“A 50-word story? Impossible.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Try it.”
“Okay: Honey, I’m pregnant.”
“What?”
“Just kidding.”
“Not funny.”
“How about: I’m pregnant, and it’s not yours.”
“What!?”
“Kidding again. How many words, so far?”
“34.”
“Let’s stop. I’m hungry.”
“For what?”
“Pickles.”
“Pickles?”
“How many words now?”
“47.”
“And ice cream.”
John M. Floyd’s work has appeared in more than 250 different publications, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Strand Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, and the 2015, 2018, and (upcoming) 2020 editions of Best American Mystery Stories. A former Air Force captain and IBM systems engineer, John is also a three-time Derringer Award winner, an Edgar Award nominee, a recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s lifetime achievement award, and the author of eight books.
Brilliant. It takes a lot to make me snort my coffee. Nice work. Now I have to clean the keyboard.
Very well done! And the title!
Excellent. Clever and funny – even the title.
I thought “here we again, another 50 word angst about 50 word stories” – how wrong I was, this was laugh out loud stuff. Brilliant John, well done, you’ve brightened my day beyond measure!
As always, a good read. 😁
Love it! Best wishes, John. Keep writing!
Just wonderful!!!!!!
Still laughing!
Fun story! Well done:)
Terrific! Dialogue that works!
I’ll keep it short: LOL! And very sweet!
That was a fun read. Thanks.
I don’t know how you do it, but love everything you write. Thanks for the morning chuckle.
Sincere thanks, to those of you who commented–you’re so kind! This was great fun to write. Best to all of you!
Whoa! Someone else who loves words!
Mr. Floyd, How do you feel about an advertisement next to your Comments section selling gas masks?
Hey Barbara. The gas-mask ad must’ve been replaced–I don’t see it. Maybe we should all be wearing them right now.
Clever.
Love it, John!
Thank you again, folks, for your kind comments.