Too long for a quote, too short for a novel — and just right for people who like their meaning delivered without excessive stretching. The short story is the espresso of literature: concentrated, possibly bitter, and not to everyone’s taste.

Here you’ll find narratives that come in sideways, refuse to explain themselves, and vanish just when you think you’ve understood them. Some pretend to be parables. Others are just moments in disguise. None of them wears a name tag.

These are not stories that aim to change your life. They aim, more modestly, to interrupt it — for five minutes, ten at most. Enough to raise an eyebrow, twitch a corner of the mouth, or leave a quiet echo you can’t quite place.

In short: read one. Then walk away. That’s how they’re designed.