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Flash Fiction Online for January 2015 has stories by Leslianne Wilder, Aimee Picchi, and Jennifer Campbell Hicks.

Flash Fiction Online is a website with very short stories, updated every month. These are reviews for their January 2015 issue. Two stories are labeled Fantasy, one Science Fiction.

The first Fantasy story is "Cliona's Coast" by Leslianne Wilder. -+- Every night in Marcel's bar sits an old woman wearing a different fur coat. She will sing songs popular during or immediate after World War II. Marcel fought in the Resistance and he says that she did, too. At the end, we find out what she is, that she once wore a different animal coat. Beautiful!

The Science Fiction Story is "Death Comes for the Microbot" by Aimee Picchi. -+- Bee is an AI microbot in the form of a bee in Dr. Nesbeth's laboratory. Bee is saddened that another microbot, Spider, has died. There is only Bee and Cricket left. Bee seeks to find comfort in death. Poignant.

The second Fantasy story is "Star Box" by Jennifer Campbell Hicks. -+- An Old Man has the job of fixing the stars in the sky. He working on Orion when a girl named Anna appears to him, asking if she could borrow a star to show to her sister, Amanda, who is dying. The Old Man refuses but his phoenix, Europa, has other ideas. Another beautiful, lyrical, tale.

By the time you read this, the February issue might be up, but the January Flash Fiction Online should still be available. Look for it as a back issue or read any older issue. Check them out and make a donation at their website (see link at the top of this review).