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The Ernest Hemingway Challenge

10 Six Word Stories

By Timothy KincaidPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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The Ernest Hemingway Challenge
Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

I first read about this challenge a few days ago while reading a story: One of Hemingway's Most Powerful Stories Was Just Six Words. It was the inspiration for my story.

The legend behind the challenge originates at a bar in Paris around 1920. Ernest Hemingway and a gaggle of fellow writers are putting back a few cocktails. The guys are telling war stories around the table, half drunk when they decide to test the American.

Hemingway's reputation proceeds him. The group offers Ernest a bet that he couldn't write a compelling story in 6 words or fewer. After several tense minutes, the famous writer scribbles words on a napkin, and pushes it to the center of the table.

Baby shoes for sale. Never used.

The group happily pays the bet. The legend lives on to this day. Below is my spin on the writing challenge: Ten Heartbreaking Six Word Stories.

MY SIX WORD STORIES

1. Hot winter. Cold summer. Climate changed.

2. A fatherless father failing at fatherhood.

3. Little black boy lynched for smiling.

4. One shot killed. Next shot healed.

5. The couple's entanglement improved their intimacy.

6. Twelve pulled him over. Trey's ghost.

7. Brave schoolgirl attends class representing integration.

8. One sniff was sissy's last breath.

9. Jewish girl branded for Nazi oven.

10. The Demon he feared. His reflection.

Explanations for each story:

1.Our planet is getting warmer each year. This isn't a political debate, but a scientific fact.

2. This one is personal. I've never had the pleasure of meeting my father. When I asked my mother, she told me his name. I was 35. The father of two is now 53 years old. They at least know who I am.

3. This one came during a brainstorming session. I looked up at the television and saw an advertisement for a movie about Emmett Till's mother; Women of the Movement. It was national news in 1955. Only recently, here in the United States, did Congress enact antilynching legislation.

4. Of course, this represents the COVID vaccine controversy. We took shots for 50 years without questioning what's in it. Only in America can we make a life saving vaccine political.

5. I thought about The Slap heard around the world. Will and Jada's unconventional marriage. Plus, I just love the word Entanglement.

6. This came from a cellmate I once had in county. Every night, he would yell out through the trap." I don't want to go home. I love it here. All my friends are here. F**k Twelve. F**k Twelve. Twelve is for police. Ghost means dead. All the senseless police killings of unarmed people of color.

7. I just love this one. It comes from a true story set in the 1960. It's about Ruby Bridges from New Orleans. She was the first African American to integrate an all white elementary school in the south.

She was 6 years old and bravely walked through an angry white mob. They called that child every name, but a child of God. She sat in class alone with her teacher.

I get teary-eyed thinking about her in a cute little dress, looking straight ahead, followed by State Troopers, entering the large school doors. A true American Heroine.

8. The opioid epidemic is real. The series Dope Sick shows how big pharma, FDA officials, the doctor's and the pharma sales reps are no better than street drug dealers and Mexican Narco Cartels. They created a painkiller called fentanyl. It is 50 times more potent than heroin. Just a small dose can kill.

9. I read a book called The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It's about how this tattooist and his wife survived the death camps of Hitler's Germany during WWII. His job was to brand not only children, but the entire prison filled with Jews. It's an interesting story of compassion, love and survival.

10. The last one is a line from a poem I penned: Is the Pen Mightier Than The Nine? I've learned to stay away from mirrors.

Humanity
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About the Creator

Timothy Kincaid

A freelance writer who offers ghostwriting ebooks, FaceBook posts, article & blog writing services. He works with B2B & B2C companies providing digital marketing content designed to drive traffic, increase conversion and SEO.

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