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Crime 55: June 2001

© Catten Ely

This was the contest:

While criminal trials may drag on for months or even years, a criminal act may take but only a moment.
Blink, and it's over.
You are hereby charged to write an entire crime in just fifty-five words. No more, no less.
How short is that, you might ask?
This little piece is exactly fifty-five words.

There were a lot of great entries this time and the judges had a difficult time deciding which to choose for a winner. Thanks to Greg, Roberta, and Lindsey for your help!

Here are the four runners-up:.

LATE ASSIGNMENT by Angelica Booras

He looks at his watch. He is sitting on a leather chair, its ottoman of no use to him. He wants his feet on the ground. The door opens. He is angry at the man's tardiness.
"Well, hello," he says as he raises the revolver from his lap, "I'm thrilled you finally made it home."

FUN LOVING CRIMINAL by pmaberly

"Will you be making a withdrawal today, sir?"
Yea, she was cute, too, puckered up lips and a wink when I gave her the letter.
"Just gimme the goddam cash, honey. Oh, c'mon now, don't get funny on me."
In and out in seventy-six. A new record.
Hmmm, I wonder what time she gets off...

STORM IN A TEA CUP by Thushari Nanayakkara

I looked at the body, then at the doctor.
"No doubt, it's poison."
We searched for the poison bottle but found what the criminal had overlooked - Mr. Albert's last teacup containing strychnine.
I turned to Mrs. Albert and she covered her face with her hands.
"It wasn't for the money, but the women," she sobbed.

THE MILLION DOLLAR BRIDE by Thushari Nanayakkara

We put the drunken millionaire in to the car and ran it off the road. I had agreed to marry Claire to inherit my share.
"Not so soon darling," she said and I suspected.
As the police broke down the front door, I gunned her down. If I don't get the money, neither will she.

And our winner:

JUST A TAP by Clifford J. Aliperti

Anonymity makes murder easy. It's simplest late at night after staying late at the office. Lonely underground people await their trains. Dressed in black, hidden by shadows, I approach when the train is near enough to silence my footsteps. Little more than a tap, and I put them under the train instead of on it.

Congratulations to Clifford, who wins a copy of The World's Shortest Stories: Murder. Love. Horror. Suspense. All This and Much More in the Most Amazing Short Stories Ever Written, Each One Just 55 Words Long.

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