Ocean's Micro-Fiction Assignment

The micro-fiction story I decided to focus on is called “Wallet” by Allen Woodman. I chose this story because it was clever and amusing. It’s about a father who has constantly dealt with his wallet getting stolen. Because of this, he creates a fake wallet that will surely attract a thief due to the denseness of it. While reading the story, I thought that the author would create a sense of irony in which this is the only time the father’s wallet doesn’t get stolen when it’s fake. The father describes the wallet as, “All oyster... no pearl”, as in it looks like it’s full of money and credit cards; however, it’s full of “expired food coupons and losing Florida lottery tickets and a fortune cookie fortune that reads, ‘Life is the same old story told over and over.’”

This story uses a few of the techniques that Andrew Stanton discusses in his TED video called “The Clues to a Great Story”. I’m going to focus in on the “Make me care” as well as the “Take me with you” aspect. In this story, the author discusses how the father has constantly lost his wallet to pickpockets and he wants to trick the next thief. This made me care about the father and hope that he can trick the next person. The author takes the reader through the father acting “feeble and childlike” while he “overdoes it [his actions] like stage makeup on a community-theater actor.” The author uses great description which helps me picture the scene. This story also creates a wonder aspect for the reader. Throughout the story I was wondering, is the fathers wallet going to get stolen this time?  Why did the father want to get out of the store so quickly? Did the father commit a crime? Even as a short micro-fiction story, it has many important techniques that enhance the story.