For sale: baby shoes, never used.

12/28/2008
—Ernest Hemingway

The original short short story and the inspiration for this website. In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway’s colleagues bet him that he couldn’t write a complete story in just six words. They paid up. Hemingway is said to have considered it his best work.

362 Responses to “For sale: baby shoes, never used.”

Pages: « 15 14 13 [12] 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All

  1. 6/10/2012JayJay says:

    We left Autumn buried under snow…

  2. 6/9/2012B. Howard says:

    And one more…
    Got cancer, Obamacare passed, he died,

  3. 6/9/2012B. Howard says:

    Better yet..
    Born alone, lived alone, died alone.

  4. 6/9/2012B. Howard says:

    After this life, there is nothing.

  5. 6/2/2012Donald says:

    I lived, loved, and I died.

  6. 5/30/2012optimizepress discount says:

    Hey, you employed to write wonderful, nevertheless the last several articles have been kinda boring� We miss your great writings. Past few blogposts are just a little bit from track! come on!

  7. 5/23/2012Faith says:

    engagded marriage fight brake up remarried

  8. 5/8/2012Mathew Pettigrew says:

    Hemingway’s best work, only six words?

  9. 5/2/2012TPayne says:

    she didn’t realise he was listening.

  10. 5/2/2012TPayne says:

    so they decided to stay friends.

  11. 5/2/2012TPayne says:

    she bought tickets, his battery died.

  12. 5/1/2012Kyria says:

    He cried out; no one came.

  13. 5/1/2012marisa mcmahon says:

    For sale school books, never opened.

  14. 4/29/2012Day 29: how to cut a long story short? « time to consider the lilies says:

    [...] We’ll see. But not today. Immediately, this challenge brought to mind the genius of Ernest Hemingway. As the story goes, “Papa” settled a bar bet with his writing colleagues by crafting a [...]

  15. 4/19/2012“Poetry in Six Words” « My World in Works says:

    [...] this was a little challenge to my self inspired by Ernest Hemmingway’s Six Word Stories. I had a few of those words kicking around in my head so I decided to turn them into a six word [...]

  16. 4/10/2012Emily says:

    Intoxicated, he grimaces, downing the poison.

  17. 4/9/2012Caroline says:

    Sometimes I lose myself in ecstasy.

  18. 4/8/2012Six Words Heard Round The World « the salted notion says:

    [...] generations of writers have re-enacted Hemingway’s victory.  Some of these attempts are by amateurs, some by auteurs renown.  There are those who would dismiss writing-duel-reenactors as histrionic [...]

  19. 4/7/2012Francie Moore says:

    A soft caress; He kisses me.

  20. 4/1/2012AL.D says:

    Let’s eat grandma. Let’s eat, grandma.

  21. 3/28/2012Rod Smith says:

    Thought of a new word, ignorary.

  22. 3/24/2012Bringing the outside in by George Chilton « EFL thoughts and reflections says:

    [...] at 6 word stories (as popularised by Ernest Hemmingway), which you can find quite easily online (http://www.sixwordstories.net/2008/12/for-sale-baby-shoes-never-used-ernest-hemmingway/).  Their conversation arose from the materials in a way I hadn’t foreseen, but I was happy to [...]

  23. 2/22/2012For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn | Feather By Feather says:

    [...] like Papa Hemingway’s famous flash story (“for sale: baby shoes, never worn”), the listings sometimes tell just the edge of a [...]

  24. 2/19/2012Our 'Instagrata' super fast information society | the Mindbla blog says:

    [...] of the internet per se (many flash fiction websites illustrate this by pointing out the famous six word story supposedly attributable to Ernest Hemmingway). And at least it forces you to really think about [...]

  25. 2/18/20126words says:

    HAHAH! I am going past 6 words losers!

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