March 14 - "The Flash"

“The Flash”
by Italo Calvino
Numbers in the Dark (1995)

* * * (Good) Realistic

A sudden revelation in a crosswalk convinces a man that all he once thought important was no longer relevant. As the man attempted to share this newfound knowledge with the crowd around him, he found he no longer had the words to explain.

We all have those moments of sudden insight that force us to stop and think, or stop and question. This may have been something as simple as remembering a stray thought moments after it was needed, or it may have been a more momentous moment, but it was something that stopped time, if only for a moment, and changed the way in which we view(ed) the world. This “flash” might not be the easiest thing to explain, but it has meaning to us. In that moment we are open to the possibilities of the world, and a story that attempts to describe that feeling – that moment – can be a difficult thing to write. This story gave me that moment, but left me wanting. Was there more to be had? I don’t know, but I think we all wish there were more to be had, from stories, and from the world around us.