What are the brackets for word count or pages in a short story?

Daniel, any limit to word count for a short story is defined by the entity putting out calls for short stories. Magazines, for instance, may specify anywhere from 2000 words to 12,000 or more.

But a typical short story is usually 5000 words or shorter. Many, many markets prefer 3500 - 4000, tops.

What I'd do is write a draft without worrying about length. Only when you're done should you even count. Then if you need it to be shorter, you can start paring.

Well, I guess you'll always have a shot as long as you enter. Don't enter and there's no possible chance to win.

Does the contest guidelines mention a certain word count? Short stories reach a max of 19,000 words. Though, this doesnt' mean that every mag or contest will accept word counts that high. Personally, I'd probably strive for a sweet spot of 4,000-6,000 words, but only because this is what most professional mags tend to accept. It really depends on the contest's guidelines. & you might want to start reading some short stories to get a gist of how they're written.

Good luck with it.