VERY short stories

Found these in Wired.

[quote=“Wired: Various authors”]We’ll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.

Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.

  • William Shatner

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?

  • Eileen Gunn

Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.

  • Joss Whedon

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time

  • Alan Moore

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.

  • Margaret Atwood

With bloody hands, I say good-bye.

  • Frank Miller

Wasted day. Wasted life. Dessert, please.

  • Steven Meretzky

“Cellar?” “Gate to, uh … hell, actually.”

  • Ronald D. Moore

Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.

  • Vernor Vinge

It cost too much, staying human.

  • Bruce Sterling

It’s behind you! Hurry before it

  • Rockne S. O’Bannon

I’m your future, child. Don’t cry.

  • Stephen Baxter

Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.

  • Richard Powers

The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.

  • Orson Scott Card

Kirby had never eaten toes before.

  • Kevin Smith

K.I.A. Baghdad, Aged 18 - Closed Casket

  • Richard K. Morgan

Heaven falls. Details at eleven.

  • Robert Jordan

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.

  • William Gibson

Thought I was right. I wasn’t.

  • Graeme Gibson

Lost, then found. Too bad.

  • Graeme Gibson

Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.

  • David Brin

Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot.

  • David Brin

He read his obituary with confusion.

  • Steven Meretzky

Dorothy: “Fuck it, I’ll stay here.”

  • Steven Meretzky
    [/quote]

Anyone got better?

Off the top of my head, I could (possibly… ambiguously) give Atwood’s story (my favorite) a happy ending:

“Longed for her. Got her. Fuck.”

:slight_smile: But I like hers better.

What?

…When?

…Where?

…Why?

…With Who?

…What!!

I thought I lost it, but actually it was just ignored.

“In the beginning, God said, ‘Oops.’”

Moth: “The light! The light! I’m saved!”

“Days passed. I passed. No loss.”

Morning came. Toilet flushed. The night forgotten.

OUT OF BEER SEND MONEY STOP

Out of beer, send money, DON’T stop :slight_smile:

Haha…
but you’re over your six words! :raspberry:

I believe the shortest correspondence ever went as follows, it was an a playright asking about if his play was succesful. The question:

And the reply:

It was a dark…the end.

Expat bar…lost wallet, gained rash.

nudge wink slap tickle. Waaaa…waaaaa…

[quote=“Dragonbones”]It was a dark…the end.[/quote]Or even shorter:

It was dark… the end.

He dies at the end, very sad.

I came to Taiwan and stayed.

Creek. Paddle?

Or does it have to be six words? That’s actually harder.