Writing Challenge: Write a six-word story

[GrahamLewis]

Suddenly the birds fell fully quiet.

 

[JLT]

You know, if a story needs to be explained, then there's something missing in it. Stories should be complete in themselves, or provide enough context for the reader to go away and look it up. Otherwise, you're actually using up more words than the form allows.

That's why Hemingway's classic story is a story - "Baby shoes for sale. Never worn." - it provides an entire implied backstory that a reader can pick up through intuition, as well as subtext in what is essentially the conclusion.

You have a point there. My own definition of a "six-word story" is that it makes the reader curious to know more. In Hemingway's story, I want to know what happened to the baby to make it never live to wear those shoes. And how did the parents adjust to their child's death? Tell us more!

In my last story, "He never saw the streetcar coming," I imagine the reader wondering what happening afterward. How badly was he hurt? Did he die? How did the onlookers react? Tell us more!