It’s August, so I went through my social media feeds and grabbed all the MicroStories I’d tweeted during the month of July.
As a reminder, these represent story-essences composed using no more than 129 characters (so I could tweet them with the hashtag #MicroStory.)
Usually, I only tweet Science Fiction and Fantasy #MicroStories. July was pretty much no exception.
For really great #MicroStory action, please follow @MicroSFF, the Twitter account that inspired me to participate in this minimalist writing exercise. That feed puts out great science fiction and fantasy MicroStories all the time.
(I want to make it clear that @MicroSFF is *not* a Twitter account of mine. Their flash-fiction tweets are excellent. Mine are okay.)
The humans called it Judgment Day, but all other involved species called it Independence Day.
#MicroStory
Feeling guilty over putting the middle class out of work, robots began to “adopt” human families.
And adopt their resentments.
#MicroStory
Humans were dismissive of computer-generated art.
Robot critics were manufactured to create appreciative buzz.
#MicroStory
Sally turned on the house robot.
“I’m running away from home.”
%You’ll need your father’s pistol. I will prepare snacks%
#MicroStory
The demons on patrol grew bored, and started setting fire to tenements to force residents into breaking the wizards’ curfew.
#MicroStory
At midnight, the ringing started, as the patrols rang bells to alert the innocent of the curfew. We rogues rang bells too.
#MicroStory
After the Golem Mage was defeated, the Society instituted new rules: Something can use magic or be magical, but not both.
#MicroStory
“The audience with the queen did not go well.”
“Oh, she’s ok. Said we were going to hang out.”
“I only heard her say ‘hang'”
#MicroStory
Each knight responded to the call and grabbed her gear: diving helmet, drysuit, and polearm.
Sonar had the enemy near the dome.
#MicroStory
Psychology tried to keep up with the rise in Posthuman psychoses, but no one likes being judged by ants.
Or being the ant.
#MicroStory
The grisly hauntings all took place on Ring 7, so it was declared off limits.
The Torus was too expensive to abandon, after all.
#MicroStory
The cameras mostly showed static. Sometimes bodies.
Other times, no bodies.
The team was in no hurry to enter the airlock.
#MicroStory
© Patrick Sponaugle 2015 Some Rights Reserved
I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time 
These are good teasers, but I am reluctant to call them stories. It takes a great deal of skill and technique to write a book. A couple of sentences doesn’t do it for me…in terms of character, conflict and resolution. These blurbs (for lack of a better word) don’t leave me with any lasting impressions. Perhaps I’m biased after working as a long form fiction ghostwriter for the past 10 years. Kudos to you for doing something different though and I’m only expressing my singular opinion.
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You and I are both reluctant to call them stories.
This might be of interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_worn
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I would like to see a few of these fleshed out to a longer format
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That Independence Day one was fun, Pat. And I love the story idea with the Sonar…I can totally see that one turning into an intriguing setting!
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Thanks, Sue! I’m glad you liked those two.
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I love the robot ones. They may not be stories in the traditional sense, but they are intriguing and satisfying in all their short self-contained goodness. They’re bite-size stories, if you will. I can see bits and pieces of both the futuristic world and the mage world with all the rules. When one or two sentences has the ability to inspire long-form stories, it’s always a fun ride.
Thanks for sharing!
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🙂 thank you, Missa! Early in the month, I had robots on the brain, or something. Thank you for reading and commenting.
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[…] So without further ado, I bring you not one but three of my shortest of stories, my first attempts in this field. Be sure to check out Benedict’s challenge and read some other entries from his readers. Plus if, like me, you’re intrigued by the style, also have a look at the monthly round-ups of micro-stories from around the web, collated for all by Patrick. […]
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