One of the key ideas in To Kill A Mockingbird is prejudice. The book explores the roots of prejudice, as well as the consequences. You could choose to write a short story about a prejudice that exists today. Unfortunately, racism still exists as a prejudice today, but there are also more modern prejudices—or at least prejudices which are now more visible. These include transphobia and Islamophobia. You might even imagine how one of the younger characters from the book might deal with transphobic or Islamophobic prejudice when they are elderly adults in the modern world. How might an elderly Dill, for example, respond to Islamophobia in his community?
Harper Lee has already written a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird called Go Set A Watchman, but you could try to make your short story a sort of prequel. It would be interesting, for example, to think about what Atticus was like as a boy and what kind of relationship he might have had with his father. A short story about Atticus as a boy might help explain how he becomes so steadfast and so principled as an adult, when so many others became otherwise.
An idea would be to choose a minor or secondary character from the story to write about. This could be Dill, Mayella Ewell, Miss Maudie, or another character. From there, you could write a story from this character's point of view. It could take place in the same time frame but be told from a different perspective. If you prefer, it could also take place before or after the years described in To Kill a Mockingbird.
One of the most famous ideas in the novel is walking in another person's shoes. Atticus sometimes challenges his children to walk or stand in someone else's shoes to understand that person's perspective. For example, when Bob Ewell threatens Atticus and spits on him, Jem and Scout want their father to fight back. Instead, Atticus tells them to consider Bob Ewell as a person:
See if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with (Chapter 23).
By writing from the perspective of another character, you would be doing exactly what Atticus recommended. You would be "standing in their shoes" as you wrote from their point of view.
Justice is another important idea in the novel. Atticus fights hard to defend Tom Robinson. He thinks Tom is innocent, and he works hard to give him a chance at justice. You could write a courtroom scene also based on a lawyer defending an innocent man falsely accused.
The main symbol in the novel is the mockingbird. The mockingbird is a symbol of innocence. For example, Boo is compared to a mockingbird. You could also write a short story about innocence with a mockingbird to symbolize it.
Good luck!
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