Neon Lights and Shadows
The short stories featured here are deliberately incomplete, existing as scenes captured in the middle of unfolding drama. They resemble pages found on a writer’s desk, full of potential and devoid of finality. This structure is intended to provoke curiosity, asking the reader to mentally construct the beginning and the end based on the clues provided in the middle.
This project is an experimental program that sits at the intersection of human creativity, interdisciplinary arts, and applied artificial intelligence research. It serves as a practical exploration of how digital tools can act as a partner in the writing process. By integrating these technologies, the project seeks to uncover new forms of storytelling and scriptwriting while building essential digital literacy skills.
This entry blends the vulnerability of Coming-of-Age stories with the intensity of Supernatural Horror and Cyberpunk Thriller elements. Jamie F. Bell and Tony Eetak provide the creative direction for these pieces. The resulting collection offers a dark, atmospheric journey through psychological and external conflicts.
Engage with these tales as a collaborator. As you read, allow the unfinished nature of the work to spark your own invention, completing the arcs of these characters in your imagination.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
From the tension of a cyberpunk thriller to the intimacy of poetic romance and supernatural horror, this anthology showcases a broad narrative range. We are committed to revolutionizing publishing by integrating creative technology into the creation of compelling short stories. By analyzing these works through the lens of digital literacy and AI-assisted narrative, we provide a fresh perspective on coming-of-age tales and psychological dramas within the Boys Love (BL) framework.
The Unfastened Hours
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Boys Love (BL) | Genre: Coming-of-Age
The Winnipeg summer dawn bled a pale, insipid blue through the gap in the curtains, a colour Fred despised. It was the precise shade of disappointment, a thin, weak wash over the lingering vibrancy of the night just vanished. His bed sheets, damp with sweat from the oppressive heat, felt like a shroud, clinging to him, anchoring him to a world he desperately wished to escape, a world that offered none of the profound, gentle solace of his dream.
Confluence is a Physical State
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Poetic / Lyrical | Genre: Supernatural Horror
The hum of the dehumidifiers in the provincial archives was a constant, low drone, a sound designed to preserve paper but which always made Pete’s teeth ache. He sat at a heavy oak table, the only person in the reading room. On the grey foam cradle in front of him lay the diary of one Alistair MacLeod, a surveyor who had the profound misfortune of being in Winnipeg during the great flood of 1826. The book itself was a wreck; the leather cover was warped and stained, and the pages inside were a mottled brown, the ink bleeding into spidery, illegible fractals.
A Glitch in the Downpour
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Romance | Genre: Cyberpunk Thriller
The city’s sky ripped open, not with gentle rain, but a sudden, violent cascade that turned streets into rivers and concrete into slick, dangerous mirrors. Juno, struggling to shield her fragile, instrument-like prototype from the deluge, sprinted for the nearest shelter: a minimalist, glass-and-steel pavilion in the heart of the bustling park. She wasn’t alone. Dex, seemingly casual yet radiating an unsettling intensity, had already taken refuge, his gaze sweeping the chaos outside with a predatory calm. The sleek, modern architecture now served as an impromptu, precarious stage for a secret collision.
The Glass Apple
Category: Slice of Life | Genre: Coming-of-Age
Andrew discovers a disturbance in his quiet home—a misplaced Christmas ornament that triggers a surreal deviation from the season.
The First Stroke
Author: Tony Eetak | Category: Expository | Genre: Psychological Drama
The oppressive normalcy of high school on a dreary autumn day fuels Sam’s growing discontent. His internal monologue reveals a yearning for significant change, contrasting sharply with the mundane predictability of his surroundings.
About the Project
By design, these stories have no beginning and no end. Many stories are fictional, but many others are not. They are snapshots from worlds that never fully exist, inviting you to imagine what comes before and what happens next. We had fun exploring this project, and hope you will too.
The Unfinished Tales and Short Stories collection is part of an experimental, creative arts and research program by The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and the Art Borups Corners collectives. Each chapter is an interdisciplinary arts and narrative storytelling experiment focused on two key areas: AI-Assisted Scriptwriting, where researchers explore using AI to generate story ideas, plot structures, and alternative story arcs to enhance creative development; and Talent Development and Training, where the project studies the necessary skills for creative professionals to manage AI and immersive technologies in production, helping to inform future training curricula. The project was made possible with funding and support from the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects program and the Government of Ontario. We thank them for supporting the arts, digital transformation research and innovation in Ontario.
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