The Object – an original story

This story is linked to a story I am working on for an Anthology that I hope to put out. The Anthology will be short stories, not necessarily linked but all in the same “Universe”.

This story does not directly use any main character from the Anthology.

It does use an object from several of the main stories so I’m being vague below and just referring to it as “the object”.

You can put that down to this character being an Unreliable Narrator. The characters in this story don’t exactly know what “the object” is.

Indeed them not knowing is exactly what this story is about.

Shapeshifter – original short story

This story is from one character’s perspective. It is all in that pertains thoughts from that person’s perspective. Often we won’t know if everything they think is true or if it is their point of view only. Or they could be lying even to themselves.

In this case the character is female and everything is intended to be her perspective of the facts as she sees them.

This kind of character can be called an Unreliable Narrator, examples would include books narrated by a villain. Other Unreliable Narrators include Doctor Watson, we see his side of the investigation that is his honest view, but it is unreliable and in this examples it is used to later around us with Sherlock’s genius.

They could be a Naive Narrator, usually a childlike innocence, such as Boy in The Stripped Pyjamas.

For me at worst this story might be from Unreliable Narrator of Watson’s type. Everything really is her genuine thoughts.

However I’ve made her unreliable in so far as she does have a thought that holds an error of fact. I’ll add an addendum to let you know what her error is.

I’ve used a female perspective as the story was initially from the perspective of a fictional version of me. But by making the chafer female I added one extra shapeshuft.

Also technically this story fails the Bechdal Test. There are not two named characters who talk to each other and not about “him”. That’s deliberate. There are four female characters and I use no Given Names. One male character without a Given Name. And the main character clearly mentions him or we would never know about him. But she only mentions him to herself.

Anyway. The story

Fire! – an original short story

No one knows for certain when man harnessed fire, or by what method. It was almost certainly invented and reinvented in different parts if the world without communication. The proper term for this is Multiple Discovery, I prefer Convirgent Invention.

A similar thing exists in evolution. Some Dolphin species have the exact same body and fin shape as some Icthyasaurs, marine reptiles that look like some sort of dinosaur fish.

So dates in theories vary. And in truth they could all be correct. Some of those inventing fire were not even Modern Humans. And though they don’t use fire now it is impossible to say Chimpanzees never invented fire. A bonobo taught in captivity to start a fire and toast marshmallows has successfully taught another to do the same.

But eventually all of Human kind had fire.

A Step in Time – a short story

I was playing Pathfinder finder tonight with some friends. On the way home I mentioned a Superhero setting I used to run.

I don’t say much about it for now. Brief details only. That’s because I may do a short story book using the setting so don’t want too much revealed.

Suffice to say the Heroes were in the setting known as Rogues and were Freedom Fighters. The Country they lived on was supposedly a Social Democracy bit was in fact a rather nasty Police State. Setting was the “very near future” an indetermined “fee years” ahead of now in a parallel world.

Here is an excerpt of an idea that may make it on to the short story collection. This is a draft I’ve written in one go tonight, not a finished story. It is a writing exercise for me

Into The Den – a short story

I’m working on multiple projects at the moment, slowly building on them.

Hopefully some will be revealed over the coming months. One hopefully ready to discuss in May. Others might be sooner, certainly some later.

Short stories published at the moment are almost certainly not part of those projects. This one however is adjacent to the project I hope to announce in May. It could end up being worked in to that project but spoils nothing for what I hope to reveal in May.

The Fishermonkey and his Journey – an original short story

I often keep things I’ve written but not used. At times I look through them to see if any are worth revisiting.

I came across this one tonight. I first wrote this in January 2016. In February 2016 I joined a Pathfinder game to replace a player who had left. I used the main character from this story as influence.

Interestingly last year I came across a completed story I wrote in 1987. I was at the time considering sending it to a publisher but I couldn’t think who I wanted to send it to. Rereading that story I still really liked it. And I realised with a small rewrite it would fit the character I role-play with my friends perfectly.

That longer, older story I will one day rewrite with that character as the central character. I hope to include that one in a collection of short stories.

For now I’m sharing the 2016 story, with a few tiny edits to tidy it up. At this point I am not rewriting it but it may well be reused as a prequel to that earlier, longer story. If so there will be some rewriting to do as well as completing it.

So just to repeat, this is an unfinished story written January 2016 with only minor edits for tidiness.

She Hunts – an original short story

Short stories come to me quickly, often without any planning. This is one such example.

The premis came fully formed. Not just the topic but the delivery.

Short stories need few characters, this had only one unnamed female character.

All stories need to set a scene, tell us the needs and wants of a character. There should be some form of conflict or concern. The reader should understand what the needs are and resolving conflict should make sense in the scene.

I think I achieved all those aims in this story. Hopefully without revealing the outcome too quickly.

Enclosed – an original short story

I’ve not written a short story for a while.

This is a self contained story that I’ve written and edited in one sitting.

It isn’t really intended to be a finished piece. Nor is it intended to have any expansion. It is simply an exercise in writing. Just getting something on a “page”.