I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time

It’s the first of August 2023, so I went through my social media feeds and grabbed all of the MicroStories I’d tweeted during the month of July.

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. July was no exception. I guess?

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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She had hounded me across the galaxy; countless worlds had denied me sanctuary and had been encouraged to track me down.
Though I couldn’t blame her or find fault in her anger.
I’d destroyed the star she’d named after our son.
Destroyed just to get her attention.
#MicroStory

Historians expected interstellar wars to end by genocide.
They notably assigned the end of the Kulgar-Leshik conflict as the Leshik Genocide, as a means to remember the race.
The conflict would also be known as the Kulgar Suicide; they did not survive their victory.
#MicroStory

“If you want to be heard, you must listen first,” he told me.
This was particularly weird advice, since I didn’t want to be heard. Like, at all. I’d worked really hard on being silent.
So, I hit him.
First.
#MicroStory

“Wait,” I said, somewhat shocked. “You’re going out on a date?”
“I am,” the Girl with Spiders in her Hair replied. She dragged a brush through the tangled mess and her spiders pitched in helpfully.
“But it’s one of us, though?”
“No, one of them. I’ll wear a hat.”
#MicroStory

The wizard and his spell-crafted sword argued about whom brought the most to their shared prowess.
The wizard gave the sword away and later killed a hero who’d made a name using it.
This displeased the sword.
The wizard never dared wield it again, which doomed him.
#MicroStory

Brax 7 was considered inhospitable, with seismic activity too volatile to warrant settlements.
Unless someone had a compelling reason to lay low on a world no one had any interest in visiting.
Inhospitality could offer advantages to those who deserved no comforts.
#MicroStory

Although it was true that the king’s shield maidens were all selected primarily for their beauty, they took their jobs seriously and were skilled.
Those that aged out of the position took those skills and fused them with the resentment born from their dismissals.
#MicroStory

The word was spread in the darkness, by the Darkness.
“The Reproachful Horror is lost to us. The humans summoned it to Earth.”
“Why did we whisper the ritual to that one hermit long ago?”
“To drive him mad, of course. Harmless fun.”
“Who knew he’d write it down?”
#MicroStory

The Old Man had defensive wards and protective talismans up nearly everywhere.
“You must have done some terrible things in your time.” He shrugged in response.
“Wondrous things.”
Not really a denial.
I’d take the job but I’d short-circuit a ward or two on the way out.
#MicroStory

Avoiding a swirl of flame, I pulled a skull from its watery grave, the fire’s opposing wave of rushing water.
The dome of some wizard who didn’t have SCUBA gear but just had to enter the elemental plane.
I still had air in my tanks, so I’d grab a few more bones to go.
#MicroStory

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Thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys my small stories. I tweet flash-fiction at irregular (VERY IRREGULAR) intervals on my Twitter account, @patman23. At more regular intervals on Twitter, I’ll be talking about my weekend or television (one time it was mostly about Game of Thrones), or complaining about raking leaves off of my lawn. I say that, as if Twitter hasn’t become a dumpster fire of late. If you don’t want to go to Twitter or X, you can follow me on Mastodon or BlueSky. I need to look up the addresses.

Header image requires some mention. It’s a Midjourney AI-created image from a MicroStory of mine from way back when, about Schrodinger being ordered to get in his box by his pistol-packing cat. I just wanted to see how some of these AI image generation tools would work when fed my microstories as prompts. It’s just an exercise, but I feel uneasy about indulging it, since AI taking over creative efforts is bad.

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 – I might need to put together another 3 year’s worth of microstories soon.

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 2023 Some Rights Reserved