Very Short Novels are fictions of 299 words by davidbdale.
The links below are presented in the order the stories were written.
I appreciate and respond to all comments. Thank you.
—davidbdale

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The Latest Very Short Novel
This week

A Very Good Photo February 27, 2026
Worlds collide when hapless man contemplates meeting his online crush in the flesh.

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Very Short Novels for the Screen

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Trade Rumors (for the screen) January 16, 2026
NOW ON YOUTUBE. A youth baseball player objects when his father wants to trade him to another family.

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Life Line (for the screen) February 07, 2026
NOW ON YOUTUBE. A couple practice their signature banter waiting for her neurology appointment.

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Early Novels
(299 words each)
1996-2007

Boss’s Girl 1996
Number2 can bully almost everyone in the workplace.

Not Quite Kiss 1996
Ice, water, and steam describe the stages of a passionate but carefully calibrated affair.

Cook’s Portion 1997
A servant girl climbs the stairs, saves the soup, and falls in love with the world.

Uptown Fare 1997
Vigilantes battle racial profiling with small acts of targeted violence.

Honest Work 1997
An immigrant piece-worker reflects on her deceptive recruitment interview.

Light the Stars 1997
We can’t afford to love each other less. She mends the unmendable world.

Baby Talk 1997
A newborn censors her own first words.

The Truth About Sex 1997
The honest man for no apparent reason tells his wife the truth about sex.

Eat the Air 1997
The rabbi on the radio relates the tale of books reclaimed through shared memories.

Stand and Burn 1997
The narrator coerces his increasingly confused mother into making good decisions.

Open Closure 1997
She takes more pleasure in a protracted and violent breakup than in the love affair.

Similar Ducks 1997
A charitable offer of food rapidly and violently escalates.

Blackmail Heart 1997
A deeply disabled narrator acts as an unreliable confessor to his sibling.

Lightning on Tour 1997
Narrator stereotypes male and female perspectives on art and love.

Pre-Crash Checklist 1997
Increasingly terrifying safety instructions from the flight attendant.

The Childhood He Never Had 1999
Memories of Pin the Tail on the Donkey emerge as warped recollections of child abuse.

Pity 1999
Meditation on Michelangelo’s Pieta, on birth, on death, and on creation.

Holes in the Sand 1999
The brain has a fuse that blows after generations of imminent mortal threat.

Decorum 1999
The bereaved child suspends screaming long enough to deliver a eulogy.

Booklikemarks 1999
A man whose life is stalled can’t read past the middle pages of any book.

Things Get Moved 1999
The narrator, whose purpose in life is to move objects, finds himself discarded.

New World Order 1999
A business manager loses his job to his nine-year-old son.

Send in the Barbarians 1999
A great wall focuses the attention of marauders and hastens the downfall of the empire.

Tips for Better Golf 1999
Notes from a scandalous pamphlet produced and distributed among caddies.

Background Figures November 16, 2006
A dreamer is sentenced to hide from his lover in the background of a painting.

Sun Comes Sideways November 20, 2006
A father frankly assesses his sleeping son’s prospects.

Killer Ending November 24, 2006
Twins compete for domination even after one has been shot and buried.

Kama Sutra for Beginners December 01, 2006
Provides unnecessarily detailed descriptions of the lovemaker’s thoughts about the now.

The Mural Project December 04, 2006
A neighborhood so grim that the best shot at a legacy is a memorial mural.

Carry the Zero December 06, 2006
A man without memories conjectures his biography based on his current feelings and behavior.

Bobby’s Chop Shop December 15, 2006
Bobby plays a practical joke on the buyer of a stolen Buick.

Giving Her Away December 17, 2006
A commuter stands in as the father of a bride for an impromptu wedding on the bus.

Block Party December 21, 2006
A group of power tool vigilante wannabes fume about their neighbor who keeps to himself.

Kingdom Come December 19, 2006
Gods of all defeated people die with their believers until only the most belligerent gods survive.

My Eulogy December 26, 2006
Leaving nothing to chance, a narcissist leaves behind the eulogy he wants read at his funeral.

The Contract December 28, 2006
Two children in a row lost to SIDS puts a strain on what the prosecutor calls the “family dynamic.”

Cluck Like Chickens January 01, 2007
A negligent family therapist hypnotizes the entire family for a break from their whining.

The Dive January 04, 2007
A driver catches the blame for a suicidal pedestrian who dives into his windshield.

How to Live and Why January 07, 2007
A vengeful bodyguard reflects on the final hostage rescue of his bloody career.

Flight Delay February 15, 2007
Hopeful parents wait at Gate B4 for the son whose flight has been permanently delayed.

A Very Good Picture February 24, 2007
Worlds collide when hapless man contemplates meeting his online crush in the flesh.

Recent Novels
(299 words each)
2026

Leave Neat Stitches January 15, 2026
A surgeon tries on personalities to merit his wealth and privilege.

Homefield Disadvantage January 20, 2026
The dutiful son-in-law helps Dad break into his own house past daunting opponents.

Daddy Loves Sudanese Babies January 22, 2026
Daughters react differently to their famously emotional crusader father’s treatment.

Cheatin’ Dog January 25, 2026
Bad enough his wife is leaving him for the new boyfriend!

Weak Tea January 27, 2026
A tea as weak as the breeze we make when we walk through someone else’s life.

2nd-Most Wanted January 30, 2026
An activist goes to extremes in his pursuit of Most-Wanted status.

Our Resistance January 31, 2026
Extreme hospitality serves as unconventional resistance against an occupying army.

Autobio-graffiti February 01, 2026
An inquisitive duty cop ponders the motivation of a wordy graffiti-writer.

Pink Pants February 04, 2026
Wear the pink pants I’d have all women wear and I’ll do whatever you ask whenever you ask.

One Car Distance February 06, 2026
Falling for the passenger in the next car is as authentic as the varsity variety of love.

Kill Something Delicious February 07, 2026
Collect enough food to survive should be our one commandment. If necessary, kill something delicious.

Afterschool Bomb Club February 07, 2026
When I was going-on-six we nearly blew up the railroad station. By my birthday, we’d managed it.

Flight Delayed February 10, 2026
A hopeful couple wait at Gate B4 for the son whose flight has been permanently delayed.

Mister Oldman February 12, 2026
A disrespected elder shares his knowledge of esoteric interests for not much thanks.

Red Pump Handle February 15, 2026
Villagers sick from tainted water refuse to abandon pumps they never asked for.

Shorthand for Family February 23, 2026
A bereaved father and son navigate grief and yearnings on an endless shopping trip.

A Very Good Photo February 27, 2026
Worlds collide when hapless man contemplates meeting his online crush in the flesh.

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For the Screen

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Trade Rumors (for the screen) January 16, 2026
NOW ON YOUTUBE. A youth baseball player objects when his father wants to trade him to another family.

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Life Line (for the screen) February 07, 2026
NOW ON YOUTUBE. A couple practice their signature banter waiting for her neurology appointment.

______ . ______

The page is being updated with links to all 299 of the Very Short Novels.
Feel free to browse the site once you’ve chosen a first selection from those above.