http://up2hf.sciencesconf.

org/resource/page/id/1
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022460X08007487
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21895083
A short story is a piece of prose fiction, which can be read in one sitting. Eme
rging from earlier oral storytelling traditions in the 17th century, the short s
tory has grown to encompass a body of work so diverse as to defy easy characteri
zation.