Urban Volcano

Fiction by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson

Flash fiction

Train story

I struggled with focusing on my reading, interrupted by a boy across the aisle who babbled on endlessly.

Train story — Illustration by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson
Illustration by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson

“Daddy,” said the boy. “Are all the people going to London?”

“I don’t know,” answered the father.

“Daddy! How far is it to London by train?”

“Three hours.”

“Daddy! If someone were too poor to pay the fare and had to walk to London, how long would it take?”

“A few days.”

“Daddy! And when they arrived in London, would they be dead?”

“Yes,” answered the father. “Dead-tired.”

The flash fiction story Train story is part of the flash fiction collection Flash 52.

Börkur is an avid storyteller with a keen eye for quirky characters, funny dialogs and vivid scenario descriptions. Much of his writing falls within the genre of realistic fiction and his stories are more often than not based on real events in the author’s life. Although the tales contain grains of truth, they are melded with fiction, making the reader curious to know the line between reality and fantasy.