Don't waste words on setting up the situation. You don't have the luxury of describing the scene, what the characters look like, or giving background information. Start your story where the problem or action begins. In four words we have the main character and his problem. The rest of the story will be how his problem is solved.
Tight writing is the key.
Humpty Dumpty 150-200 words 3. Generally a rebus story uses 7-10 picture words, some of which are repeated in the story. Focus on nouns, colors, and numbers. Verbs don't make good picture words. Generally a rebus has 1-4 characters.