@fbd8d4b4 >must be solved that arises from the characters being in the situation. You can improve it by clarifying existing issues in the narrative or introducing a problem for the characters to solve.

Example: The Tell-tale Heart is a short story about a man who goes mad with guilt because he killed someone and still hears the beating of his heart beneath the floorboards. Strictly speaking not a lot happens, but by the end of the story we are in no doubt about what the beating is, why the man is> 

 @fbd8d4b4 >plagued by it, and that he is mad. The story has answered the question it set out to address, and the central enigma is the beating of the heart the man wrestles with, ultimately losing the fight with his guilt to reveal his crime, resolving the enigma (for the reader, at least).

Sorry, I went on a bit here. I hope it's helpful. Once I started thinking about short stories in this way I got a lot better at actually selling the stories I wrote.