I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

 

It’s October, so I went through my social media feeds and grabbed all of the MicroStories I’d tweeted during the month of September.

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. September 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.)

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“You’d describe them as Flawed Champion, Amoral Enabler, and Humanity of the Group?”
“Sure.”
“We’re going to need more demons.”
#MicroStory

“Do all wizards talk like him? Using fifty words when three will do?”
“Yes! If a wizard’s terse & direct, he’s casting a spell.”
#MicroStory

He had many names, so he sold one off to settle an old debt.
But the name he’d sold had been stolen.
From me.
#MicroStory

All agreed that it was better that the baron didn’t know about the enchanted lake, the hidden castle, or the sleeping dragon.
#MicroStory

Jones had the highest curiosity rating of the survey team, so she’d always end up with extra time in quarantine.
Lucky for her.
#MicroStory

Glass stars were huge silica spheres, floating in space like enormous Christmas ornaments.
Mostly empty, but holding horrors.
#MicroStory

The church mandated shrines built at all crossroads, to prevent the Devil from meeting up with sinners to buy their souls.
Yeah.
#MicroStory

The villagers said she had an old soul.
The wizard didn’t know how she’d obtained the extra soul, but the quest needed that girl
#MicroStory

It was certainly peaceful at the galactic center.
There certainly weren’t any rabble-rousing pacifists.
#MicroStory

The survey ships were mostly robot-crewed, but there was always a small contingent of humans.
For when killing was required.
#MicroStory

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Hey! I’m being lobbied by blogging/Twitter friends of mine to host a #MicroStory contest on my blog. It would be similar overall to how Nicola Auckland does with her Six Word Stories over on her Sometimes Stellar Storyteller blog. She hosts a Six Word Story contest weekly. I won’t do it weekly, but I might do a month-long contest (at least to start off.)

This is just to announce my intention; if I go through with it I’ll post a page announcing the beginning of the contest and people will be invited to leave a Tweet-sized story with the mandatory hashtag #MicroStory in the comments section of that page.

The story that gets the most likes during the month will win. (To be eligible, the micro-author will be required vote for someone else’s.) What will you win? Well, nothing really. Respect? Bragging rights?

The contest page will make this all more clear. I’m just using this as an introduction.

If anyone wants to participate, that would be delightful!

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Thank you to everyone who has read and enjoyed my small stories. I tweet flash-fiction at irregular intervals on my Twitter account, @patman23. At more regular intervals, I’ll be talking about my dogs, or walking through eye-level spiderwebs in the morning, or Game of Thrones. (Hodor!)

Want to read my earlier MicroStory collections? I have my first three years’ worth of stories HERE

The header picture was taken by my wife, Lisa Sponaugle, of Chi Chi the Adventure Pug, who is a MicroStory all to herself. If you desperately feel the need to use the photo, please attribute the photographer, and please non-commercial use. Cool?

© Patrick Sponaugle 2016 Some Rights Reserved