The mushrooms first appeared at the bottom of the garden by the bleached wood fence. They prodded up through the carpet of dead needles and spread their bone-white caps for a week before sinking back into the earth.
That was the first year. The second year they reached the tree, the third year the washing line.
It was a slow process, the invasion, but we found out later that time flowed differently for them. As we flashed above their heads they moved patiently through the soil, and by the time we realised what was coming up from beneath us it was too late.
This is a 100-word flash fiction story, prompted by the picture you can see up there, as part of Friday Fictioneers.
Click here if you’d like to take part, and click here to read other pieces.
Simon John Cox 
The mushrooms are a bit sinister, but I had no idea how much. You could really go somewhere with that.
That is scary. And close to the truth. See http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-largest-organism-is-fungus/. Scary (again).
Just the right amount of slow creepiness.
janet
Those last three words change everything. I love it!
Claire
You really are a fun guy!
I love this…you gave them heartbeats.
I can't seem to put my name here…susannah bianchi athingirl.com. Loved your piece.
Thanks! I like the throwaway nature of these 100-word pieces, but every now and then I think “this could be something much longer”…and then never do anything with it because I generally always have a long writing project and a short writing project on the go anyway…
Thanks for the link. I knew that what we see at the surface was only the tip of the organism, but I didn't know they got THAT big. I thought I was writing science fiction…turns out I was just writing science.
Thanks Janet. I always thought mushrooms were slow and creepy.
Thanks Claire!
There's not mush room around here for more bad jokes.
Thanks Susannah. I've always used Blogger so I stick with it out of familiarity, but I think WordPress has a way better commenting system. Thanks for leaving your name – I just saw your site – I love the piece you wrote! It conveys the atmosphere and character extremely well.
Thanks Anonymous. I'm always pleased when hacker groups like my flash fiction.
Dear Simon John,
Ominous.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Dear Simon John,
I started with Blogger. In fact, I used the same bookcase background. About three years ago I switched over to WordPress and have no regrets. It's easier to navigate, easier for commentors and much more interactive.
I hope you don't mind putting in my two-cent's worth.
Shalom,
Rochelle