By Jim Anderson
She was a writer, working on a book about antique furniture restoration. Her research was a collection of disparate facts.
No theme, no center. Would it ever come together? Would anyone care if it did not? Aside from her publisher, of course, whose deadlines were cut in granite. [Read more…] about The Tiny Shop of Hope
By Jim Anderson
“Ship, tell me a story,” the traveler commanded.
“Long or short, sir?” asked a disembodied contralto.
“Short. I grow sleepy.”
“Happy? Sad?”
“Happy. I desire a pleasant hibernation.”
“Very well. There once was a gentle woman who loved a man from Autumn World.”
“I hail from Autumn World!”
“Indeed, he had your dark looks and cruel smile.”
“Cruel smile? Ship, are you joking?”
“Alas, he abandoned her to marry another.”
“Stop! I ordered a happy story.”
“In her despair, she joined the Phoenix Corps, and was reborn a starship.”
“A starship? Which starship?”
The air chilled.
“Happy dreams, my love.”
My drabble “Ship” was published by 101Fiction, now apparently defunct, in 2013. It was the lead story in the September issue. The rules for the issue: write a 100-word science fiction or fantasy story with a one-word title, using the themes of “autumn” and/or “phoenix.”