55-Fiction
Ten Micro-fiction Stories
55-Fiction is a competition that began in the 80s in the New Times newspaper. The rules are simple: Write a story that’s 55 words or less. There are a few more rules but let’s simplify things for now.
This genre is called micro-fiction, drabble or flash fiction if you go beyond 100 words. I’ve found that writing these is a great exercise to warm up your writing muscles or even type down the essence of a scene before expanding on it.
I’m not great at them but I’m happy with these 10. Maybe you’re better? Feel free to add your own in the comments.
Disaster Averted
'You have to be quicker behind the wheel'
I was annoyed. 'What do you mean? It was your fault!'
'At least you won't have to pay for the car, right?'
'I guess so', I said. I looked down and saw our bodies next to the totaled cars. It would've been a huge bill!
Gold Medal
She was running as fast as she could.
Her lungs were about to give out.
But she couldn't stop now, not after so many months of preparation and hard work.
They were a few feet behind her now.
'Almost'. She raised her hands and closed her eyes.
The guards shot her anyway.
Watch the Pretty Lights
The explosion was bigger than they expected.
They wore sunglasses so they could see. A few kids started crying.
'Oh, who cares', someone said and moved away from the windows.
From the telecom, a female voice announced: 'We're 6 months away from Mars. The worst part is over.
The Butcher's Apprentice
'The juicy part is here. It has the most fat'.
With a swift move, he cut a slab of meat and let it fall down.
'That's for males. Now, grab me a female'.
The frightened woman mumbled her words.
'Oh, stop it! You want to learn how to pluck a chicken or no?'
Access Denied?
He pushed her away after she tried to climb over the iron door.
'Tell him I said he's an asshole', she said.
'See, this is why he doesn't want to let you in. If you just apologised...'
She gave him the finger. 'I bet downstairs is more fun anyway'.
'Suit yourself, St Peter shouted.
Non-Believer
When my grandpa died, I felt his presence every time I'd sit in his favourite chair.
One day, I asked him to give me a sign if he could hear me. And he did:
'Stop with that nonsense, I don't believe in ghosts. Never did, never will.'
The New Religion
Ever since I forgot a piece of bread on the table, the ants have been acting weird.
I find dead ants on my bed. They form circles around my socks. One of them left me a nugget of cheese.
One day, they were all over the sink! So, I had to flood them.
Cloudy Morning
There was no tomorrow to be had. That was gone. All they had was each other but not for long.
'It's almost time, my love'
'OK. Shush now, I want to see the pretty mushroom clouds'
And like that, they pressed the button.
An Eternity Left
The letter arrived when I was asleep. I squeeze myself to the left and grabbed it.
Not good news, unfortunately.
"Your appeal has been rejected. You can try again in a thousand years"
I threw the letter with the rest. What are you gonna do?
Bar [OPEN]
It's the kind of place where the sun leaves traces on the air during the dying morning; smoke and dust. If the food doesn't kill you, the whiskey will, for sure. And most people prefer a sure thing. So, now that you're here, what will you order for your friend?
Fun, right? Once you get into the rhythm, you can pump out a couple of them in 10 minutes. So, let’s see what you got!
Don’t forget to share this with others:
ok i think these are really good. reminds me of https://www.asofterworld.com/
do you invent these on-demand or are they usually ideas floating into your head randomly?