On "My Father's Fear" by Merle Drown (409 words) ***

Here's a short short that does what good short shorts do. It manages to tell a story, to reveal a change, that happens in a very short moment. And it whallops with the final line. Think about this story as something longer--throw in some extra memories, a few odd characters. It wouldn't work as well, or at least, it wouldn't work as the same story. I think that's when you know an author has managed to pull off the often-difficult short short. Read the story here at JMWW.