How to cut 146 words

So I just submitted a story where the maximum word count was 300.

The story in question started out at 446 words, meaning I had to cut 146 of those words.

But here’s the problem – that story (in my opinion at the time) was as short as I could make it.

So I started the easy way. Cutting single words that wouldn’t be missed whilst allowed lines to still make sense.

That only cut 80 words. Not enough.

So I took a second through, same routine. Got me to about 100 words.

So that left the fine tweaking. Could I cut 2-5 words and replace them with just 1?

Indeed I could. Got me down to sniffing distance, 135 words but still too long.

So I read the whole thing. Was there anything flowery that could be removed? Anything still surplus to requirement?

I just about made that 146 words. But the story still made sense.

Not an easy job.