_ (character count, including title: 129)

Unsolved Crimes

"It wasn't me this time!"

The room turns silent.

"Fuck!" Walt lowers his head. And with that, he braces himself.

 
(character count, including title: 118)

"Singer In The Band Made Me Want to Cry"

It’s healthy to project that it’s the singer, and not you, who makes us cry.



 
(character count: 138; with title: 159)

Dear Grocery Bagger,

You will soon receive a box of all the plastic bags you have wasted by packing one item per bag. It won't fit in your mailbox.

Yours truly,

 
(Character count: 153; without title: 128)

Sunset/Another Wasted Day

He leans against the truck, the sun sinking on the day, shadows inching down the side of the house, yawning towards the horizon.



 
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 (characters: 49)

Lipstick

He couldn’t believe her.





He just couldn’t.


 
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Starting this Sunday, Scribblings and Bibblings will have a new feature: Twitterstories. Every Sunday, I will feature a new, original short story, each 140 characters or less. Sometimes the title will count against the 140 characters, sometimes it won't. When it doesn't I will preface the story by claiming it doesn't. These will be reposted on my Twitter page, my Facebook page, and, based on demand, via an email notification for those wishing to be part of the email list.

Q: Will any of these stories have been previously published?
A: Possibly. I have had a couple of short shorts published, one of which (subtracting the title) would qualify as a Twitterstory.

Q: Do you have any Twitterstories that won't qualify for this project?
A: Only those that are currently submitted to publications. Once I receive a rejection for those stories, they are eligible to be Twitterstoried. If they are accepted, once they are published, they will be Twitterstoried.

Q: Will you be able to submit to any publications any Twitterstories that have appeared here?
A: I don't know. I'll have to read the fine print of each journal to make sure (and to ensure that I didn't agree to a Garden Gnome of the Month Club subscription).

Q: How did you come up with this idea? Do you think anyone will even care, or follow it?
A: I am currently reading Lydia Davis (some friends would say that I really never stop reading her, and they would be right), and some of her stories could count as Twitterstories. Since I keep experimenting with the shorter and shorter form (there you go again, sounding all self-important and literary, and taking this fake interview format a little too seriously), I thought it would be fun.
As for whether anyone will really care, or follow it? I hope so. They might be disappointed that some of the stories will be boring or make no sense, but I also hope that they'll stick around for the random times when it's good.

Q: How long will this experiment last?
A: Given my track record of follow through, probably one week.

Q: Why not a Twitterstory of the Day?
A: I'm not that prolific.

Q: Will you eventually run out of material and have to use other writers' micro-stories as filler?
A: No. Or, I should say, I hope not.

Q: Is this blog post announcing the new project really just a filler post so you can claim you're updating this on a more regular basis?
A: Shhhhhh.... you're given away all my secrets.

Q: Are---
A: You ask a lot of questions. Can I just finish this blog post?

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Q: Are you going to eat that?