Ifan Fin

“Parental controls ” by Ifan Fin

Enter the stage. Monica and Peter are in their old flat’s bathroom. Monica is putting on her make-up. All this for nothing. Peter, at the same time, is brushing her hair. She would do this normally by herself, but this day the objective is to bond. And so bond they do. But all this for nothing. She is trimming his beard. He would do it on his own, but she thought this way they could finally be really together. Really together? Well, things are not going smoothly. Physicality plays a role in that, and that they meet up on a rare occasion does...

5 likes 5 comments 5

Read story

“Musings of the Tired Brain at the theatre” by Ifan Fin

PREFACE (that you can skip) There are plotters and there are pantsers. The ones who write more deliberately and the ones who write more instinctively. The ones who, “think before” and the ones who, so to speak, “think after” the act of writing. Those who write without excessive intention and planning tend to get a bad rap. However, understandable in some cases, this opinion that the so-called “discovery writing” is worse than “meticulously planned writing” seems to be founded on a lie that pantsers don’t think hard enough about the story’s...

3 likes 4 comments 4

Read story

“Tense (in) past and present” by Ifan Fin

“Grow up.” An old man in a hat said. “Oh, did he intend to mean I am to grow in the upward direction, as growing down is virtually impossible?” Alice responded. “Alice. Listen to me. Don’t be irresponsible and listen.” “Alice listens very carefully.” “You need to grow those things up, make them come out of this very soil. It’s not about you. It’s about them.” “Alice doesn’t want to grow up. Can Alice grow down?” “Down is for carrots and… and some other vegetables.” “Which way do you want Alice to grow?” “Up, Alice. Always up.” The tone was s...

4 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“FIN DE MILL” by Ifan Fin

I didn’t sign up for this. Quite the opposite of that, on the list of my wishes this would take the last place. What is it about my life that is so wrong? My choices don’t match what’s somewhere inside me, I believe. In the stomach there’s a feeling that one more day or year could end tragically. For me this would mean the definite end and for others it would make for some surprising, if not upsetting, news. Depends on the person, I suppose. Speaking of people that interfere with my life, he was the best at it. I should be asking right now, ...

12 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“So you want to say you don’t want to have kids?” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #76

“So you want to say you don’t want to have kids?”“Ask me anything, mom. Like literally.”“Why though… you don’t want to have a little baby?”“Yada yada yada. Keep on praying.”“You realise that was rude.”“And you realise I don’t want to talk like that?”“Like what?”“Like I’m bound to satisfy you with a wholesome answer that you would find to your liking.”“Oh! Don’t be so… you are getting so ahead of yourself.”“Oh, really? I wanted to say the exact same thing.”***“Would you be so kind to hand me this…?”“Pepper? Haven’t we got enough of that?”“You...

20 likes 7 comments 7

Read story

“Debt-ends” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #75

“The dwarfs can turn lead into gold… (…)‘You can’t turn something into something else,’ said Corporal Nobbs. ‘The Alchemists have been trying it for years.’‘They can gen’rally turn a house into a hole in the ground,’ said Sergeant Colon.‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ said Corporal Nobbs.” (”The Truth”, Terry Pratchett)***Neal suffered from severe neurosis for several years ever since his father had been mugged and beaten to death by some complete strangers. Yet in his mind maybe for a couple of last months everything seemed okayish. T...

11 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“Just cancer ” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?”Trudy held her breath for a couple seconds too long not to have to compensate this momentary lack of oxygen with a big sigh.“Well. Can you? I need to know. Already, I’m pretty short of time.”“I’m really good at keeping secrets.” Trudy said unconvinced about her confession that came out of her mouth fast and unexpected. She felt slightly off about it all.Smoke did not look as if it was exactly the kind of answer he wanted to hear. Nevertheless he proceeded with a soap-opera-worthy statement.“I have a lung cancer.”She s...

28 likes 4 comments 4

Read story

“For Life” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #52

“For Life” (a fragment of David Roll’s song)…What have I become?A while ago I was far awayA while ago I was someone else, someone…A while ago Why it has to hurt so badI was drunk and highYou were by my side, we could tryYou were falling and I tore you apartWhich way you wanna dance?With meWhich way to throw the dice?It’s just a stupid songOne of manyTell me will we get by with just one penny?I leftA penny for your thoughtsI left you alone***Tom (at the police station)There was a time when he thought he would get away with just about anything...

25 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“This wretched world” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #49

As far as I remember we met for the first time, and he already, somehow, knew what he wanted. He introduced himself and then he jumped right to the core. You didn’t realise how slim were the chances of such a thing, did you? Your plan was foreseen, “brainwashing” others comes with a price. I am writing to you to remind you about our deal. Infiniteness. Sold for soul, remember? I took YOUR WORD.“So, when did it happen?”“When happened what?”“Your conversion. I need to know.”“I think it must have happened somewhere between Christmas and New Yea...

38 likes 7 comments 7

Read story

“Sound of his breath ” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #44

Our favourite stories are the ones which end tragically. The myth of Niobe. Prometheus and the Theft of Fire. Pandora's Box. Daedalus and Icarus. Orpheus and Eurydice. The characters that want more end with nothing. Or worse. He said, "can you imagine? Us in ten years, standing at the edge of this cliff, with our first-born son?" and smiled as if everything was going to happen just as he told. It was a hundredth or two-hundredth time he imagined this for the two of us since we first met. I loved his grin and his hair that bounced whenev...

31 likes 8 comments 8

Read story

“The lion's den” by Ifan Fin

Submitted to Contest #42

After work, I realised it's been raining all day, so I chose to stay inside. Lazy mood upon my existence. Of many people that walked in and out, I recognised only one professor with whom I never had the chance to interact but knew he was a likeable persona, or so the students thought. And if such was students' verdict, then it's decided - he has to be this way. At first, I was reading today's newspaper, and then only pretending to be invested in the reading, I found myself right in the middle of a conversation between some couple that v...

19 likes 0 comments 0

Read story