2 One sentence short stories

These would also work as the opening lines of much longer stories.  Selected Shorts, a NPR program, occasionally has a writing contest for stories of less than 300 words or so, anyway very short. These might be too short.

The Ceiling: A short story in one sentence

Wishing his nights were not inhabited by the demons of past missteps, the ghosts of lovers gone, and the general detritus of everyday living, he lay awake wondering how to get to the dawn.

Paris Dream: A short story in one sentence

She had dreamed of living in Paris her whole life, completing college successfully she moved there, only to encounter her first uncircumcised penis, immediately deciding that Schenectady was not so bad after all.

The first story obviously came from my laying in bed staring at the ceiling at 4:30 in the morning.

The second story I almost titled Culture Shock.

The second story’s provenance is a bit convoluted.  Several years ago we had a small dinner party at our house with 8 souls. For some reason, unremembered, the conversation turned to circumcision – none of us had drunk that much wine. Two of the males at the table were born outside of the United States where circumcision is not a common practice, and they had strong opinions against the practice. One the females, again not remembering exactly who, expressed what was not quite abhorrence, but definitely a strong preference for the modified organ. I read later that among American women, this preference is overwhelming for this piece of anatomy to have the buzz cut. Why I was thinking of this dinner party at 4:30 a.m. with it resulting in the above, my psychiatrist would have to tell you, if I had one.

Okay, I hear someone whispering comma splice on the second story.  I’m going with a series of subordinate clauses, thank you very much.

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