'The Lion’s Share of the Cleaning' by A.J. Walker

Geoff loved being a caretaker at the Hole Black Institute - he got paid for cleaning up after people; he’d have done it for free if anyone had asked. He had unearthly cleaning powers and a willingness not to stop for any sort of dirt. If he saw something that shouldn’t be there he wouldn’t rest until it was gone. Where he worked the twenty year old building looked like it had just been built.

It was early evening on a Friday and Geoff was busy with his Flash - as he was every day when he mopped up in the research block. In a rush to get out one of the researchers had forgotten to lock the entrance to Corridor XY. Geoff had never ventured into this part of the building and was ecstatic when he saw the state of the floor. He didn’t care where all the soil had come from - he was just grateful for all the mess.

He was hardly perturbed when he found the blood and rather large shits by the laboratory door. He didn’t wonder who’s the sandal prints were. He did think it was probably the first time he’d found a severed hand in all his years at the HBI.

When he saw the mess continued beneath the laboratory door he had no hesitation to open it. That was how Geoff, the mild mannered janitor from Hemel Hempstead, found himself in the middle of Rome’s Coliseum. The black hole experiment worked; the lion roared. Shortly afterwards there was a little bit more mess that somebody else would have to clean up.

FlashFlood is brought to you by National Flash-Fiction Day UK, happening this year on 27th June 2015.

In the build up to the day we have now launched our Micro-Fiction Competition (stories up to 100 words) and also our annual Anthology (stories up to 500 words).  So if you have enjoyed FlashFlood, why not send us your stories?

More information about these and the Day itself available at nationalflashfictionday.co.uk.