These things must be true, or else it would not be a ray-gun. But it is. Ray-guns come from space.- James Alan Gardner
I wrote a lot of poetry in high school and college. Some of it was good. I read a lot of poetry in high school and college because I liked it. I eventually stopped reading poetry and stopped writing poetry.
In my mid-twenties I wrote a lot of short stories. Some of it was good - you can even find it on my site. I read a lot of short stories in my mid-twenties because I liked it. I eventually stopped reading short stories and stopped writing them. I have three short stories that are stopped in the middle and I'm not sure if I'll ever finish. Every year for NaNoWriMo I challenge myself to write one complete start-to-finish story (of any length) and I fail.
In preparation for this years NaNoWriMo I started to read short stories to see if I could be inspired. I was titalated by one I read last week. It was utterly delightful. The full text is findable online, so stop what you are doing and read it. You'll enjoy it.
The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner
This is a story about a ray-gun. The ray-gun will not be explained except to say, "It shoots rays."