What is your favorite short story length?

[Kyriakos]

Wondering if we have here others who enjoy flash-fiction :)

Although i mostly read stories which are around 15 pages in length, i have a few favorite flash-fiction pieces, such as Lord Dunsany's The Worker, and Charon, and numerous by Kafka (on parables, an abandoned message, and others).

Ocassionally i write flash-fiction too, although i do not really aim to finish a piece in 3 pages. Good flash fiction is ideal for that size though, and is much more than a synopsis of what could have been a larger work.

You can also suggest your own favorite very short stories, if they are in the public domain maybe (?) you can link to them as well, as they make for fast reading :)

[Anymodal]

Yes I love flash-fiction too. Borges and Kafka are my favorites. Kafka is amazing... Kafka's The vulture comes to my mind (http://www.kafka.existoffend.com/vulturestory.html)
Here is a one page story of Borges from the book El aleph that I love:



The two kings and their two labyrinths

Chroniclers worthy of trust have recorded (but only Allah is All-Knowing) that in former times there was a king of the isles of Babylon who called together his architects and his wizards and set them to build him a labyrinth so intricate that no wise man would dare enter inside, and so subtle that those who did would lose their way. This undertaking was a blasphemy, for confusion and marvels belong to God alone and not to man. With the passage of time there came to this court a king of the Arabs, and the king of Babylon (wishing to mock his guest's simplicity) allowed him to set foot in his labyrinth, where he wandered in humiliation and bewilderment until the coming of night. It was then that the second king implored the help of God and soon after came upon the door. He suffered his lips to utter no complaint, but he told the king of Babylon that he, too, had a labyrinth in his land and that, God willing, he would one day take pleasure in showing it to his host. Then he returned to Arabia, gathered his captains and his armies, and overran the realms of Babylon with so fair a fortune that he ravaged its castles, broke its peoples, and took captive the king himself. He bound him onto a swift camel and brought him into the desert. Three days they rode, and then the captor said, "O king of time and crown of the century! In Babylon you lured me into a labyrinth of brass cluttered with many stairways, doors, and walls; now the Almighty has brought it to pass that I show you mine, wich has no stairways to climb, nor doors to force, nor unending galleries to wear one down, nor walls to block one's way."
He then loosened the bonds of the first king and left him in the heart of the desert to die of thirst and hunger. Glory be to the Living, who dieth not.

[Translation taken from http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/de-gruyter/www-borges-on-the-two-kings-and-their-two-labyrinths-JoqQ87iOfV ]

[Anymodal]

Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo made a book called "Antología de la literatura fantástica' (The book of fantasy). It's a collection of fantasy stories. I recommend you this book because you will find a lot of flash fiction.
There I read this two-lines story that made an impression on me for its shortness. The author is Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1912):

A woman alone with her soul

A woman is sitting alone in a house. She knows she is alone in the whole world: every other living thing is dead. The doorbell rings.




I suggest also another book made by Borges and Bioy Casares especially for flash fiction. It is called 'Cuentos breves y extraordinarios' (Extraordinary short stories), its an anthology too. I ignore if there is an english edition. Here is a story wich appears to be written by Gabriel Cristián Taboada. Now let me tell you that I ignore if he is the true author, because Borges played a lot with the authorship. Some of the stories in the anthology were written by him and Casares and the signed with a pseudonim. I translated it, so any mistake is my fault.


The earned Heaven

The day of the Final Judgment God judges all and every single man.
When He calls Manuel Cruz, He tells him:
- Man of no faith. You did not believe in me. For you will not enter the Paradise.
- Oh Lord -answered Cruz-, it is true that my faith has been little. I have never believed in You, but I have always imagined You.
After hearing him, God answers:
- Good, son of mine, you shall enter in Heaven; but you shall never have the certainty to be in It.

[Kyriakos]

Thank you for the suggestions :) I have the completed fictional works of Borges, so i will have a look at the smaller stuff (been delaying that up to now).

[ShortStory]

I currently read "Luck". It is a really awesome story. Hope you also like this.. http://www.shortstorylovers.com/luck/