How to make a realistic Paper Rose
by Gayathiri Dhevi Appathurai
First, you can choose what colour and type of rose you want to make.
My father would disagree; after all, he didn’t want a girl, but what choice did he have with me?
Take a sheet of paper. It should be flexible but not too delicate.
My mother would disagree; a girl should be delicate, or else what would the family think of her upbringing?
Cut 3 squares of that paper, even 4. Size doesn’t matter. The bigger, the better.
My parents would disagree; girls can never have a big ego. So why give them so much learning?
Take one square and fold diagonally, repeat two more folds, making it small.
My grandma would disagree; a woman shouldn’t feel small to obey a man. Isn’t that how we preserve family values?
Draw an arc, cut the top, and a little at the bottom. You get a creased flower shape with a hole, but it isn’t complete yet.
My family would disagree; marriage completes a woman. What really does a solitary life accomplish?
Curl the edges of a flower, cut one pie shape, and glue the open edges together like a cone; one segment remains untethered.
My husband would disagree; a woman must be tethered to her man’s will. How else can marriage work?
Repeat steps 4 through 6 for other squares, cutting one segment more each time. You get smaller flower cones and more segments separated.
My family would disagree; separation is never a choice. Why would a man hit his woman unless she angered him?
Curl and make cones out of the lone segments. Assemble from largest to smallest cones and adjust until the flower looks whole.
My parents would agree. A woman must always adjust. No more questions.
Finally, this is it. You are done.
I agree.
About the Author
Gayathiri Dhevi Appathurai has an Engineering degree in Electronics & Instrumentation and works in the Information Technology Industry. Her stories have been shortlisted and published in the anthologies of Bristol Short Story Prize ‘21 , Edinburgh Flash Fiction Prize ‘22, Oxford flash fiction Prize summer ‘21 (Finalist). She is a Flash Fiction finalist in London Independent Story Prize, 2nd half ‘21. She is a trained Indian Classical Carnatic vocalist and has performed in renowned Fine arts venues in southern India. Her other creative pursuits include painting and sculpting. She lives with her husband in Mumbai, India.
Pilar García Claramonte wishes that she had discovered the joy of creative writing much earlier in life. Now retired, she spends her time between the Kent coast, Oxford and the Basque Country, where she was born, trying to make up for lost time, aided and abetted by some great teachers and writing buddies. She was also
Sarah Gillett is an artist and writer from Lancashire, UK. She currently lives in London, where she investigates the life of things across space and time. She has a soft spot for meteorites, the colour blue, old dictionaries, glass paperweights and early postcards. In another life she would have been an astronaut. 
Judging for the Bath Flash Fiction has been an absolute treat, but it’s also been quite stressful! I’ve enjoyed reading all the stories, and I didn’t mind reading them multiple times. I actually enjoyed all my train travels these past couple of weeks because I carried these flash fiction pieces with me and they kept me company wherever I went. But it was stressful to choose the three winners and the two highly commended. I had no problem choosing some of them, but with a couple of them, I really, really had to ponder about which one would make it. 
As usual, there was a flood of stories near the end and a lot of writers picked up the Last Minute Club Badge on the final day, February 5th. Someone said it was the colour of a Cadbury’s Caramac bar. Tasty!
The weather where we were at the launch of BFFA Volume eight was stormy, but the party in St James Wine Vaults, Bath, where we launched both anthologies was wonderful. Seventeen people came to read. We heard winning, shortlisted and longlisted stories from The Weather Where You Are by 
Sara HIlls, Mairead Robinson, James Ellis, Mark Barlex, Kathryn Eldridge-Morris, Nick Havergal, Lotty Talbutt, Alison Woodhouse and Sophie Hampton
To remind everyone, The Last Minute Club, for intrepid flash fictioneers is only open on the final day. Anyone entering on Sunday 4th February will receive a (virtual) Last Minute Club badge. Everyone loves badges don’t they? Our mini-competition to guess the colour of the badge is open on X and Facebook tomorrow, Saturday 3rd Feb. The first person to guess the colour (or colour comibation of the new badge will receive either one of the 2023 Bath Flash Fiction anthologies Vol 8. Or the new Flash Fiction Festival Anthology. We often give prizes to two people for near guesses. You won’t know the colour until first thing on Sunday morning.