After Ernest Hemingway was allegedly challenged to write a story in six words, he eventually arrived at ‘for sale: baby shoes, never worn’. Of course, this is profound, deep and unbeatably imaginative creation. I want to immediately ask ‘whose baby? Why never worn? Would the shoes fit me, mine have holes in?’, and can see why it stumped the challenger. It made me wonder whether Flipside could do the same and procrastinate in the form of six word stories, whether they be topical, ludicrous or just silly.

Here are a few:

‘No Oxbridge? Durham it is then’

‘Wherefore art thou long lost biro?’

‘Up for auction: full beer keg’

‘Your exists are here, here and…?’

‘Popular threesome: Clegg, Cameron and Miliband’

‘Lost in translation, all lectures ever’

‘Once upon a time in Cardiff’

‘Lovely cushioned header… For Gerrard, ohh’

‘Feeling identical? Durham students’ summer clothing’

‘I’d kill for a malleable spatula’

‘Coming soon to housemates near you’

‘Weather dependent: cricket, happiness, flowers’

‘GCSEs, A Levels, degree: any progression?’

‘Raw egg, plate, mouth, food poisoning’

And so on… This is a very fun idea! They’re surprisingly therapeutic, try them out if you have time to give your mind a rest but feel less guilty by challenging it to count to six, occasionally even seven.

Viel Gluck!