Six-word stories

Somewhere in the bowels of this blog, I've described myself as a sprinter. I love to write short pieces that hit hard and fast, leaving the reader satisfied with a nibble instead of overstuffed with superfluous paragraphs . While I love to read words that wrap themselves around me and pull me into a great story, anything over four pages describing a sunset gives me a twitch (author, you know who you are). I blame my short attention span for most of it but think it's a matter of personal taste. I live for the one-liners (as seen by Undead Fred's Daily Tips) that make me laugh, think or cry.

A story attributed to Hemingway has always stuck with me as the shortest, most poignant tale I've heard yet. "For sale. Baby Shoes. Never worn." What happened to the baby? Oh. So many questions, so much lost.

What's your best six-word story? The only rules are it needs to have the elements of all good stories: a beginning, a middle and an end.

9 comments:

  1. Coffeehouse snaps, my friend, and congratulations! (hey wait, that's six words!)

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  2. I won a Tshirt from Smithmag.net for one I did for Mother's Day. "Tied his shoes. Ties mine now." It makes my 22 year old son (who is the subject) laugh--and makes me cry. Watch out though. That six word thing is addictive!

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  3. I remember! Note to self: buy velcro shoes.

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  4. I died. Sucked for a while.


    ;)

    Adam

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  5. I was writing some at the pool today:

    He lied. She cried. He died.

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  6. I can't think of any. *pouts*

    I'm the same way with short stories. I max out a 1000 words, both in reading and writing, until you get to a novel. I don't know what my deal is.

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  7. Three sailors, sinking ship, one shark.

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