Tag Archives: short

Fiction

UXO, BOMB DOG by Eliot Fintushel

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As promised, original fiction returns to Futurismic – and how! We’re incredibly proud to be publishing Eliot Fintushel‘s story, and we hope you enjoy it too. So please use the comment form at the end to tell us (and Eliot!) what you thought of “Uxo, Bomb Dog”.

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Uxo, Bomb Dog

by Eliot Fintushel

My bomb dog Uxo, my sweetie, my pal, he sweated and huffed, tongue unscrolled, forelegs folded. His fur was matted and dripping.

I held Mumps back with both my arms around her shoulders. The kid had lobbed stones at old Ux and tied soup cans to his tail, but now she’d jump mines to pet him.

“Stay put, little one. Uxo’s pacing himself, is all.”

“You can beat that pile of tin, Uxy.” Mumps’s chin was tear wet. Her voice choked and tumbled over the words. “Damn Volkovoy! Damn him! Cheater!”

We stood on a hill overlooking the meadow. A bunch of other kids ambled behind us, rags and bones, scruffy faces, some little ones on the shoulders of the bigger. Bit by bit, as Uxo and the damn machine cleared the meadow, we’d advance to the new safe zone for a better look. Continue reading UXO, BOMB DOG by Eliot Fintushel →

Blog

The Future Fire e-zine’s Second Life short fiction contest

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Wow! Here’s a bit of news that combines two of my favourite things – short-form speculative fiction and Second Life.

Cover art for issue 9 of The Future Fire

The Future Fire is a UK-based speculative fiction e-zine, and they’ve just released their ninth issue as a free-to-download PDF file. Normally that would just be a prime candidate for a Friday Free Fiction mention, but there’s a little extra involved this time round.

The Future Fire is running a short fiction writing competition … but with a twist. Take it away, editor Djibril:

"… in this issue, we launch the The Future Fire / Black Swan writing competition with a first prize of $500.

"There’s a small technical barrier to entry, but no cost involved: the contest requires you to register and enter the Second Life virtual world and visit the Black Swan sim, which is a spooky, atmospheric island with a raised pathway, sculptures, events, and inhabitants.

"Visit for as long and as often as you like, and then write a story of up to 2,000 words inspired by your experience and submit it to The Future Fire by midnight on December 10th 2007."

Full details (and the SLURL for The Black Swan) can be found on The Future Fire‘s website.

So, all you writers who have yet to investigate Second Life, now you have a great excuse! Drop me an email if you’d like some guidance from someone who knows the lay of the land.

Thanks to Ariel at UK SF Book News Network for the heads-up.

[tags]writing, competition, short, story, Second Life[/tags]
Fiction

THE TOWERS OF ST. MICHAEL’S by David Walton

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April’s story, “The Towers of St. Michael’s” from Futurismic alumnus David Walton is a pensive piece about the sensory world and the barriers between two people separated by sight. Check out David’s earlier “Diamond Dust” afterwards, if you haven’t already read it.

The Towers Of St. Michael’s

by David Walton

Paul watched Bartalan Varga slash egg-yellow paint across his canvas, adding a sparkle of reflected sunlight to a traffic scene from his native Budapest. On Paul’s fMRI screen, Bartalan’s visual cortex lit up, just as if he were seeing the colorful buildings and buses and pedestrians in his painting. But even a cursory glance at the stunted buds where his eyes should have been contradicted this. Bartalan Varga was totally blind. Continue reading THE TOWERS OF ST. MICHAEL’S by David Walton →

Fiction

DIAMOND DUST by David Walton

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We’ve got a great new story from David Walton about the aftermath of a war in Taiwan and what happens to families torn apart by it.

[ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This story is NOT covered by the Creative Commons License that covers the majority of content on Futurismic; copyright remains with the author, and any redistribution is a breach thereof. Thanks. ]

Diamond Dust

by David Walton

Christine Gray hardly knew the woman whose life she was about to destroy. She’d met Chen Kit-ken on two occasions, neither time long enough to register more than dress and hairstyle. Yet today, in front of this scandal-loving crowd, she planned to ruin her.

It wasn’t something Christine wanted to think about. Instead, she concentrated on a mental check of her appearance: eyes confident; smile thin, as if at a secret joke; body erect; arms relaxed. She breathed steadily, waiting.

And finally, Kit-ken arrived, slipping into the room through a side door. No announcement, no trumpets, no steward striking a gong, and yet, in a sudden ripple of turning heads, she arrested the attention of everyone in the room. Continue reading DIAMOND DUST by David Walton →