The new haiku

June 20, 2003 12:10 AM

Length of the New Harry Potter got you down? Try these. Maybe you'd like to try tell a complete story in exactly 55 words?
posted by drezdn (11 comments total)

How about posting these contest links before the deadline is up? I'll play, though. ^_^

Lucky Penny

When I was six, I thought God looked like Abraham Lincoln. I'd seen a penny, and thought, So this is what God looks like. It read "In God We Trust" across the top, above a picture of Him.

Later, I saw a nickel, a quarter, and a dime, and I realized that religion is bullshit.

posted by son_of_minya at 12:59 AM on June 20, 2003

75 or Less - album reviews in 75 words or less (but words with 2 letters or fewer do not count). Grammatically, I suppose it should be 75 or Fewer, but...
posted by elvissinatra at 5:59 AM on June 20, 2003

See also Andy Looney's Nanofiction and Nanofictionary.
posted by jammer at 7:12 AM on June 20, 2003

Gone with the Wind

Life was good. Scarlett knew the South would prevail.

But as it happened, the Civil War sucked. All her dresses were ruined, and beloved Tara went up in flames.

That scoundrel Rhett was so dashing, but why didn't he love her?

Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.
posted by rusty at 8:34 AM on June 20, 2003

son: "Our 55 Fiction contest is held once a year, but you can submit stories all year long."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:57 AM on June 20, 2003

DevilsAdvocate: "And wait until June of next year."
posted by son_of_minya at 9:59 AM on June 20, 2003

The (mostly erstwhile) Whiteshoe Irregular also used to run contests not too dissimilar... there was the Very Short Story contest (100 words or less) and the First Paragraph Contest (my personal favorite).
posted by namespan at 10:21 AM on June 20, 2003

Breath

Lucy gasped, her body falling forward. I grabbed her hand, steadying her.
“Who?”
“Mark…”
Who we hated now.
I ran.
I banged on his door. It opened.
“Lucy…”
Mark grimaced. I looked over his shoulder, to the table. Her ex-boyfriend passed the inhaler to me.
I smiled.
I ran.
Moments Lucy was breathing again.
posted by feelinglistless at 1:14 PM on June 20, 2003

The alarm clock meeped, awakening Edgar, who blinked, stretched, glanced witheringly at the snoring figure of John beside him on the bed, and began licking his anus.

Vigorously.

"How'd you get in here again?" mumbled John indistinctly, into his pillow. "Bloody cat."

"I let him in," said Edgar, gulping for air. "He likes to watch."
posted by Perigee at 3:15 PM on June 20, 2003

At which point do the short stories become merely abstract narrative jokes? Unless I've missed any truly dramatic/disturbing entries, they all seem a bit light.

Not a bad thing, though. They're quite entertaining.
posted by Down10 at 11:29 PM on June 20, 2003

World's shortest horror story: "He was the last human on Earth. There came a knock at the door." I wonder who wrote it. I used to trip out on it when I was a kid.
posted by squirrel at 11:41 PM on June 24, 2003