Category: Fantasy

All Stories, Editor Picks, Fantasy, Short Fiction

Week 392: J.D. Raccoons Tip Flower Pots Because Cows are Too Tall; Another Week That Is, and the Operation Snapped Shoelace Diary

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(3 A.M., 22 August)

Life is full of idiotic vexations that should not be. Silly, inconsequential events that should mean nothing yet are something enough to fret over. A continuing woe of mine involves my part in a neighbor (from here, “Green Thumb”) having her flower pots tipped by Juvenile Delinquent Raccoons.

As I’ve stated in earlier posts, my building features a common yard inhabited mostly by flitting little Birds and Squirrels by day and semi-wild beasts after sundown. The beasts include my feral Cat friends, Alfie and Andy, an occasional Opossum named Olivia (who has a way of popping out from under the bushes and scaring the hell out of people) and a marauding band of four to six Jugglao/J.D. Racoons who drink Faro and smoke discarded cigarette butts. Green Thumb seems nice enough, but she operates under the delusion that she can place potted flowers in the courtyard and expect nothing bad to happen to them overnight.

Continue reading “Week 392: J.D. Raccoons Tip Flower Pots Because Cows are Too Tall; Another Week That Is, and the Operation Snapped Shoelace Diary” →
All Stories, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Magical Demise by Ailbhe Curran

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Tick-tock tick-tock goes the Digiclock. My leg is shaking vigorously and I’m trying to get it to stop. My whole body jolts as I hear Siri’s voice. I didn’t think it’d be this soon. No time to waste in here I suppose. A lot of clients for them to get through to.

‘Next up for Reality Awakening session 1 is Ms. Isa Tinny. ‘

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All Stories, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Created Image by Marco Etheridge

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The corpulent man straddles a rolling stool, shifting his bulk along a cheap conference table. The table is dominated by three oversized computer monitors. Lines of code scroll down each screen. The surface of the table is a cluttered mess of keyboards, cables, forgotten junk food, and a large gin and tonic.

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All Stories, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Becoming Human by Kat Hutchson

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She looked at him with her huge blue eyes.

“You have a Dollar, Mister?”

With a quick glance at her, he noticed the delicate machinery shining through three straight cuts in her cheek, the plastic flesh hanging loosely over the left side of her face.

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Fantasy, Literally Reruns, Science Fiction, Short Fiction

AI Week – Literally Rerun – Ronda 12 by Dave Henson

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Welcome to the kick off of AI Week here at Literally Stories! And what better way to look into the future than by taking one look back at the past. Since the subject is Artificial Intelligence, we are happy to present a rerun of a tale written by long time site stalwart, David Henson. It’s called Ronda 12. As usual, David’s sense of humour and wit enhance the piece. And although she is a machine, attractive Ronda (think a “Seven of Nine” type of individual) is actually the most human person in this story.

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All Stories, Editor Picks, Fantasy, Short Fiction

Week 389: An Ode to Cynicism, Good Stories and Dubious Advice Dispensed by A Herbivore

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Beginning

It’s hard for me to not be cynical; to not check every would be gift Horse’s bridgework; to not hold the suspicion that the evil that dwells in my heart must be in everyone else’s; to suspect myself for wanting the same evil in the hearts of others to license my own. Funny word cynical. As a belief system it prevents you from go-funding Phishy Royalty, yet in application it can aid you in successful phishing and lying in general. Thus you could say that cynical is a dubious, double-agent sort of concept.

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All Stories, Fantasy, Short Fiction

The Fifth billygit of the Apocalypse by Leila Allison

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I was just sitting there, taking up space, contributing nothing to the Universe other than not plotting its destruction. I was studying the concept of wrath as dispensed by cyber-mobs, and I arrived at the conclusion that those who frame witches do so to forestall winding up bound and tossed into the river themselves. Hardly a revelation, but the truth seldom wows. When you get down to it the words of the prophets are found on the subway walls, tenement halls and in stupid tweets, old chum.

My Imaginary Friend and second in command, Renfield, popped into my office and told me that the billygits wanted to see me.

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All Stories, Fantasy, General Fiction

A Little Time by Dylan Martin

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 The world was so much simpler when Forever 21 was just a shitty clothing store. Nowadays, it’s nothing more than a bar off 42nd street, with a comically-large hourglass by the door filled with sand that never falls. I used to consider it nothing more than a cheap gimmick; another one of the city’s countless tourist traps. The truth is the bar was never what attracted people. All those stupid, far-from-subtle decorations aren’t what people come to stare at; we are.

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