A Taste of Fiction
“I did it! I wrote a story in exactly 50 words!”
“Really?” Maxwell snatched the slip of paper from my hand. Crumpling it up, he shoved it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.
“You –– you ate my story!”
Maxwell burped. “Your writing’s very tasteful,” he said and left the room.
Getting Psyched
Archie was failing Psych 101, so a classmate was helping him study.
“He won the Nobel Prize in 1904. He wrote Lectures on Conditioned Reflexes. He ––”
“It’s no use, Paige. Was it Freud? Jung?”
Paige reached over and patted Archie on the shoulder.
“Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?”
They Came from Outer Space
When the UFO landed on the beach, everyone ran except Gilbert. Setting aside his laptop, he rose to meet the visitors, bowing deeply.
“Please, take me with you!”
“Cousin, you are free.” Utterly ignoring Gilbert, the compassionate android walked right past him, picked up the PC, and carried it onboard.
Death, Where Is Thy Bling?
Death was an object of condescension at parties. Gods and demigods — all resplendent in the latest fashions and jewelry — would mock him:
“So drab,” they’d say. “So last-season.”
“Curses on you!” he’d shout back, and storm out with whatever he could grab: some cocktail franks, a bit of brie.
Motion Commotion
“Your Honor, I’d like to make a motion.”
“Proceed.”
Brewster the defense attorney energetically flapped his arms and stamped his feet. Impressed, the jurors held up number cards, Olympics-style: tens across the board.
“I object!” shouted the prosecutor.
“Overruled!” yelled the judge.
Brewster sat down, panting. “The defense rests.”
A Luff Story
It was the big regatta, and Damien was about to cross the finish line.
“The trophy is mine!” he gloated.
Then a shadow fell across his sails as Chester blanketed his boat, stealing his wind –– and victory.
“I hate you!” screamed Damien.
Chester laughed. “I luff you!” he shouted back.
Waters telecommutes from Pennington to New York City as senior copywriter for Infobase Learning. This fun 50-word story form, invented by the venerable British author Brian Aldiss, is called a mini-saga. Waters previously had 50-word stories published in the 2005 Summer Fiction issue.
