A one sentence story

On Twitter last night, a number of fine writers (inspired by a 90-word sentence in a story by Anatoly Belilovsky) dared each other to write stories in single sentence — with a strong undercurrent of “the longer the better”.

In addition to Anatoly, the guilty culprits included Alex Shvartsman, Ken Liu, Jake Kerr, Carrie Cuinn, Damien Walters Grintalis, Don Pizarro, Tom Dullemond, Amanda C. Davis, and probably others whom I am rudely forgetting. Considering this list of writers, I of course inserted myself into the proceedings as well.

I originally offered to pay $5 to see every one sentence story posted… However, as the list of participants continues to grow, I’m afraid I have to withdraw that offer. But if anybody can figure out a way of picking a “winner” among these run-on tales, I’ll happily send $50 via PayPal either to the winner or to a worthy organization of their choice. (They decide if it’s worthy — not me.)

So far, I’ve seen these one sentence stories emerge.

• “The Bloodline Is Only as Strong as Its Last Generation” by Jake Kerr (133 words)
• “Good Thing I Did Not Tell Them about the Dirty Knife” by Anatoly Belilovsky (242 words)
• “De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est” also by the overachieving Anatoly Belilovsky (289 words)
• “Inevitable” by Carrie Cuinn (476 words!!)
• “Untitled” by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
• “Mr Fix-It” by Don Pizarro (350 words)
• “Epic Win” by Anatoly Belilovsky (a slim 55 words)
• “One Thousand and First” by Alex Shvartsman (243 words… or is it?)
• “The Ghost and the Machine” by Suzanne Palmer (534 words)
• “Untitled” by Spencer Ellsworth
• “And Yes” by S.R. Mastrantone
• “GLORK” by Amanda C. Davis (150 words)
• “Object of My Affection” by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley (347 words)
• “This Is How the Joke Begins” by Bernie Mozjes (210 words)
• “Dear Kyle” by Brenda Stokes Barron (317 words)
• “Great Uncle’s Visit” by Michael Haynes (334 words)

I will link more as they become available (and as I become aware of them and have time to do the linking). But for now, I am happy to present my own attempt. At only 168 words, it is somewhat less epic than others that have been posted so far… But nevertheless, here it is.

“À Vos Souhaits”

Although I had warned Renard many times (yes, that Renard — the great thief, whom they called, among other things, “the human fly” for his penchant for scaling high-rises) to be careful of his allergy to his lucky rabbit’s foot, I did not have the foresight to warn him that a lucky pair of pants (donned more times than I can now remember) will eventually and naturally develop holes in the pockets, and though it is not true that a lucky penny (worn aerodynamically smooth from much fondling) ejected through one of those holes by a great body-convulsing sneeze and falling from almost the top of the Empire State Building will attain the velocity needed to kill a man who is standing directly below, it is true that the impact may cause him to let go of a belaying rope at the very moment he is most needed to hold it, and put him instantly and simultaneously in sore need of both an eyepatch and a new employer.