Short Stories

Short fiction — war, airships, a facility that keeps failing over, and a few things in between.

13 pieces
About 123 minutes of reading

The bay

Each slate is as wide as its story is long. Reader undertakes not to remove, mark or deface any slate, nor to kindle therein any fire or flame.

SunMS. Dodd 01

MS. Dodd 01 · 646 words · 3 min · access granted

“I remember seven months ago. I remember the laughter, the joy, the hell. Since then, I have learned what it has meant to have no sun,” I began. I…
ArriveMS. Dodd 02

MS. Dodd 02 · 2,608 words · 11 min · access granted

Seagulls. I hated the sound of seagulls cawing. This time, though, was very different. I had heard nothing but the creaking of the hull against its…
BarMS. Dodd 03

MS. Dodd 03 · 1,357 words · 6 min · access granted

You push on the old wooden door but guess that it is much, much heavier than it appears. The door swings open too quickly, and it is obvious that the…
CorpseMS. Dodd 04

MS. Dodd 04 · 3,960 words · 17 min · access granted

It was a cold and rainy morning. The darkness of the pre-dawn seemed to be clutching at the corners of the world and desperately attempting to hold on…
DeathMS. Dodd 05

MS. Dodd 05 · 2,319 words · 10 min · access granted

I was walking along the beach, just on that crappy wooden path that you know the city hasn’t spent a dime on in at least a decade and probably won’t…
DropMS. Dodd 06

MS. Dodd 06 · 2,199 words · 10 min · access granted

Cold. The only feeling he could find to latch onto was the feeling of intense, extreme cold. He knew he wasn’t thinking straight and that knowledge…
FacilityMS. Dodd 07

MS. Dodd 07 · 3,850 words · 17 min · access granted

Her alarm sounded at exactly 7am. Why they kept to the twenty-four-hour system still, no one had bothered to explain. It was probably just easier to…
FieldMS. Dodd 08

MS. Dodd 08 · 3,075 words · 13 min · access granted

He opened his eyes. Being careful not to move, he listened to the sounds around him. The horrifying screech of metal grinding on metal that had never…
HandMS. Dodd 09

MS. Dodd 09 · 1,645 words · 7 min · access granted

Mustering as much patience as I could, I slowly exhaled. This was not something I could rush. I had been preparing for so many months that being too…
LegendsMS. Dodd 10

MS. Dodd 10 · 1,856 words · 8 min · access granted

With a loud sigh, Odin pushed his palm into his forehead and squeezed his one good eye tightly shut, as if willing away the crossed paths of two of…
MarchMS. Dodd 11

MS. Dodd 11 · 2,379 words · 10 min · access granted

The news had spread like wildfire. How could it not have? Anyone working out in the fields, no matter the job, had seen the riders coming and going at…
ReceptionMS. Dodd 12

MS. Dodd 12 · 1,484 words · 6 min · access granted

The bed felt nice. It was warm, with a cool breeze slowly wafting into the room. The smell of the autumn air carrying with it reminders of the best…
VanMS. Dodd 13

MS. Dodd 13 · 1,181 words · 5 min · access granted

The van trundled along down the road. Well, perhaps 'trundled' wasn't quite the correct term. It advanced at an urgent pace. Yes, that sounded more…

Putting a Line Through to Headquarters, Bruno Bobak, 1945.

Sun 3 min
“I remember seven months ago. I remember the laughter, the joy, the hell. Since then, I have learned what it has meant to have no sun,” I began. I…
Airships at their moorings, from The War in the Air, 1908.

Arrive 11 min
Seagulls. I hated the sound of seagulls cawing. This time, though, was very different. I had heard nothing but the creaking of the hull against its…
Bar 6 min
You push on the old wooden door but guess that it is much, much heavier than it appears. The door swings open too quickly, and it is obvious that the…
Corpse 17 min
It was a cold and rainy morning. The darkness of the pre-dawn seemed to be clutching at the corners of the world and desperately attempting to hold on…
Death 10 min
I was walking along the beach, just on that crappy wooden path that you know the city hasn’t spent a dime on in at least a decade and probably won’t…
Drop 10 min
Cold. The only feeling he could find to latch onto was the feeling of intense, extreme cold. He knew he wasn’t thinking straight and that knowledge…
The console of FERUT, the University of Toronto's computer, around 1958.

Facility 17 min
Her alarm sounded at exactly 7am. Why they kept to the twenty-four-hour system still, no one had bothered to explain. It was probably just easier to…
Field 13 min
He opened his eyes. Being careful not to move, he listened to the sounds around him. The horrifying screech of metal grinding on metal that had never…
Hand 7 min
Mustering as much patience as I could, I slowly exhaled. This was not something I could rush. I had been preparing for so many months that being too…
Legends 8 min
With a loud sigh, Odin pushed his palm into his forehead and squeezed his one good eye tightly shut, as if willing away the crossed paths of two of…
March 10 min
The news had spread like wildfire. How could it not have? Anyone working out in the fields, no matter the job, had seen the riders coming and going at…
Reception 6 min
The bed felt nice. It was warm, with a cool breeze slowly wafting into the room. The smell of the autumn air carrying with it reminders of the best…
Van 5 min
The van trundled along down the road. Well, perhaps 'trundled' wasn't quite the correct term. It advanced at an urgent pace. Yes, that sounded more…

Short Stories

The bay

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