Today’s story is a tap-dancing spectacular from a mid-western town… I like those odds!
Please, Shahryar
Michael Hitchcock
I read a story to my precious son, the joy and hope of my life.
He complained, “Such a short story isn’t worth anything.”
“Longer stories aren’t always better,” said I. “Did you know I worked for Sultan?”
“No, my father.”
“I told the Sultan stories; I wove him pointed tales. But one evening when my tale displeased, I was condemned to die. I begged the Sultan, ‘Please! I’ve not yet had a son.’ He responded, ‘For a story of a hundred words, I’d gladly let you live.’”
“Oh, my father, fountain of my life! What did you do then?”
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Michael Hitchcock spends his days helping adults with developmental disabilities achieve their daily tasks. His evenings are split pretty evenly between reading, writing, community theatre, singing in choirs, wrestling with his two cage fighter friends, and pure, raw sensory experience. He’s located in the Berkshires, in Massachusetts, in the U.S., where trees and people still know one another.
I love this story….tell me it’s not because the author is my son. I remember his goal when he was writing it, was to write the shortest story possible. I love that it’s exactly 100 words long and I was able to get through it before my A.D.D kicked in.
[...] “Please, Shahryar” by Michael Hitchcock is a 100-word story about writing a 100-word story. Sound dull? It’s not. Read it! [...]