The Short Story

For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.

6 words, that's all, make up the shortest story ever. The author - Ernest Hemingway.

6 words tell a story. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. But there are many items just open for interpretation. And everyone can have their own.  The six words (somehow am unable to refer to it as a story) open up a lot of questions.

• Why are the shoes for sale? (The seller doesn't need them)
• Why were they never worn? (They are stolen from expectant parents OR Maybe the baby never came into being OR never lived long enough to need them)
• Who is the seller? (A thief OR A pawnshop OR the would-have-been parents)
• Why only the shoes? Are there any other items also? (No answers here)

Lots of unanswered questions here, and there could be more. The words in ( ) are what I think might be the probable answers. Probably lots of stories can be woven out of these six words.

All I can conclude is Hemingway was certainly having lots of fun at his readers' expense.