Relevant Magazine recently held a short-story contest as a promotion for A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It was a great idea, and the stories that came in were terrific. And when they asked for short stories, they really meant it. Each story had to be under 140 characters. I thought I’d reprint the ten winners. Great stuff.
Cosette: The plane touches down and my seven years with out a sister are over. The little piece of China fits perfectly in my arms. Our family, complete
Vagabond: Peering through the skeleton mask and picking up my tricycle, I turned to see the police squad car pulled over behind me.
FirstnameL: When he woke up, the dinosaur was still there.
Architeuthistic: As the Decentville populace grew more demanding, Justice Jane secretly wondered if Sir Kilzalot was still hiring. Oh! He was.
cabbagemilk: When Feldman woke up in a tub full of Stove Top stuffing he thought to himself “I knew I shouldn’t have shaved my chest”
Kevin Stinehart: As the cashier gave a knowing look scanning the prenatal vitamins, I realized she is the first person on earth to know we are having a baby.
Craig Patrick: A true companion thru many a tale descended to me in a ship w/ a sail. His fury unmatched, his roar full of grace: grizzly bear from space.
Dave Jennings: Jennie leaned across the front seat for our first kiss. The back of my head hit the driver’s side window in retreat. I couldn’t reciprocate.
Gordon: Seeing the church marquee was a guillotine to the last ray of hope left in the pastor and father of three: God hates fags! It spoke of him.
trikelow: He thought she could be The One. Thanksgiving was Tofurkey. God closes a door.
Think you can do better. Feel free to leave some more in the comments. Remember, a story involves a character that wants something and goes through conflict to get it.
A dental student’s classmates are freaking out over their boards. She starts to worry, only to realize God is bigger than her boards. Peace.
Minding my manners can wait. I need that sandwich NOW and if that requires making an ugly scene then so be it. I’ve done far worse for less.
Maurice Jones-Drew takes a knee at the 1-yard line. Doesn’t he know I’m trying to unseat Jordan Green in the Burnside Fantasy League?
She grapples with death; of mother, father, faith, confidence, ideals, perhaps even God. Until one quiet morning when she is raised again by sweet sloppy syntax; “I love kisses for Mommy.” Love is stronger. And God is not dead.
The haggard former couple returned home only to realize that the toaster not only still worked, but had burned their house to the ground.
She’d been searching for an answer for years. One happenstance night in Chicago, the writer appeared with the answer. 6wks later she packed up her life & headed west to serve the sick in need.
true story! (well….about to be. thanks Don!)
“What if it’s selfish?” “To do nothing is selfish” he told her. She thought of her children. No choice. She must embrace the excruciating discomfort.
With a look of terror on his face, the electrical socket stood his ground as the prongs moved toward his eyes. An electrifying incident.
he saved for a year. he placed it on her finger. after they were done crying and cursing, he threw it in the Marianas Trench.
The echo of her last words still in his head, he now realized his mistake but the money was in his suitcase and going back wasn’t an option.
He was my baby for 17 years. At 18, he slams me into the wall as he walks out of my life, for now.
It happened again. Now I know it’s me. My brother cut in line, I had an vicious thought. Suddenly, he kind of sizzled and fell over.
I made a covenant with my PC not post a cheesy story on Donald’s blog. But as I count the number of characters in my story, I realize this truth. Character counts.
Rock me.
He looked off into the distance. The place he once called home was no more. You can never go home again, he thought.
Standing upon a house of cards, panic tightening my chest. God is near, repeating over and over “Wait. Don’t move. Don’t even breathe.”
Forty years alone in her house. Now? Theme meals and crokinole. Old farts muttering. At least it’s expensive.
“Please eat your lunch,” she urged. It was naptime, sweet babies sleep. A moment of peace. Mommy sighed. Just what she needed to recharge her batteries.
It’s then that you realize there are butterflies in your stomach and that you might be falling in love with this overweight, bald younger guy with horrible teeth.
She wants to see so badly. Its not that she’s blind, it’s that she thinks she can see. It’s the journey of finding prospective.
I missed DM on Sept. 24 for a VERY good reason. I’m excited that I have the chance to cross the border on Dec. 9.
I have work. 
My boss is my dad, and he’s a really nice guy.
not sure how some of these above winners meet your definition of story?
FirstnameL? what does he want? the dinosaur to still be there? what conflict? waking up? are you serious that this meets the criteria?
and what about cabbagemilk? what is does the character want? to shave his chest? to wake up in a tub of stove top? please, this is not story, at least not by your own definition
perhaps your criteria should have been…whatever sounds weirdest wins!!
i’m serious about this…i read through all of the entries and there are at least 7-8 that are better than about half of these and actually meet the criteria of “story” as you describe in “a million miles”
i’m disappointed by your selections, only for this reason
Tired of trying to fix people, I decided to take a different approach. Accepting their brokenness and pain while offering up my own, I see the difference between fixing and healing.
Hey Donald,
The story of FistnameL is a PLAGIARY.
Actually, that text is called “The Dinosaur” and belongs to the Guatemalan author Augusto Monterroso, winner in 2000 Prince of Asturias Prize for literature. This story is considered one of the shortest in the literature. The original in Spanish is: “Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Monterroso
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/augusto-monterroso/
http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/cuentos/esp/monte/dinosau.htm
http://cvc.cervantes.es/ACTCULT/monterroso/acerca/zavala.htm
A butterfly missing a wing on a curb. Detached wing in sight yet realizing no true glue exists, she instead immortalizes it in snapshot.
http://twitpic.com/rroop
Melinda…making me giggle.
Riz…seeing your point.
Ben E. – I like it.
Tofurkey, definitely a conflict not worth overcoming…
I’m certainly impressed with people’s ability to come up with an action packed 140 word sentence. That is something I could never do…but intellect isn’t one of my better qualities.
Always enjoy the blog…thanks.
Here’s to hoping that my story ain’t that short.
I watched this movie. I read this poem. I met this person. They made me want to do something. Be something.
She said, “I can have another baby for you, instead of you keeping Bryan.” I responded, “I don’t need you to have a baby for us. Bryan needs a home & we’ve given him one.”
Neither drugs, nor electricity, nor the rhythmic beating of her hands on his chest provoked life w/in his stale body. Removing gloves laden w/ defeat she spoke: “Time of death 15:49.”
Unable to get out of the bath, Grandma flipped onto all fours, backed out one leg at a time, and celebrated independence again today.
She may be unemployed, but has supported her family by selling words for nearly a year. Every night she prays someone will keep buying them.
Little Norbert could almost taste the chocolate cupcake. But first there was the unpleasant matter of broccoli and liverwurst to deal with.
holly wanted a pretzel–a lot. mom said “if you don’t quit whining i will spank you.” holly said “i’m not whining i am talking sad.”
She shook the drink out violently. The rancid smell stung her eyes and nose, but she did not stop until every drop had been wasted.
The gals perfume reminded him of what was, but was lost. Her perfume sparked feelings of hope, which surrendered to fear of what could be. “One day at a time,” he thought.
I’m not going to try to compete… just wanted to say that I just heart this blog.
She walked down the aisle alone.
The preacher and the dentist grieved… No one would do what they told them to do.
She was trying to die. But hubby kept interrupting. And he had a point. It *would* be nice to see Tom Brady lose. So, there was that.
Tormented, the author was forced to ditch all elements of fiction and elaboration to meet the criteria of the 140 character story. It wasn’t a very interesting tale.
His heart sunk deep, he knew once he pressed the little red button, that the closest thing to heaven on earth would be so distant once more.
It took the MK 3 family-less holidays to realize that a journey to live in faraway land & love broken people is why there’s holiday at all.
watched movie tonight. enjoyed the dark brilliance. not sure the others saw it though. frustrating sometimes. feel alone. not good. now time to sleep.
As it floats through the sky the boy fires an arrow into its purple exterior. He does not believe in hot air balloons or flying plums.
Pitiful Rufus shook a rotten pear from on high and he was convinced of his doomed fate, until Ernie Worm peeked out and he made a new friend
As Captain, the 1st guys I picked were guys that were always picked last all their life. They athletically came to life! The athletes lost it.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy…
If you guys don’t already, may I suggest that you follow @VeryShortStory on Twitter. His creativity and originality in each story never cease to amaze me. One of my favorite follows @davejane
Bobby learned how to save the cat when he was seven. By the time, he was forty; I didn’t know I didn’t save an actual cat when I was Young.
The strange vision that had called to him last night now seemed ridiculous. Did he think he was Isaiah or something? Back to real life.
this was fun. off the top of my head w/o character count:
mitch & joansy saw love in the store window. though the store was closed, they broke through, jumped in & got the love. their scrapes & cuts healed in time. scars remain – a reminder of their beautiful leap.
w/ character count:
mitch & joansy saw love in the store window. though it was closed, they broke the glass, jumped in & got the love. after the cuts healed, scars tell of that beautiful leap.