Take a minute for 'Quick Fiction'

When I picked up "Quick Fiction: Issue One" I didn't quite know what to expect. With its colorful cover art and thin size I thought I accidentally picked up a children's book. Much to my surprise, this thin volume contains some extremely hilarious and mature short stories.\n"Quick Fiction" publishes stories in collections that are extremely quick reads. The short stories in this collection are all less than 500 words, and some are significantly shorter. While extremely brief, all the stories were engaging. The true art of these authors is that they managed to say succinctly what many authors cannot do in page after page.\nDespite being in the same collection, the brief stories had widely differing themes, as well as radically different styles. From the conversational style of Corey Messler's "Aftermath" to the belligerent tone of Manuel Luis Martinez's "Pumpkins," the authors managed to express themselves through the fewest words possible.\nMy favorite story in the collection was "What Tim Haynes Found in a Yellowed Envelope..." by Beth Bayley. This story read as a confessional letter from three men who stole a town mascot, etching their names forever into the town's folklore. The story transported me to the attic where the letter, along with the stolen statue lay for decades, awaiting discovery. The author made the story real and involved the reader intimately with the thieves.\nAnother exemplary work is "Babysitter" by Anne Panning, which relates the story of a babysitter who tries to have a romantic rendezvous with her olderboyfriend while her charge's parents are out of the house. The desperation felt by the babysitter when the parents arrive home early is palpable, and the humorous twist at the end (and no, I will not give it away) draws a chuckle at the ignorance of the babysitter.\n"Quick Fiction" is an excellent choice for college students who wish to continue reading outside of coursework without having it consume a lot of time. The brief stories can be enjoyed one at a time like sips of a fine wine, or they can be devoured at once by those greedy for entertaining fiction.