THE NEXT EXIT
Here I share my piece of flash fiction that was accepted and published by
Fresh Words: An International Literary Magazine.
Things Left Unsaid: A Flash Fiction Anthology
The anthology brings together a diverse collection of flash fiction exploring words, feelings and stories that are left unsaid.
This was fun to write, and challenging to keep the short story under 300 words.
THE NEXT EXIT
They were just twenty minutes from the city when it happened.
For one fractured second, Sarah visualised motorway carnage.
A lorry jack-knifed across the carriageway.
Their BMW mangled, bonnet twisted upwards, windscreen shattered.
Blood streaked Tony’s face, soaked through his white shirt. Glass glittered everywhere.
And then she was back in the present.
Tony was driving, fingers tapping along to the radio.
He glanced at her.
“You all right?”
She opened her mouth.
Tell him.
“I…”
Her heart hammered.
He frowned. “What?”
“I’m fine.”
The lie came easily. It always did.
She had learned not to trust herself. Not after years of being told: Don’t be ridiculous. You’re imagining things. You’re too sensitive.
The next exit approached.
She stared at the sign. Her inner voice screamed..
Tell him. Tell him to exit!
But what could she say?
I've just seen us die?
He'd laugh.
She would feel foolish.
Perhaps she was being silly. An overactive imagination. Too little sleep. Too much anticipation.
Their anniversary. The theatre. Dinner afterwards.
She said nothing.
They passed the exit.
He glanced at her, “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
In that split second, a lorry blew a tyre. It swerved across the motorway.
He braked. Too late.
The lorry slammed into the passenger side, crushing them against the central reservation.
Metal screamed.
Then darkness.
He came to with blood running down his face.
“Sarah?”
Nothing.
The passenger seat was crushed beneath twisted metal.
“Sarah!”
Her handbag lay open on the floor, contents scattered. Beneath her lipstick and house keys, the theatre tickets lay exposed.
Two seats.
One empty future.
For the first time in their marriage, he had no words for her.
Sally Somerton - Island Writer
©sallysomerton2026
All Rights Reserved
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