stints' by PL Harris

It’s amazing how much better I could smell after the doctor inserted stints into my sinuses.

Nose nirvana. I could smell things for the first time in my life.

Lavender in the backyard – scent strong enough to be a nerve agent.

A lily still unwrapping its green sepals – super sweet, milky. 

The beach? Mindblowing!

The scent of the sea, the stench of kelp, loved it all.

Jumped right into the ocean.

“Careful!” My brother called out.

A creek emptied into the sea nearby, muddying the water.

Sharks hate it, can’t see where they’re going, biting at whatever gets in their way.

Oh no, there’s one now!

The shark opens its mouth, baring its shiny teeth.

Stalactites? Stalagmites? I wonder.

Then chomp!

My blood, smells like steel.

My femur, clattering around his molars.

Must taste like candy to him.

Must keep my head above water. 

Must not imagine too far ahead.

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'January Candy' by Eileen Frankel

'Summer ‘73' by Erin Bondo

Bob Weir’s vocals lilt from a second floor window, sibilating shhhhugar magnolia as the needle vibrates across a scratch in the vinyl. Naked in the August heat, Diana shelves her breasts on the windowsill, leans out to watch a couple of cubiches slapping dominoes with rhythmic clacks on a small folding table that belongs to the grocer downstairs. She smiles, takes a long, slow drag on the joint trailing from her fluid fingers, inhales deep. This summer has been her flowering, eyes open to the world: America’s involvement in Vietnam dwindling as Watergate hits the fan, revelations of secret bombing raids against Cambodia in ‘69 and ‘70, a looming energy crisis. Light and shadows. Scandals and war. Everything different, everything the same.

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Prompt #17 involved choosing five words from a FlashFlood story.

Source text: 'Magnolia' by Emily Devane

NFFD 2026 Prompt #17: Flooding

 

Prompt #17: Flooding

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Today, NFFD's sister project FlashFlood is publishing one story every five to ten minutes. Find a story you admire and choose five interesting words from it: strong nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.  (Articles, conjunctions, and common verbs don't count, so avoid things like 'an', 'the', 'with', 'and', 'is', 'said' and lean into things that are super specific or evocative.)

Write a flash of no more than 150 words using all five words on a subject that is different from the source story.

The title does not count toward the word count. Please note in your submission which FlashFlood story you drew from (and a link would be greatly appreciated), as well as your list of words.  You may use a story from this year's Flood or previous years.

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 17: Flooding.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Owen.outdoors via pexels.