Fortune Flash Friday #001 | Smile at the unpredictable in the world

The first of a weekly series of flash fiction based on a Fortune Cookie.

It was a sound that he had been trained for since school, but all that popped into his mind when it sounded for real was the way that he and his university housemates used to use this as a sick form of practical joke during a comedown. In this instance, however, this was no such joke; rather, the countdown siren was ringing out, and instead of seeking shelter with a mild panic, he chuckled to himself, reminiscing.

He was flooded with warmth that slightly paled in comparison to the heat about to engulf the entire city. He thought back to those university housemates, to the simpler days of the biggest worries in life pertaining to whether or not you had dropped your pill at the most efficient point in the evening’s entertainment. He thought back to the friends who were no longer with him, to those with whom he had completely lost contact. It was with their faces etched into his mind, and with a blissful serenity in the knowledge that in less than 10 minutes they would all be reunited, that he flicked through his record collection and plucked out a favourite from their countless after parties. Thus, he set about dancing his way into the oblivion.