Friday, January 31, 2014

The 6 Word Short Story

To say that my dad has an affinity for telling stories would be a gross understatement. If you've met him before, if you've received one of his emails, if you're a friend of his on Facebook and haven't hidden him yet - I know you understand.

It takes - and I say this with unconditional love - a certain kind of patience to sit through a Judd Peterson story. Oftentimes, it feels like you're perusing your favorite website on one tab, and waiting for your streaming show to buffer on another; anxious to get to the point, but entertained enough by the superfluous details to enjoy the wait.

Surely you can imagine my surprise when he told me he had submitted a 6 word short story to a writing contest not too long ago. With a smile, I remembered that he's always up for a challenge.

And what a challenge that one is.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway won a bet by crafting a six word short story that could drive people to tears.




These six words inspired the literary community to such a degree, that flash fiction has now become a hugely popular style of writing. 

In the end, I never got to hear my dad's six words (or I did hear them and I've forgotten...) so, instead of posting his, here are mine:

"His mind changed
after the jump."


So, what's your 6 word short story?

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