“Damn! Not again. Another counting challenge.”

“They’re not that hard. Well, maybe after five sentences.”

“And starting with expletives is trite. But there’s nothing else one can do.”

“You could have someone yell out a ‘hello.’ Or someone could say ‘ouch’ after stubbing their toe.”

“True, but Ficlets are supposed to be exercises in creativity.”

“Right, but the sentences using more words make things much easier. Although it’s almost impossible to hit the maximum character limit like that.”

“No, I think once you hit thirteen words per sentence, it’s more likely.”

“Maybe, but then all you’re doing is counting words and not writing a story. What you end up with reads like a bunch of nonsensical gibberish that’s strung together.”

“Nowhere is it written that stories that are nonsensical or gibberish should be considered less valid.”

“Right, but then your characters become very long winded, speaking in run-on sentences that have no end. It’s better to just quit while you’re ahead, and not