The length of a short story is often unclear because people have tend to hold varying ideas of what a short story actually is. However, for the purpose of this site, a story between the length of 1000 words and 10,000 words is considered to be solidly in the “short story” category.
Short stories are interesting in that the follow the typical narrative elements–exposition, complication, rising action, crisis, climax, and resolution. When you consider how few words the author has to work with, it becomes apparent that writing a short story is an entirely different art form than, say, composing poetry or penning a novel.