The story below is a fine example of how good flash fiction can be.

It is a deceptively simple tale in which an astronomical analogy allows a timid woman to reveal her feelings to the man she loves.

It is a rare mix of elegance and eloquence.

And it's just fifty-five words long.


Alberico Collina


HUBBLE TOGETHER

She loved him.

He didn’t know.

She wanted to tell him. She didn’t know how.

“Isn’t it sad”, she said, “how the stars are so cold and the sun so warm.”

“The stars,” he said,”are farther away.”

“Can they get closer?”

“…Closer?”

“Yes,” she said.

He looked at her.

And there was light.


WILLIAM S. HOWE
from The World’s Shortest Stories Of Love And Death compiled and edited by Steve Moss and John M. Daniel.

Into The Night by Dick Skeen is a fifty-five-word story from The World’s Shortest Stories compiled and edited by Steve Moss.

And It's essentially a list of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

But it's also a story.

Because Into The Night  can be said to respect the definition of story given by Moss that is, a story is only a story if it contains four key elements:

1. The setting - an apartment;
2. The characters - a couple having sex and the spouse of one of them;
3. The conflict - the husband wanting to kill his wife's lover; and
4. The resolution - the naked lover fleeing out the window to escape from the husband.
   

By narrating the playfully audacious Into The Night as a list, Dick Skeen gives an original and entertaining take on what would otherwise have been a cliché.

His skill lies in choosing the right words, in the right order, and in the right number, which is not as easy as it sounds, if your aim is to write a complete story in exactly fifty-five words.

Alberico Collina

INTO THE NIGHT

Look, smile, teeth, lips, voice, sexy, car, feel, apartment, couch, music, dance, lights, drink, moist, dry, soft, firm, fast, slow, easy, hard, leg, knee, thigh, shoulders, breast, fingers, silky, rough, breath, living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, basement, bed, pillow, sheets, shower, cigarette, coffee, stockings, brassiere, dress, shirt, naked, rattle, door, husband, scramble, kill, clothes, window.

DICK SKEEN
from The World’s Shortest Stories, a collection of fifty-five word stories compiled and edited by Steve Moss.

The following fifty-five word story, At Confession by Harvey Stanbrough, is a favourite of mine. Although its setting and characters are readily apparent by the dialogue, this is no ordinary confession...

At Confession
by Harvey Stanbrough

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned."
"How long since your last confession?"
"Two years."
"What's the trouble?"
"I have wished death on a man."
"You haven't acted on your wish?"
"Not yet."
"Who is the man?"
"He is cheating with my wife."
The priest paled. "I forgive you."
I shot him through the screen.

In the following fifty-five word story an answer machine tells the story of the Johnson family, or what's left of it...

VOX POPULI

“Hello. You have reached 891-4207, the Johnson residence.

“Mary and Jim are not living here during their custody dispute. If you’re a creditor, please contact the U.S. Bankruptcy court.

“Mary’s analyst – when back from vacation - please call her at her mother’s.

To speak to Amy and Becky, press star.

“Have a great day.”

TOM FORD
from The World’s Shortest Stories, a collection of fifty-five word stories compiled and edited by Steve Moss.