The Flashlight

A Story Lamp Reviews Newsletter | March 2025 Issue #3

Image by Sarah S. created with Canva

Hi Story Lamp Readers and Writers,

Wow, I can’t believe how fast March has gone by.

We’ve loved seeing this community grow — every new writer, every thoughtful review, and every piece of flash fiction has really inspired and motivated us as editors.

We recieved a number of submissions last month, and we enjoyed reading each one of them. I feel that we are lucky for the creativity and effort from all our contributors. We love reading your reviews and are so pleased with the amount of flash fiction stories we recieved for our March prompt.

We’d like to highlight as many book and film review pieces that stood out in the month of March — whether for their amazing insights, interesting perspectives, or engaging writing.

Highlights This Month:

‘Madness, Magic and Mayhem: Rosie Hewlett’s modern retellings of Medea and Medusa ‘ — Another insightful review by Naomi, exploring retellings of the Greek myths of Medea and Medusa and how they offer feminist exploration of betrayal, abuse, and revenge.

Wherever You Go, You Have to Take You with You: Five Seasons in Seoul Book Review by Naomi Shippen — An insightful review of Five Seasons in Seoul, a memoir about a young woman finding healing and adventure in South Korea after grief and career setbacks.

‘William Tell’ Review’ — Liselotte highlights the film William Tell as visually striking, but slightly flawed adaptation of the iconic legend.

‘Teenage Angst Has Never Looked This Gory: Telekinesis, Trauma and the Worst Road Trip Ever’ — Alma’s insightful and honest review on two raw, darkly funny coming of age shows is a must read.

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Book Review. — A review of Dream Count celebrating Chimanda Adichie’s piognant storytelling and themes — by Mikayla Barigboma.

Life in the Time of Corona: Stories from the first lockdown of 2020 — Another thought-provoking review from Naomi Shippen on the Short Story Anthology and the impact of COVID.

What I read in February: The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu and Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx — by Adabelle Xie — An indepth look at the Paper Menagerie and Brokeback Mountain.

Why the Upcoming F1 Movie is the Perfect Adaptation of the Sport? by Samba Prathamesh — A review of the upcoming F1 movie, which promises to capture the high-stakes drama.

Alex Garland’s, The Beach: Book Review by Tina — A detailed book review on Alex Garland’s The Beach, exploring how utopian dreams take on a darker, more complex meaning when rereading.

The Great Gatsby: A Book Review of the American Dream by Zeeshan Ali — A review of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel about the pursuit of the American Dream.

‘The End’ Review: A Wildly Ambitious Project That Doesn’t Fully Come To Fruition by Liselotte Goes to Hollywood — An insightful review of the film The End, on it’s star-studded cast and disjointed storytelling.

Flash Fiction Highlights:

This month, we received the highest number of submissions for our March prompt! So we’re just so excited to see so many writers taking part in these challenges.

Tonight’s Sunset: Burnt Cotton Candy, A Captain’s Log by Joanna Friedman — A beautifully told flash fiction piece about a solo journey following a setting sun while reflecting on lost connection.

[embed]Tonight’s Sunset: Burnt Cotton Candy A Captain’s Logmedium.com

The Waves Against the Current by Zeeshan Ali — A beautifully haunting flash fiction story capturing loss, regret, and longing on a endless ocean.

[embed]The Waves Against the Current Flash Fiction Prompt #3 | Marchmedium.com

Between the Lines by Jordan Bradley — A beautifully told flash fiction piece about person transformation and the quiet power of embracing the present when travelling.

[embed]Between the Lines Flash Fiction Prompt #3 | Marchmedium.com

A Quiet Liberation: As spring returns, a man drifts between solitude and freedom, finding peace on the water by Bruno Mazza — A reflective flash fiction piece about finding peace and quiet freedom while floating on the water, embracing the arrival of spring.

[embed]A Quiet Liberation I decided to celebrate Spring’s return on my kayak | March 2025 Flash Fiction Photo Promptmedium.com

All You Can Do Is Wonder: Where is the kayaker going? by Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons — Another evocative flash fiction story about a mysterious kayaker who, after fishing each night, lays a flower in the water, leaving an observer to wonder about its meaning.

[embed]All You Can Do Is Wonder Where is the kayaker going?medium.com

Flight of the Osprey: A Short Story — Another beautiful flash fiction story from Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons about transformation, small moments, and the magic of nature.

[embed]Flight of the Osprey A short storymedium.com

Where the Time Goes: At a dinner someone asked what all we wanted to do when we retired and everyone had a different answer by Adabelle Xie — A poignant reflection on the freedom that comes with retirement.

[embed]Where the Time Goes At a dinner someone asked what all we wanted to do when we retired and everyone had a different answer.medium.com

#Mephistophele’s Mystery Travels: Dying for a Free Vacation? by Homera Hassan — A flash fiction tale of mystery and fate, where a warning in a dream becomes one traveller’s doom.

[embed]#Mephistophele’s Mystery Travels: Dying for a Free Vacation? Story Lamp Reviews: March 2025 | Flash Fiction Prompt #3medium.com

Dreamweaver Awake by Garrison Parker — A flash fiction piece about a conversation between two roommates, one expressing a desire to escape and the other offering a sense of normalcy.

[embed]Dreamweaver Awake March Story Prompt #3: A warning before travelmedium.com

The Last Warning: Some Journeys Rewrite Fate by Leswrites — A suspenseful flash fiction story about a woman receiving a mysterious warning and encountering her doppelgänger just before a deadly plane crash.

[embed]The Last Warning Some Journeys Rewrite Fate | March Flash Fiction Promptmedium.com

Paddling For Two by Ananya Banerjee — A hearfelt and beautiful flash fiction story about a mother honoring her son’s adventurous spirit by crossing kayaking off his bucket list.

[embed]Paddling For Two Flash Fiction Prompt #3 | March 2025medium.com

I wanted to make a mention of these two amazing flash pieces, which were actually for our February prompt, but nonetheless are must-reads. Letters From Tomorrow follows a woman receiving a letter from her future self.

The Final Page follows a woman who recieves a mysterious book that begins to write itself.

The Final Page: A Story That Reads You Back by Leswrites — A chilling flash fiction story.

[embed]The Final Page A Story That Reads You Back medium.com

Letters From Tomorrow: When my future self wrote to calm my storms | February Flash Fiction Prompt by Ugochinyere Princess Eze.

[embed]Letters From Tomorrow When my future self wrote to calm my storms | February Flash Fiction Promptmedium.com

I just want to say thank you to those who submitted and contributed to the flash fiction March prompts. We so enjoyed reading all of your submissions!

Announcements:

Flash Fiction Friday Prompt: Our next month’s flash fiction prompt is coming soon. Scheduled for 4th of April, 2025. We can’t wait to read your submissions!

Instagram Update:

Story Lamp Reviews on Instagram has now reached over 185 followers! We’re very excited to see the publication growing and to also have another space where we can showcase our contributors.

If you haven’t followed us yet, please do so at @story_lamp_reviews to keep updated on flash fiction prompts, news, and to see your work celebrated!

That’s about it for our March newsletter. Make sure to sign up for the Flashlight monthly and take a look at our flash fiction prompts to submit your stories for a chance to be featured in our next newsletter edition. And as always, please read our guidelines before submitting.

Warm regards,

The Editors at Story Lamp Reviews

A big thank you to everyone who shared their pieces with us this month. And to our readers and writers — tagging as many of you as we can!

Rachel Berry, DTR Liselotte goes to Hollywood Lis Bloom Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons Emma’s Book Talks Taryn Tyler Naomi Shippen Ritika Murarka Adabelle Xie Mikayla Barigboma Garrison Parker Homera Hassan Magdalena Styś MW🌙 Staringale💫 The Readable Bliss Tina Samba Prathamesh Derek Reinhard Jeremy Ramos-Foley Dr. Hiten Solanki Bob Cliffhanger Sandy Seeber-Quayle Sneha Narayan Dreamer"Nadia" Rhea Kamani Kay Flanagan Eoin Leydon O'Connor Akshat Lamba Evan Jamie Watts Chronic Existentialist Ugochinyere Princess Eze Kejama writersbloque Jakob Machleidt - from Grow By Mind BookMushroom Jordan Bradley Rabia Akram Words by Egypt QueenetWrites LesWrites Emma Cassidy Patricia Dickson (Author Raven Burke) Alma Bruno Mazza Zeeshan Ali Joanna Friedman Ananya Banerjee Creeping between the Margins Lost Girl Life Hana