Week 4 Story Lab

Wow, microfiction is really cool! I hadn't really checked out microfiction until today. It's incredible how thought-provoking they can be even when they are only 100, 25, or just 6 words!

I really enjoy reading the 100-word stories on the MicroFables blog site. I love how they always seem to have a resounding and complete ending. One 100-word story that was memorable for me was about 4 brahmins who come across the bones of a lion. Using their powers, they assemble the bones and add flesh and skin. Finally, they gave it life, turning it into a hungry lion that ate the brahmins. Only one of the four brahmins, who realized what would happen and hid up in a tree, lived to tell the tale. I copied and pasted the story from the randomized stories page on Microfables:

The Wisest of the Brahmins

There were once four brahmins who went traveling. Along the road, they found the bones of a lion.
The first brahmin said a mantra to assemble the bones into a skeleton.
The second brahmin said a mantra to add flesh and skin to the skeleton.
"I will now give it life!" said the third brahmin.
"Wait a minute!" said the fourth brahmin, and he hurriedly climbed a tree.
The third brahmin then pronounced his mantra.
The lion woke up hungry and ate the three brahmins before running off into the jungle.
The fourth brahmin alone lived to tell the tale.

I also liked reading some of the 25 words or fewer stories. I read about how some of the authors spent hours trying to compose their stories, which are only a sentence long! You have to think about every single word you use. Here is one that I thought was really clever, although a little disturbing (and I'm not just talking about the hair and fingernails!):

Stuart Dybek
Ransom
Broke and desperate, I kidnapped myself.
Ransom notes were sent to interested parties. Later, I sent hair and fingernails, too.

They insisted on an ear.

I think these 25-words (or fewer) stories reminded me very much of blackout poetry, where people write a new story using a page in a book or a newspaper article, choosing some words and blacking out the rest. It's so cool because you are looking at the page that is part of another story with a different perspective, oftentimes telling an entirely new story in the end!

Blackout Poetry

Here are a couple of the six-word stories that really caught my attention:

"With Kids, I'm Dad. Along, Thug"

"Black Babies Cost Less To Adopt"

I never really thought about how much you can tell in six words. These words often leave me so intrigued and wanting to know more about the story. While they are really cool to read, I would likely find them one of the most difficult short stories to write, especially if I am asked to write about something personal to me. It would be so difficult and would take a really long time for me to summarize my life story in just six words!

Out of all of these short stories, I think my favorite and the one that I am most likely to take a stab at writing myself is the 100-word story. Telling a short and wholesome tale sounds like a lot of fun, and one that I will look into trying for one of my future blog posts!