Fast-Paced / Pulpy Short Stories

A River's Cold Reckoning

By Leaf Richards

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.

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Heat, Dust, and Debt

By Leaf Richards

The kitchen was a muggy box, the air thick with the faint, stale scent of last night's takeout and the cloying sweetness of overripe peaches. Sunlight, bleached white by the hazy Toronto summer, bled through the grease-streaked window, illuminating motes of dust dancing in the stagnant air. Every surface felt tacky to the touch, and the old fridge hummed a mournful, off-key tune, a constant reminder of the building's tired infrastructure and the stagnant finances of its inhabitants. Tarek, already sweating through his t-shirt, leaned against the counter, knuckles white, the worn laminate cool against his skin.

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The Horticultural Conundrum

By Eva Suluk

The air, thick and sweet like overripe pears, vibrated with the discordant hum of spring. Fluorescent lights above the 'Quiet Reading Alcove' flickered with a neurotic zeal, casting long, wavering shadows across the faded linoleum. Outside, a sudden, warm drizzle began, tapping a rhythm against the stained-glass window depicting a particularly stern-looking badger. Within the hushed, lemon-polish scented confines of the Buttercup Community Centre, a covert operation was already underway, its stakes, at least in the eyes of its pint-sized orchestrators, nothing less than the very essence of graceful maturity.

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The Humming Machine

By Jamie F. Bell

The siren's long, ragged cry tore through the damp, still air of early spring, an abrasive sound that never truly faded, only retreated to the edges of hearing. Inside the emergency department's trauma bay, the fluorescent lights hummed with an indifferent, sterile glow, casting harsh, unforgiving shadows. Dr. Armedi, his scrubs already feeling heavy and cool against his skin, adjusted his loupes, the familiar metallic tang of iron and disinfectant already prickling at the back of his throat. Another Winnipeg night was bleeding into a grey, hesitant dawn, bringing with it the city’s grim offerings.

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The Weight of Paper Dust

By Jamie F. Bell

The smell of old paper and dust motes suspended in the weak, autumn light that filtered through the high, arched windows of the National Archives in downtown Winnipeg. It wasn't the heroic scent of ancient scrolls or forgotten treaties, but something more mundane: stale air, cheap adhesive, and the faint, persistent metallic tang of filing cabinets. Leah sat hunched over a heavy, brittle binder, its corners worn smooth from decades of neglect, her finger tracing the yellowed lines of government policy drafts from the late 1980s.

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The Grid

By Jamie F. Bell

A chill, metallic tang hangs heavy in the pre-dawn air, clinging to the skeletal remains of high-rises. The city's hum, a low thrum of failing emergency generators, feels more like a tremor beneath Tyler's worn boots as he slips between shadows, each movement a gamble against the profound, terrifying silence.

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