Flash fiction examples
The best examples show a complete story turning on a single moment, with everything inessential cut away. A few, from this shelf and the wider form, are below.
From this shelf
Behind This Mirror by Lena Bertone is a chapbook of flash fiction: seven very short pieces, each a whole small world. It is a good demonstration of how flash can hold a book together without any single piece running long.
The wider form
The famous six-word story often attributed to Hemingway is the extreme case: a complete arc in one line. Longer flash, in the 500 to 1,000 word range, is where most literary magazines live, and where a beginning, a turn and a consequence can all fit without padding.
What to study in an example
Find the single moment the whole piece turns on, then notice how much of the story is implied rather than told. That ratio of implied to stated is the craft of flash.
The definition
For where flash sits among the short forms, see what is flash fiction.