Future Cities and Human Hearts
The writings collected here are unfinished tales, designed to feel like overheard conversations or observed moments in a busy city. They lack the neat bow of a traditional ending, opting instead to present a raw slice of interaction. This approach places the burden—and the freedom—of resolution squarely on the reader.
This work represents an experimental program at the intersection of human creativity, interdisciplinary arts, and applied artificial intelligence research. It serves as an exploration of how digital tools can act as a partner in the writing process, shaping new forms of storytelling and scriptwriting and enhancing digital literacy skills and workflows.
This selection traverses Sci-Fi, Contemporary Drama, and Romance, grounding extraordinary circumstances in human emotion. The authors featured in this post are Leaf Richards, Jamie F. Bell, and Eva Suluk.
Don’t just read these excerpts; interact with them. Imagine the scenes that follow and complete the narrative arc in your own mind.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
This diverse array of contemporary drama, urban fiction, and sci-fi examines the intersection of popular culture and literary fiction. From superhero sagas to dystopian coming-of-age stories and Boys Love (BL), we are redefining the standards of digital publishing. Our project emphasizes the importance of digital literacy and creative technology, utilizing AI-assisted narrative to generate short stories that capture the complex spirit of modern storytelling.
The Petal and the Resonant Frequency
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Superhero | Genre: Sci-Fi
The plant was Linda’s greatest failure. For fifty years as a botanist, she had coaxed life from the most stubborn seeds and resurrected flora on the brink of extinction. But this thing… this thing was a silent, emerald insult. It had been a gift from a former colleague, discovered in a geological sample from a deep-ice core. It had leaves like polished jade and a stem like coiled wire, but in the five years she’d owned it, it had not grown, not wilted, not changed in any discernible way. It just sat in its pot in the corner of her coffee shop, radiating a profound and ancient indifference.
A Stillness Beneath the Tinsel
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Coming-of-Age | Genre: Contemporary Drama
A faint, electric hum from the fairy lights strung haphazardly across the living room window was the loudest thing in the house. Outside, the night pressed in, a heavy blanket of fresh snow muffling the usual city rumble, leaving only the distant, mournful cry of a single car horn. Inside, the air was thick with the ghost of pine needles and burnt sugar, a cloying sweetness that clung to the back of Leo’s throat.
A Cold Afternoon at the Stop
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Boys Love (BL) | Genre: Romance
The air bit, sharp and unforgiving, painting the exposed skin with an ache that seeped into the bones. The bus shelter offered little reprieve from the biting wind that whipped down the city street, carrying with it the scent of wet asphalt and distant woodsmoke. Daniel huddled deeper into his jacket, trying to coax some warmth from the fabric, his gaze fixed on the empty stretch of road where the number seventeen bus was perpetually late. Winter had settled in, grim and grey, and with it, a pervasive quiet, broken only by the rumble of passing cars and the occasional, lonely siren.
Borrowed Chairs in a Church Basement
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Dystopian | Genre: Literary Fiction
The coffee was terrible, brewed hours ago and kept warm on a sputtering hot plate. It tasted of burnt plastic and resignation. I held the flimsy styrofoam cup, the heat turning my knuckles pink, and tried to look like I belonged in the circle of mismatched chairs in the basement of St. Jude’s, a place where grace felt like a long shot.
A Grid of Sunbaked Irony
Author: Eva Suluk | Category: Popular Culture | Genre: Urban Fiction
The air shimmered above the downtown asphalt, distorting the already Block-style architecture into something even more absurd. Mid-afternoon in Winnipeg, and the sun beat down with the unapologetic intensity of a prairie summer, pressing against the concrete and glass, making every breath feel thick with humidity and the ghosts of forgotten civic planning. A city humming with a strange, enduring humour, oblivious to the heat.
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.
About the Author
