It may be apocryphal, but the story goes that Ernest Hemingway won a bet by writing a short story that ran fewer than ten words. One version of the story places the bet at the famed Algonquin round table. Whether true or not, there is an actual bet-winning short story attributed to Hemingway:
For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.
You have to admit its pretty good. It builds, and theres a whole world of background and emotion lurking beneath those words.
We made a similar bet with our audience. Write a great short story in ten words or fewer. (You may use a title or not, but the title goes into the word count.)
Competition was intense, with over one thousand two hundred entries. Here we present the best. The winner receives a free Gotham class, of any type. The finalists get recognition.
Remnants of beard peppered her sink. He left nothing else.
A. Crossley Spencer
Summerfield, North Carolina
In the ocean, she couldn't tell if she was crying.
Johnson City, Tennessee
Their eyes met.
They looked away.
Los Angeles, California
My father treated women like dresses. That was his end.
Temple Terrace, Florida
What the mime didn't say spoke volumes to the jury.
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Michael wrote subversive verses. One poem too far. Assassins bullets.
America banned booze. Here, the bulls ran. Women drank drunk.
Yellow Springs, Ohio