1.20

[Hemingway wrote a story once. It goes like this.]

For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.

[I want to write a ten word story (which was the challenge). I've got nothing. Let me try.]

I chose my first kiss, not my first time. (7:55)

[ . . . but it's cheap and manipulative and it doesn't tell a whole story. It's just a punch to the gut without resolution. I try again.]

Born straight. Died gay. In between was worth it. (8:04)

[Well, it's better, and it almost says what I want it to. It's not as good as Hemingway's effort, still. See, it doesn't really reach like I wish it did, though I suppose that could have something to do with the fact that I'm not gay. Still. Try again.]

For rent: old house. No kids. (8:08)
Please buy my ring. Price negotiable. (8:09)

[These occurred to me at roughly the same time. They follow Hemingway's model a little too much, I think. I recently had to work with a guy on a project. He was a funny guy and he had good ideas, but everything he did was derivative. He introduced a quote from another work. He spun off of my original ideas. He expounded on a previous thought. But he never quite drove new life into the project. I don't want to trap myself like that. These two are just exactly the same as Hemingway's (in spirit, not in truth).]

My mistress invited me to church. (8:12) I took my wife. (8:15)

[I like the first piece without the second, but the second piece tells an entirely different story, so I left it. However, it doesn't impress me. Try again.]

That's my trophy in the parlor. I was nineteen.
My trophy in the parlor. My life's work: varsity. (8:20)

[I left the first because it led me to the second. And I thought of another, which could be better if I find the words.]

I was so beautiful then. (8:22)

[That's probably the best. It means so much in so little. I like it. But, I'm not satisfied, so I'm going to keep writing. This is a fun exercise.]

Only she touched the end. His arm: no hand. (8:34)

[I know some people with gimp arms. I wonder if it works for them like it worked for Byron. Anyway, it's not as good as the other.]

Wave to say hello; don't kiss. I didn't choose this. (8:37)

[That one inadvertently rhymes. It's clumsy, but it works? I think it has more to say, but I'm tired of thinking about it because it resonates. So I'm thinking about other struggles/conflicts now. I hope you forgive me. I feel like I'm slipping away from the stories that say far more than they say. So I'll stretch out again.]

I love your son more than you. (8:51)

[I got distracted. Anyway, the ambiguity of that makes it say a lot more things than it would otherwise.]

More lipstick on his collar. I wish it was mine. (8:55)

[This is ok. It speaks a lot more than some of the others I have written, and it's more complex, too. For those things, it suffers by not being very relatable, I think.]

I was so beautiful then.