I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

It’s the first of December, 2021 , so I went through my social media feeds and grabbed all of the MicroStories I’d tweeted during the month of November.

As a reminder, these represent story-essences composed using no more than 269 characters (so I could tweet them with the hashtag #MicroStory.)

Usually, I only tweet Science Fiction and Fantasy #MicroStories. November was no exception. Maybe? You be the judge.

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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With our capital ship destroyed at Perseus-2, our assault ships found refuge on the mothership of our Zerrthandi allies. Our new step-mothership.
Then the Zerrts brokered a separate peace and were no longer our allies.
It was now a Wicked Step-Mothership arrangement.
#MicroStory

The UN Secretary General was impressed by the alien envoy’s working knowledge of Earth’s political factions.
“You learned this from our broadcasts?” he asked.
“No,” the envoy replied. “Not your ‘TV’. On a related note, we have 37 human remains to return to you.”
#MicroStory

With the king’s decree exiling the charlatan Witch-Hunters, all surviving accused witches were declared innocent and freed from prison.
But, regardless if they’d been innocent of practicing witchcraft, the incarceration had turned them all into witches, in truth.
#MicroStory

“Someone has told you a prophecy about that weapon,” the monster, all antlers, teeth, and eyes, said as it regarded the unique blade of the spear. “Did you know that I spread those lies?”
As confidence dimmed in the hero’s eyes, the monster knew that it had a chance.
#MicroStory

The yeti as a rule avoided any interaction with mankind, but the explorers had seen him blissfully practicing his kung fu in the morning sunlight, and he really couldn’t allow any witnesses to survive.
But he’d have to make it look like the mountain had killed them.
#MicroStory

Weapons that had drunk gods’ blood could no longer be trusted, so after the war, the holiest of wars, the surviving gods locked their arms in a remote vault, to be forgotten.
But traps intended to stop titans were not scaled to prevent a child from finding the hoard.
#MicroStory

The system of Chiron mostly held gas giants – any rocky planets had been destroyed at some point.
Ships often visited to mine the debris belts for ancient relics, as well as science teams trying to determine how to recreate the result of deliberate world destruction.
#MicroStory

“It’s just messed up, I have worshippers singing my praises, attributing good things to me as if they’re under my control, and that’s not true. But I can’t commit to correcting them.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Aren’t you the God of Therapy?”
“We don’t have that”
#MicroStory

“Attend,” the wizard said. “I will now pronounce the demon’s true name.”
“And it will come?” asked the paladin, his blessed sword at hand.
“Not at first. Expect a swarm of minor demons, initially.”
“It’s servants?”
“Not really. More like obsessed, entitled fans.”
#MicroStory

Four Seasons Total Planetary Demolition
#MicroStory

The stranger paid Curly for the whiskey, and told the barkeep that he’d have to get to riding, if he was to stay ahead of his past.
The stranger rode off.
Minutes later, the stranger returned with blood on his hands and an unsettled aspect. But also looking younger.
#MicroStory

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Thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys my small stories. I tweet flash-fiction at irregular intervals on my Twitter account, @patman23. At more regular intervals on Twitter, I’ll be talking about my dogs, or television (one time it was mostly about Game of Thrones), or complaining about raking leaves off of my lawn.

Header image is a picture of my old DUNE boardgame (from Avalon Hill, from the 1980s) – featuring a part of the game board map showing Carthag and Arrakeen and the deployment of Harkonnen and Atreides forces. Look, I don’t care if it’s geeky, an excellent adaptation of the book finally came out!

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

In general, I’m fine with anyone using the text of my MicroStories for non-commercial use. (Look how cute I am, thinking someone wants to make a t-shirt from one of my flash fiction bits. I say cute, but you can substitute in some other, more appropriate, adjective. I’m not the boss of you.)

© Patrick Sponaugle 2021 Some Rights Reserved