espresso ristretto, ancora!
November 22, 2004 2:23 PM   Subscribe

Espressostories short stories, 25 words or less, short enough to fit into the time it takes to reach the bottom of that bitter little cup. Gory, dramatic and death, nuggets of wisdom and of course love stories.
posted by dabitch (30 comments total)
 
Oh man, this is fantastic. I'm so going to sharpen my O' Henry pen and try my hand at this. :)
posted by dejah420 at 2:41 PM on November 22, 2004


One evening, I looked at my favorite community weblog, only to see an espresso-induced story-writing competition. I ignored it and continued studying.

Sigh
posted by louigi at 2:47 PM on November 22, 2004


He kept an entire catalog of stories and could summon them, the beginning, climax and denoument by catalog number. He found Number 52649 especially affecting.
posted by vacapinta at 2:50 PM on November 22, 2004


He took a quick slurp of coffee and began to browse through the many stories. It was going to take a lot of espresso.
posted by cbrody at 3:12 PM on November 22, 2004


After wiping the pain-induced tears from his eyes, the doctor concluded that the idea was worthwhile, but the design would fight it all the way.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 3:18 PM on November 22, 2004 [1 favorite]


She read the basic rule over and over, but never managed to grasp it.
posted by OhPuhLeez at 3:55 PM on November 22, 2004


After much research, the scientist concluded that useful concepts such as "random" or "highest-rated" was beyond the mental capabilities of espresso drinkers.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:18 PM on November 22, 2004


And subject-verb agreement is apparently beyond my capabilities. D'oh!
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:19 PM on November 22, 2004


An espresso per story seemed unusually demanding, at the time; in the hospital, he learnt the advice hadn't been literal.
posted by cmyr at 4:38 PM on November 22, 2004


She came from her gradute school-supporting job at Starbucks and thought, "Just what I need. More espresso."
posted by Kimberly at 5:01 PM on November 22, 2004


She was so in love with the link that she just sat there writing stories until the espresso was cold.
posted by Spezzatura at 5:27 PM on November 22, 2004


He gasped for air (gulp); something was very, very wrong--- and as the lights dimmed... he realized his twenty five words had run out, forever.
posted by buddhanarchist at 5:31 PM on November 22, 2004


He purchased an extravagant black flak jacket specifically for the funeral; ODB would be missed.
posted by The God Complex at 6:01 PM on November 22, 2004


UbuRoivas scratched his head, trying vainly to find the rule demanding the stories begin with personal pronouns...
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:46 PM on November 22, 2004


okay, then UbuRoivas, espressostoriescut-ups:

Vainly pronouns scratched the head demanding rule, with UbuRoivas demanding personal stories to find.
posted by buddhanarchist at 7:42 PM on November 22, 2004


You find it hard to treat these seriously, as an earlier post has made you suspicious of short shorts.
posted by nomad at 8:18 PM on November 22, 2004


Intoxicated by caffeine, cutups and wordcount, UbuRoivas promptly decided to triangle payers pertaining kouklia, sluggish Killyleagh Edvard (gamekeeper strut locations), defence nickell Polonius collier...uncomplicated?
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:55 PM on November 22, 2004


uncomplicated, intoxicated caffeine; sluggish defense payers strut cutups; count word, Polonius: by triangle defense
posted by buddhanarchist at 9:19 PM on November 22, 2004


Eh?
posted by DrJohnEvans at 9:25 PM on November 22, 2004


The reader paused, and wondered if this was something you had to drink coffee to understand, because he didn't drink coffee.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:29 PM on November 22, 2004


Baxter finished all 365 pages, searching for meaning. Every page was blank. “Perhaps tomorrow,” he thought, setting The Future—for Dummies beside the Bodum.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:15 PM on November 22, 2004


Burroughs returned from Interzone, and found himself in a world only 25 words in length; so he cut it up, and left them staring at the small tabs of paper, one of which he pressed onto his tongue...
posted by buddhanarchist at 10:30 PM on November 22, 2004


Intrigued, one user surmised that DVD copywriters must do this all the time. He then used the rest of his allotted words, because he could.
posted by neckro23 at 11:01 PM on November 22, 2004


Eh?

Although initially confused by the apparently strange writings, once UbuRoivas hinted at a codified solution to all mysteries therein, DrJohnEvans embarked on his life's mission...
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:12 PM on November 22, 2004


solution initially codified by life's mission: strange writings confused by UbuRoivas mysteries. Once.
posted by buddhanarchist at 12:39 AM on November 23, 2004


Somewhere over the rainbow, styrofoam factories and nuclear reactors were scattered across the Oz Free Trade Zone.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 2:37 AM on November 23, 2004


wow, y'all have to submit some of these....
posted by dabitch at 5:57 AM on November 23, 2004


Home Depot
“Excuse me ma’am—wh…
I love you Theresa
where’s yer screw aisle?”
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:59 PM on November 25, 2004


Edit This
One of the editors was still clutching a threatening note.
He apparently thought it was just another short story.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:01 PM on November 25, 2004


Silent Night
My baby boy was laughing at something so I couldn’t understand.
“We close at six Christmas Eve,” she shouted through the glass.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:22 PM on November 26, 2004


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