My First Story Rejected By "Six Sentences"

The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.

-Chaucer

I love the micro-fiction web site/literary journal Six Sentences. The idea of it is to write a story [no poems allowed] in only six sentences. Perfect for late-night, bar napkin authors like me. I am always thrilled at the creativity I find published there. My first submission to 6S was rejected but I give it to you today just because I like it. I hope you will too.

Dinner Time

Staring out the window, on tiptoes, I see you walk by wearing a black pleated skirt and a white blouse with dots. You are prettier now than thirty years ago. When we kissed once during that last, perfect, Autumn afternoon. Before everything became...complicated. A sound distracts me as they unlock the door and bring in exactly what I requested for dinner. When I look back to the window, the shadows are longer and you are lost to view.

This makes my batting average for submissions to literary journals a whopping 0.00. None for five. I get a lot of enjoyment out of scribbling on those bar napkins though. It keeps me from other, less wholesome, pursuits. Taken in an Epic light, then, the writing and also the rejections are a positive and even a healthy thing. And they help me to "lerne" and hone the craft.