Category: Flash Fiction
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29 November: After Nuclear
It was nothing like they said it would be.Yeah, sure: there was the mushroom cloud, the heat, the cold, some death, but it wasn’t anything near as tough to get through as they thought. Who you ask? Those people in the government. It’s good to wake up in the morning and know we don’t have […]
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28 November: Giving Thanks
So the US thanksgiving ‘holiday’ was last week.I don’t capitalize the word ‘thanksgiving’ here because doing so suggests that is what the day is about.Sure, there’s the whole Hallmark sentiment of gathering with good friends, good food, and celebrating what we are thankful for, right? But what is the day supposed to represent?The history lessons […]
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27 November: The Value of the Vent
I worked over the weekend. Yeah, it was thanksgiving and all but to not fall so far behind in my grading, I jumped online on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The anger dude from Pixar’s Inside Out? Yep. I did that look several times. I am grateful for my colleagues, three in particular, to whom I […]
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26 November: I (Don’t) Got Jokes
I had a few items in my shopping cart. I didn’t recognize the two young men at the register — the cashier or the bagger. They quietly joked about something, smiling as they mumbled to one another while I put my things on the conveyor. As it was just after the Thanksgiving holiday, the ‘regulars’ […]
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25 November: Apology Necessary
It was 23 November (yeah, a coupla days ago) and I was busy working away so as not to get too far behind on work assignments. Plus, I’d had an email conversation with my direct supervisor about time off. It seems the days I had assumed were holidays for my workplace weren’t entirely. We’d had […]
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24 November: You Jab, I Duck
I used to enjoy a good prize fight.That’s what my Nana and others of her generation called boxing. I think because at first, what happened in the ring was a true brawl: the gloves were thinner, the matches were longer, and the outcomes felt earned, like a prize.I don’t mean to suggest the newer generations […]
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23 November: Against Foul Magicks
I had the children stand in a circle surrounding the teleportation spot. I didn’t know what would come through but it would be bad. The children were the last defense, the last class of mind soldiers, trained to fight foul magicks with the power of their thoughts. It was my job to keep them alive […]
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22 November: Nothing Like an External Conscience
I thought a discussion of the future robots would be the last in my discussion of AI but I realized as I wrote it that I couldn’t walk away without a post for Teddy.Teddy was like an external conscience. He gave (oft-ignored) suggestions for safety, he warned David of do’s and don’ts. However, as a […]
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21 November: Like Gods
Oh, aren’t they just magnificent? After a thousand years or so, mankind is gone, erased itself from existence I suppose. To a frozen tundra, now a paleoresearch location(?), future aliens come. Like gods, they restore frozen David (and Teddy — who will get a nod tomorrow) and give him what he wants.After all, isn’t that […]
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20 November: Just Blue
There is an artist called Pogo who made a recording of voice snippets from AI and turned it into a great song. Search Youtube for ‘Just Blue Fairy’. I’ll wait.If you’ve seen the film, you know that the blue fairy was from the story of Pinocchio but became something in David’s mind. She was the […]
A New Bloom 