Micro-Fiction: The Whole Brevity Thing, Man.

There is Flash Fiction, there is Micro Fiction, and then there is the one-sentence story. The definitions and word counts vary, but the point is the same: A complete story told in a very short format.

Flash Fiction ranges from about 500 words to 1500 words, depending on who one asks. Micro Fiction is 500 words or less, again with some wiggle room. One-sentence stories are self-explanatory, yes?

I have had some success with Flash Fiction. My flash pieces “The Dino Kid,” “Broken Luggage,” and “The Dangerous Egg” have all been published by different journals. It is a fun and challenging format to work in, and I enjoy it. But an entire story told in a single sentence? Well, I’ll let you be the judge.

Here are four examples that have slipped past submission land. Without further ado, I give you four stories in four sentences. I hope you enjoy them.

“The Matador” by Marco Etheridge

He lived for that single moment, the moment the hook of the bull’s horn passed within a hair of his suit of lights, the moment before the roar of the crowd.

“The Pebble” by Marco Etheridge

She balances a quartzite pebble atop the rough granite of the tilted headstone, then walks away through knee-high grass.

“The Wig” by Marco Etheridge

The old lady walks though the Vienna train station wearing a cheap black wig that looks exactly like the black cocker spaniel she is dragging on a leash and I wonder which came first.

“The Last Film” by Marco Etheridge

As he fell to the ground with a bullet in his chest, the last thing he saw was a vision of his parents’ front porch in summer.

Thanks for stopping by my tiny corner of the literary world, and thank you for being readers. Readers Rock!!