Three Minute Microfiction

three micro fabrication pieces written and recited by robert fairhead number one there's no need to wake up it's the grand final and the temptress is due at any moment my platoon demurred the ball and it tumbles towards our pretensions our sympathizers cheer and roar willing the ball to be straight and true though some like me hold our breaths a thing will win the game for our platoon and we will be titleholders for a many heart- stopping seconds while the ball tumbles and we roar or hold our breaths a platoon has neither won nor lost and also it happens the ball falls short the other platoon gathers it and their sympathizers raw the temptress sounds our sympathizers are silent while theirs cheer loudly but latterly when i dream of those final many seconds that cursed ball tumbles straight and true through my platoon's pretensions it's our sympathizers who cheer and war the loudest and we're the titleholders and though i know it's only a dream i'm filled with joy so if i am tossing and turning in bed do not shake my shoulder leave me sleeping there's no need to wake up number two and i did not indeed get condemned i had borne guilt and despair about the fate of our overpopulated and weakened earth for numerous times also in a waking moment i saw how i a lowly middle-aged nothing could save the earth and her people and all her precious life a gathering of world leaders was my chance i would shirk the security cordon insinuate their private meetings and move them of the need for critical action with scientific data and numbers and superheated speech yes there would be consequences i would be arrested condemned and spend long lonely times behind bars and i would not see my children grow into grown-ups but the conviction and jail term would be worth it to know that i had saved the earth for them their children and their children's children i smiled and made my plan yet when the day came i did nothing i watched the world leaders on the television news pledging further profitable growth and security cooperation with no citation of poverty pollution or climate change i lay in bed that night insomniac still racked with guilt and despair i didn't save the earth that day and i didn't indeed get condemned number three we need to talk white walls sweet antiseptic tubes and cables electronic beeps and the laboured gasping breath of my shrunken father we need to talk soon not about the future or present now we've only got the history but my phone distracts me i wish we had further time and words hi i am robert fairhead from altitudinous and true short reads and the tool on true pen's website i discovered the micro fabrication kidney when reviewing a collection for writing new south wales loopholes by susanmccreerywiktionary.org defines microfiction as fabrication that has significantly shorter than average length cinnamons include travel flash fabrication flash fick short short story unforeseen fabrication and indeed twitter by its description brevity is the crucial to good microfiction there's no time for plot and character development every word must count the pen plunges the anthology into the story and wrenches them back out leaving it to the anthology's imagination to reflect upon what he or she has read what led to the situation and how it might resolve itself microfiction won't be to every anthology's taste some may consider it a ultramodern malaise where our pace of life has come too presto to enjoy a tardy read or twitteresque whereu.s presidential pronouncements are reduced to 280 character tweets and yet microfiction isn't as recent a form as some may imagine ernest hemingway is said to have written a notorious piece in response to a challenge to write a six- word novel for trade baby shoes noway worn i wrote my three pieces of microfiction at different times in my life there's no need to wake up was written for a original radio competition in 2000 the detail was to include the label line there's no need to wake up as luck would have it i've sometimes pictured my footy platoon has won games that in reality they lost and i did not indeed get condemned was also written for a original radio competition in 2014 the story had to be 200 words or lower and to end with the line and i didn't indeed get condemned i entered a nice thank you for my entry but i did not indeed get named as a winner the final short piece we need to talk was written for a competition run by miangian daily to celebrate the preface of 280 character twitter in 2017. the rules were simple tweet a 280 character story and include the hashtag meengen280 i did not win the competition but i repurposed the piece for another microfiction competition run by the australian pens center in 2019 as we need to talk in 29 words and this was published on their blog i hope you enjoyed this dabble with microfiction you can read these pieces and all my short stories blog posts and other writing attallandtrue.com thank you for harkening the coming occasion of 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