
By Matthew
A local radio station I listen to recently ran a competition for the best six word story.
I thought it might be a good exercise to get our creative juices flowing and who knows, maybe Travis will judge the best and start handing out more prizes.
I hear that he has a huge cache of ill-gotten booty.








{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Ok.
With the intention of getting things started- here I go.
That thing was there again today.
Wow, those six words strongly remind me of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. Marvelous story (much better than the badly adapted hollywood version).
My two knuts;
‘And then finally he slipped away.’
First time leaving a comment here after many months of lurking– here’s my entry:
Fenrir picked his teeth, saying, “Yummy . . .”
Persephone
Wow, Korg, good way to perk up interest.
I really like your Lovecraftian intro. And Victoria’s and Persephone’s codas. Which brings up a question: are the six words supposed to be an intros or codas, or are they supposed to tell the whole story?
I started looking. There’s a lot of six-word stuff out there: stories, memoirs.
Some cool ones I’ve come across:
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly. – Orson Scott Card
For sale: baby shoes, never worn. – Ernest Hemmingway.
To save humankind he died again. – Ben Bova
He liked vodka more than me. - Lauren Mitchell
And my personal favorite:
Deadline postponed. Five words enough…?
- David Brin
Here’s a link if you want more:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords.html
Okay, I’m going to typecast myself here. But here’s a shot.
Gambon said, “I DON’T take direction!”
Not really a story, but best I can do. This is even harder than writing haiku.
Red Rocker,
Some beaut stuff, there. I’d heard a couple of those before. It is amazing how so much can be put into six words.
The six words can be anything you like. I look forward to reading what you come up with.
Victoria,
I like that. I’ve never read I am Legend, worth it?
Persephone,
Thanks for taking the plunge and posting. Do you imagine its bits of Bill that Fenrir is picking out?
revgeorge,
… I’m starting to detect a theme here.
Nodding at O’Toole, Yates shouted: “Action!”
Dumbledore sighed. Tom’s train had arrived.
The Sorting Hat made a mistake.
Great stuff.
Tom Riddle’s soul has hairy palms.
Red Rocker – your number 10 is fabulous ! Praise
Korg Thnx. Oh yes, absolutely worth it. I thinks it’s more of a novella, because the audiobook is not that long. Eight or nine hours or so. I would definitely recommend the book to people who like dark, gloomy fiction and can appreciate humor noir.
Teddy was really his father’s son.
Albus Severus never mentioned the snakes.
Rose liked digging in the Forest.
I’m going to stop now. But before I stop, one last one:
Had Dumbledore said six or seven?
Our story starts.
End of Story.
“The Turtle went into his shell.”
These are all fantastic! I don’t think I can compete really… but here I go:
Avada Kedavra! And it began again.
Red Rocker,
I really like post 15.
Here’s another:
Fleur weighs the cost of murder.
or
All night Draco thinks of torture
Great idea, Matthew!
Morning came. I finally fell asleep.
Let me echo Matthew’s welcome to Persephone! Always so glad to have a new commenter, and a great first contribution!
Thanks for the warm welcome.
As for Fenrir, for the canon-inclined, it could be Bill, Remus or Lav-Lav. For those not so inclined, anyone you like!
Fenrir isn’t fussy — he enjoys nomming.
;F
Persephone
Persephone,
I know the options, I was wondering who YOU imagine.
Hermione passed Fenrir the tofu burger.
Arthur faithfully visited Molly in Azkaban.
SWM seeks SWF – Owl post Rodolphus L.
“Look! Professor Longbottom’s wearing pink earmuffs!”
I experienced what “Dumbledore’s Man” meant.
The red dawn came too late.
I’m pathetic. Even Lovegood teases me…
Hogwarts denies knowledge of abusing teachers.
Black Angus,
That’s one to get me thinking while I work today
Merope gave birth to identical twins.
Red Rocker – That last one is disturbing !
Gnil work jyb retfas reayy tnewt.
Matthew, this is a superb exercise! I couldn’t resist contributing, even though I’m a day or two late. It’s been a blast reading down through everyone else’s.
Red Rocker, that last one is intriguing, and the mirror effect makes me even more curious. And I agree with Victoria: the one about Merope is definitely disturbing
Here are my first forays into fan fiction:
For once, Binns had Ron’s attention.
The Snitch bounced off Harry’s forehead.
A little alchemical fun:
“It’s black and white”, said Rubeus.
I like Dudley, so writing this one made me feel a little guilty (depending upon the circumstances in which he might say this):
Dudley’s face reddened alarmingly. “Forget magic.”
“Severus,” said Lily, “what is this?”
librarylily,
All good. You have to wonder how Binns could possibly capture Ron’s attention, and under what circumstances Dudley could possibly tell anyone to forget magic: I mean, those two things just aren’t in their respective repertoires, are they? But my favorite is the question by Lily. It seems to introduce a scene which fills a gap in their history together: how and why she stopped being his friend.
As for my last offering, it was what I was holding in my hands when I looked in the mirror.
Not really HP, but:
“Watch out! That rabbit is dynamite!”
What’s he do? Nibble your bum?