Flash Fiction Month 2022, Day 24

“Has Harry told you about tulpas yet?”

“That Spanish thing?” Ryan had seen a restaurant in town.

“I dunno if it’s Spanish, but it’s like…” Anton leaned in closer “…an imaginary friend! Like he’s gonna think about this anime girlfriend really hard—he’s way into anime—and that’ll make her real. It’s way sad!”

“Yeah, sounds weird.” It did sound sad, but Ryan hadn’t actually heard Harry say any of this. He wasn’t even positive he knew who Harry was, except that he strongly suspected he was the fat guy with the Bleach t-shirt.

“You here for pre-drinks?” asked Anton.

“No, I’m…” Ryan had been thinking of heading down to the club later, but since it was 4pm and Anton already had a Strongbow he got the feeling this might be one of those days they never made it out of the communal kitchen. “Was there a torch in here?”

“Don’t think so.”

Ryan spotted it by the microwave and picked it up.

“What do you want with that anyway?”

“Gotta grab a book for ‘Literature in Translation,’ but all the lights are out on the third floor.” Continue reading →