Six-Word Stories

Flash fiction or sudden fiction is a literary genre that argues that a compelling story can be told in few words. In a world of Victor Hugos and Herman Melvilles, authors of flash fiction wanted to prove that brevity did not mean triteness. Ernest Hemingway is credited with creating an extreme version of flash fiction and the genre of the six-word story with this piece: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Last month our bosses in the United States asked us to submit stories, poems, Top 10 lists, or six-word stories for a Jesuit Volunteer Corps newsletter. On Wednesday night, our community turned our weekly Community Night into an imagination station and wrote the following stories. After sharing them aloud we chose our favorite ones to submit to the office and to share with friends and family. I´ve organized the stories below into a few categories with titles. I obviously realize that putting titles on lists of six-word stories kind of defeats the purpose of the anti-loquacious movement, please don´t tell me I´m cheating. You can´t cheat at art, right?

School

Teach school, feel like a rockstar.

Thirty-two fifth graders; Hell exists.

Then they prove they can learn.

Second grade: LORD OF THE FLIES!

Hungry, needs glasses. Teach him English.

Life in Tacna

Roof Cats + Blaring Hymns = Tacnanian Symphony

Hospitality means Pisco Sours, no bedtime.

Took wrong bus, no way back.

Whistle, middle finger. Machismo still unconquered. 

Water and sweep the desert. Repeat.

Cute puppies turn into EVIL DOGS.

Daily commute: step over dying dog.

Spirituality

Be an instrument – play loving joy.

Exodus: Find life in the desert.

Mes de Misión

Kitchenless, waterless. Cook for forty people.

Remember being dry? Yeah, me neither.

Fly invasions, student hospitalizations, sunburn stations.

Life as a Jesuit Volunteer

Don’t worry, there’s always next year.

Highest highs, lowest lows – continue onward.

Loving accountability is harder than Spanish.

Slow down. Life is better unplugged.

Punishable offense: empty toilet paper roll.