Short Story Saturday: "Invisible" by Nik Perring or Caroline Smailes - Or Both

"Invisible" is one of the short stories from Freaks, a collection of short, short fiction from the pens of Nik Perring and Caroline Smailes.  All the stories are about "superheroes," real ones and imagined ones, and in that tradition, the authors have chosen not to identify which stories each has written.  Thus, the title of my post.

As they put it on the contents page:

Some of these stories have been written by Nik. Some of these stories have been written by Caroline. Some were written together.  But in the true spirit of superheroes, we couldn't possibly reveal our identities.

"Invisible" is one of the more touching stories in the collection.  In it, a young girl wants desperately to believe that she possess the power to make herself invisible at will.  All she has to do is follow the recipe, and no one will be able to see her.  Why she wants to become invisible will break your heart.

Freaks is a softcover original with an eye-catching, comic book style cover that contains fifty illustrated short stories.  Keep in mind that the entire book (U.K. edition), front to back, has only 135 numbered pages.  "Flash fiction" fans know what to expect already, and those new to this sub-genre of short story writing are in for a treat.  (Nik Perring's work turned me on to the genre a while back, and I am always on the lookout for more.)

One last thing...illustrations.  Half the fun of Freaks comes from the work of Darren Craske who provides illustrations for each of the fifty stories and did the book's eye-popping cover.  But here is a clue as to what Freaks is really all about.  This is the book's dedication:

To all who, if only for a moment, felt that they didn't belong.

Yes, we are all freaks - but we all have superpowers.  Make good use of them.