Spectator competition winners: sequels to a six-word story

The latest assignment was to provide a (longer) sequel to the six-word story ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn’. Long before Twitter, so urban legend has it, Ernest Hemingway crafted this mini-masterpiece in response to a bet that he couldn’t write a novel in half a dozen words. This turned out to be a load of old cobblers — at least according to Frederick A. Wright who, in a 2012 essay, concluded that there was no evidence that Papa was responsible for the story. In fact, versions of it had been in circulation from 1906 (when Hemingway was seven years old). Regardless of who wrote it, the challenge seemed to capture your imagination inspiring sequels that ranged far and wide, from Scandi noir to Conan Doyle. The winners, printed below, are rewarded with £30.

Bill Greenwell ‘They bought it,’ said Myra.

‘Them,’ corrected Frank.

‘No, no, the idea. They fell for the suggestion that the littl’un was dead.’

‘You don’t say.’

‘So,’ Myra continued, ‘if we want to get shot of the car, say…’

‘…we suggest that family tragedy is behind it! Brilliant! Both owners have lost a leg in a car crash! Sale!’

‘Better a train crash, Frank.