The last man on Earth sat alone in
a room. There was a knock at the door.
- Frederic Brown

I had a similar such evening about a year ago. Probably the first time I tried reading The Brothers Karamazov. I solicited three-word stories from my facebook pals. Reading through them again, here's a few of my favorites:
Sinking? Later, captain.
I successfully shapeshifted.
Unexplored planet. Tentacles!
Invention traps woman.
Interstellar travel. Extinction.
Marathon. Bloody socks.
Unsolicited sadomasochism: rude.
Gorgeous! Want penis?
Groggy. Missing kidneys.
Another short, short story which tends to pop up from time to time comes from Ernest Hemingway. I've seen it before heralded as the shortest sad story:
But by far, the best short, short stories I've come across while idly fleeing Russian loquaciousness comes from an issue of Wired magazine. They asked many popular writers from diverse genres to write their own Hemingway-esque short, short stories, and got a lot of replies back. I think it's great how the personality and style of the authors really shines through in some of them even though they were limited to six words. Here's a few of my favorites:
- Eileen Gunn
Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon
Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee
Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood
From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
- Gregory Maguire
Internet “wakes up?” Ridicu -
no carrier.
- Charles Stross
Wasted day. Wasted life. Dessert, please.
- Steven Meretzky
It cost too much, staying human.
- Bruce Sterling
Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.
- Richard Powers
I’m dead. I’ve missed you. Kiss … ?
- Neil Gaiman
The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card
Kirby had never eaten toes before.
- Kevin Smith
We went solar; sun went nova.
- Ken MacLeod
Easy. Just touch the match to
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Epitaph: He shouldn't have fed it.
- Brian Herbert
Batman Sues Batsignal: Demands Trademark Royalties.
- Cory Doctorow
Heaven falls. Details at eleven.
- Robert Jordan
whorl. Help! I'm caught in a time
- Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel
God to Earth: “Cry more, noobs!”
- Marc Laidlaw
Help! Trapped in a text adventure!
- Marc Laidlaw
Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
- David Brin
Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot.
- David Brin
Temporal recursion. I'm dad and mom?
- David Brin
Commas, see, add, like, nada, okay?
- Gregory Maguire
Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here."
- Steven Meretzky
Will this do (lazy writer asked)?
- Ken MacLeod
I hope you've enjoyed these short, short stories. Back to Dostoyevsky I go.