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perfect life. The reader feels her longing with her as she feels it, instead of observing at a
distance, detached from the situation. This situation is not a prolonged situation and that adds to
its potency; a short, extreme experience would be more memorable than a long, calm experience.

In conclusion, microfiction is a unique genre that contains unexpected qualities that a
reader who is familiar with the genre will come to expect. The story’s brevity minimizes certain
details so the reader can maximize his or her own. The idea of the situation is strong enough to
build a reader’s anticipation. Understanding the theory behind this new and unusual genre opens
opportunities for readers to enter the stories and make it their own. The brevity of each story
forces the author to leave out usually important information. This provides the opportunity for
the reader to fill in the gaps. In “The Outing,” a reader could decide for himself what is the cause
of the argument or why the characters are venturing into the pine forest. In “Witness,” the brief
story with a twist ending invites the reader to return to the text and insert that specific piece of
information into his or her own internal experience with the story. Finally, “With One Wheel
Gone Wrong” shows that brief encounters provide opportunities to enter the story and experience
the situation beside the characters, not just as a passive observer. In all of the stories, the idea of
the situation is enough to create and feed a reader’s anticipation. Ultimately, microfiction does
what all good literature seeks to do: use stories to enrich people’s lives. Only by understanding
the genre can a reader fully appreciate it.

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