The vignette has an honored place in science fiction, particularly because it is so difficult to write
effectively. It is difficult enough to introduce characters and tell a story in 2,500 words or less; it is
even more of a challenge to do so while introducing an element not found in the ordinary world,
explaining it plausibly, and bringing the story to a
resolution in terms of its fantastic as well as human
content. The undisputed master of the form was
Fredric BROWN, who wrote dozens of vignettes or
short-shorts, most of them involving a surprise
ending. Analog Science Fiction Magazine has for
many years included a regular feature, called Probability Zero, that features outrageous stories under
1,000 words in length.
Most stories at this length are narrowly focused, designed either to build up to a sudden twist
or to solve a logical or engineering problem, or perhaps just to tell an involved joke. Very few genre
writers have attempted to write serious, thoughtful
fiction in such a compressed format, but James
TIPTREE was one of them. “Amberjack” is a love
story set in a vaguely described near future setting.
The two characters are Amberjack and Rue, two
young lovers, each from an unhappy background.
The first half of the story establishes their characters and their relationship. Because of the shortcomings in their own families, they never talk of
love or a formalized relationship, and even when
Rue becomes pregnant, she plans to conceal the
fact to avoid tying Amberjack to a commitment he
is not ready to make. But he learns the truth and
overcomes her reservations. The lovers are prepared to make a life together after all.
Then a scientific experiment elsewhere in
their building has an unusual side effect. For just
one brief moment, Amberjack can see his own future—one in which he is tormented, trapped in a
marriage just as tragic as the one in which he was
raised. Faced with that prospect, he reacts instinctively and fatally, pushing Rue off a fire escape to
fall to her death. In a final irony, his crime is witnessed by Rue’s sister, whose promise of silence is
tied to an even more terrible trap. Tiptree accomplishes in just a few pages a more genuinely tragic
story than most authors could achieve with a
novel.