bhaskar saikia

Have you heard of microfiction?

Microfiction is storytelling distilled to its purest form—just a few lines packed with emotion, intrigue or surprise. It’s proof that sometimes, less is more.

Take, for instance, a story often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, though its origins remain debated. The six-word story reads:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

This is a masterclass in brevity and emotional depth. Despite its simplicity, it conveys a profound sense of sorrow, loss and unspoken tragedy.

The story can be interpreted in multiple ways.

Some see it as a heartbreaking tale of grief—where the unworn shoes symbolize a baby who never got to live.

I read it as a reflection of poverty—parents forced to sell something precious, not out of loss, but out of sheer necessity.

Or perhaps, it holds both meanings.

This dual meaning adds to its depth, proving how just a handful of words can capture immense human emotion.

This famous microfiction inspired me to write my own, more than a decade ago:

“For free: Broken heart—worthless, but alive.”

Though nowhere near Hemingway’s level of emotional depth, there’s a unique satisfaction in crafting stories like these—where every word carries weight.

But microfiction isn’t always tragic. It can be eerie or even amusing, like this one:

“She woke up. The world didn’t.”

Microfiction blurs the line between poetry and prose, embracing both worlds in a way that few other forms can.

So, what microfiction will you write?