Very Short Stories

From Wired:

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.

Dozens of our favorite auteurs put their words to paper, and five master graphic designers took them to the drawing board. Sure, Arthur C. Clarke refused to trim his ("God said, 'Cancel Program GENESIS.' The universe ceased to exist."), but the rest are concise masterpieces.


I'm not going to reprint all of them, just a selection that pertain or will have interest to our group.

• Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket. - William Shatner

• Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so. - Joss Whedon

• Automobile warranty expires. So does engine. - Stan Lee

• Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time. - Alan Moore

• From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings. - Gregory Maguire
  

• With bloody hands, I say good-bye. - Frank Miller
  

• It cost too much, staying human. - Bruce Sterling
  

• 1940: Young Hitler! Such a cantor! - Michael Moorcock
  

• I’m dead. I’ve missed you. Kiss … ? - Neil Gaiman

• Easy. Just touch the match to - Ursula K. Le Guin
  

• Bush told the truth. Hell froze. - William Gibson
  

And a Dark Forces Special:

• We crossed the border; they killed us. - Howard Waldrop

• H-bombs dropped; we all died. - Howard Waldrop

• Your house is mine: soft revolution. - Howard Waldrop

• Warskiing; log; prop in face. - Howard Waldrop

• The Axis in WWII: haiku! Gesundheit. - Howard Waldrop

• Salinger story: three koans in fountain. - Howard Waldrop

• Rained, rained, rained, and never stopped. - Howard Waldrop