The other day, while perusing a social media platform that is fast becoming my favourite (Substack), I happened upon a post I couldn't ignore.
On it, someone had challenged writers to comment with a three-word story designed to do one thing only:
Scare the hell out of people.
Quite the tall order, even for your daily host, but being the easily goaded type and a sucker for micro fiction, I participated.
As I sat there musing for what felt like an hour (yes, really), the faintest whisper of an idea appeared until it roared like the engine of a commercial plane.
Quickly, I scribbled the story down before it whizzed by and landed in a competitor's lap.
That three-word story?
"It's too late."
On the surface, it doesn't seem like much, but if you sit with it for a second, you'll feel its horror. These are potentially among the most ominous and damning words anyone can hear, yet we've all felt their weight at some point in our lives.
And we're promised more.
Sit with it, Legionnaire. Truly.
We always assume there will be enough tomorrows to go on that vacation, to ask that person out on a date, to pursue that idea we've long let simmer in the background.
We have a strange inertia around time, and it can rob us of so much if we allow it.
Anyway, do with this what you will — I just thought it was worth sharing.
Hell, if you've got a three-word story of your own, I'd love to hear it.
I might just share it with the Legion.
For the rest of you who enjoy micro-stories that pack a punch and sometimes linger long after you've read them, you might like Tiny Epics: Vol. 1.
It contains 141 bite-sized stories across three genres I love most.
Here's where to go:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/Tiny-Epics-Vol-1
DJJW