Glimpses into Divergent Worlds
Within this collection, readers will discover short stories that exist as incomplete narratives, offering glimpses into worlds caught mid-breath. These incomplete short stories are not meant to be exhaustive; instead, they serve as invitations for the imagination to construct the untold beginnings and destinations of each journey.
This project is an experimental program at the intersection of human creativity, interdisciplinary arts, and applied artificial intelligence research. It investigates how digital tools can serve as a partner in the writing process, fostering new forms of storytelling, scriptwriting, and improving digital literacy skills and workflows.
This selection features an array of genres, from the sharp wit of Satire and the high stakes of Medical Drama to the personal intensity of Domestic Thriller, the hidden operations of Espionage / Spy Fiction, and the relatable experiences of Young Adult Contemporary. Authors Tony Eetak, Leaf R., and Eva Suluk have contributed to these tales, alongside contributions from other creators.
We encourage you to step beyond passive reading and into the role of a narrative architect. Engage deeply with these tales, allowing your mind to complete the pictures and weave the threads into your own unique interpretations.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
The Algorithm’s Embrace
Author: Tony Eetak | Category: Noir | Genre: Satire
The air in the ‘Communal Connection Centre’ felt thick, cloying with the manufactured scent of spring blossoms and stale desperation. Fluorescent lights hummed a low, persistent whine above the cubicles, casting an unnatural glow on the pastel walls. Through a gap in the blinds, Harry could see the unnaturally green leaves of a young tree, swaying with an almost mechanical precision against a sky the colour of bruised plums.
The Old Wing’s Grip
Author: Art Borups Corners | Category: Supernatural Mystery | Genre: Medical Drama
Late at night, in a hospital residents’ lounge in Northwestern Ontario, two medical residents, Lindsay and Sam, sift through black and white photographs meant for a local art exhibit, but their discussion quickly turns to a disturbing pattern of unexplained patient deaths and unsettling anomalies captured in their images from the hospital’s old wing.
In the Beam
Author: Tony Eetak | Category: Literary Fiction | Genre: Domestic Thriller
The humid summer air hung heavy in the main hall of the Serpent River First Nation community centre, carrying the faint, lingering scent of last night’s bingo and the pervasive aroma of lemon disinfectant. Dust motes, forbidden from explicit mention yet undeniably present in the diffuse light, danced with a languid indifference as the very infrastructure of the future arts programme seemed determined to unravel itself. The projector, an obstinate, beige behemoth of forgotten technology, offered only a stuttering, lacklustre rectangle of grey, mocking Devon’s increasingly frantic attempts to bring it to life.
The Ghost of Operation Mistletoe
Author: Leaf R. | Category: Psychological Drama | Genre: Espionage / Spy Fiction
The air in the community hall hung thick and heavy, laden with the scent of old wood, stale popcorn, and the faint, metallic tang of an overheating projector bulb. A single, dusty spotlight cut through the gloom, illuminating a patchwork stage set that looked less like Victorian London and more like a forgotten attic sale. The summer heat was relentless, even indoors, pressing down on the handful of us gathered, making every movement a chore, every line delivery feel like a desperate gasp for air.
The Last Service Station
Author: Eva Suluk | Category: Sports Fiction | Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
The interior of a cramped team van smelling of damp gear and stale snacks, moving through a rainy landscape.
Storytelling and the Arts, Skills Development and Digital Transformation
AI-Assisted Storytelling and Scriptwriting: Our “Storytelling and the Arts” project explores AI’s role in creative development, particularly through our case studies in Domestic Thriller, Satire, Espionage / Spy Fiction, Medical Drama, and Young Adult Contemporary. We are examining AI’s ability to construct intricate psychological suspense for Domestic Thriller narratives, craft sharp social commentary in Satire, build complex plots and character motivations in Espionage / Spy Fiction, develop authentic dialogue and ethical dilemmas in Medical Drama, and capture relatable coming-of-age experiences in Young Adult Contemporary stories. This work highlights AI’s potential to assist in tackling genre-specific storytelling challenges and enhance scriptwriting.
Talent Development and Training: Our research simultaneously investigates the new skills demanded of creative professionals navigating digital transformation. The creation of these specific chapters across Domestic Thriller, Satire, Espionage / Spy Fiction, Medical Drama, and Young Adult Contemporary through AI tools offers valuable insights into evolving digital publishing and film production workflows. This experience underscores the growing importance of digital literacy, strategic application and management of AI tools, and the critical discernment required to integrate AI assistance while preserving a unique creative voice.
We’re excited to learn about these new technologies and how they can be applied to expand the boundaries of human storytelling. We encourage you to keep reading, keep imagining, and keep exploring the incredible potential that opens up when creativity meets technology.
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 an interdisciplinary arts and narrative storytelling experiment. It is part of a creative arts and research program by The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and the Art Borups Corners collectives. This project focuses on two key areas: AI-Assisted Storytelling and Scriptwriting, exploring AI for generating ideas, plot structures, and alternative story arcs; and Talent Development and Training, studying the skills and training needs for creative professionals managing AI and immersive technologies to inform future training curricula. Funding and support were generously provided by the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects program and the Government of Ontario. We thank them for supporting the arts, digital transformation, and applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) research for northern innovation in Ontario.
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