Echoes of Unfinished Worlds
This collection presents a series of incomplete narratives, offering glimpses into stories that have begun but have not yet concluded. These pieces are not polished manuscripts but rather moments captured mid-scene, resembling pages torn from a larger history or future. The intent is to leave the resolution open, creating a space where the reader’s imagination is required to navigate the ambiguity and determine the fate of the characters involved.
This project serves as an experimental program situated at the intersection of human creativity, interdisciplinary arts, and applied artificial intelligence research. It functions as an exploration of how digital tools can act as a partner in the writing process, examining their potential to shape new forms of storytelling and scriptwriting while enhancing digital literacy skills and workflows.
Today’s selection offers a broad spectrum of settings, moving from the desolation of Dystopian landscapes to the intimate interactions found in Boys Love (BL) and Slice of Life vignettes. The collection also touches on the gravity of Historical Fiction and the high stakes of a Political Thriller. These unfinished tales are brought to you by authors Leaf Richards and Jamie F. Bell, whose collaborative efforts with these tools have produced a distinct variety of narrative voices.
We invite you to read these fragments not merely as passive observers, but as active participants in the storytelling process. Consider what events led to these frozen moments and visualize where the paths might lead next, completing the arc in your own mind.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
This collection offers a dynamic range of short stories, blending the intensity of Dystopian and Political Thriller genres with the grounded nature of Slice of Life and Historical Fiction. Whether exploring Whimsical and Playful themes or the grit of Fast-Paced and Pulpy storytelling, these narratives represent the cutting edge of modern publishing. Our project is dedicated to advancing digital literacy by investigating how creative technology and AI-assisted narrative tools are reshaping the future of storytelling. From Boys Love (BL) to Cinematic Dark Comedy, we aim to provide readers with unique insights into the evolving landscape of digital fiction.
A River’s Cold Reckoning
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Fast-Paced / Pulpy | Genre: Dystopian
The wind, a razor-sharp whisper, carved paths across the exposed skin of my face. Ice, thick and treacherous, gripped the banks of the old River Severn, its surface a mosaic of fractured grey under a sky the colour of tarnished silver. Every breath was a small, white explosion, instantly snatched away by the biting air. My boots crunched on the frozen shale and packed snow, a rhythmic protest against the absolute stillness that otherwise reigned. This desolation, this profound quiet, was a rare and precious commodity in a world saturated by the Stream’s insistent hum, a world I was desperate to escape.
The Blue Track
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Whimsical / Playful | Genre: Boys Love (BL)
James follows Simon through the frozen streets of downtown Winnipeg, battling the -40 windchill and his own bitter internal monologue.
The Stuttering Clock
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Slice of Life | Genre: Slice of Life
My mind, an old ticker-tape machine, whirred, tallying the minutes. Twenty-three past. Always twenty-three past for the Number Seven. The digital clock above the bus shelter’s chipped plastic bench, however, insisted it was only twenty past. A three-minute discrepancy. Small, but enough to set the teeth on edge, especially when you lived by the rhythm of transit schedules. The air still held the day’s stale heat, a memory of a sun that had long since dipped behind the low-slung, identical brick apartments across the street. A lone pigeon, bold and entitled, pecked at a discarded crisp packet near the curb, its movements sharp, almost accusatory.
A Goose for Percy
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Dark Comedy | Genre: Historical Fiction
The prairie wind howled its familiar, desolate tune against the snow-drifted panes of Aunt Cathy’s kitchen. Inside, the air hummed with the strained warmth of a wood stove and the sharp, almost metallic scent of a freshly plucked goose. Vicky stood before the vast, white bird, her breath still misting faintly as the last vestiges of outdoor cold clung to her. The scene was set for a Christmas meal, yet the silence felt heavier than usual, laden with the recent, raw absence that no amount of festive bustle could truly displace.
The Silver Spoon Drop
Category: Cinematic | Genre: Political Thriller
A grand, drafty dining hall in a high-security mountain lodge, where the clinking of silverware masks the sound of secrets being traded.
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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