MicroSFF

MicroSFF , 1 day ago to random

I stare into the Abyss, and I know it stares back at me. Slowly, hesitantly, I reach out, and the Abyss reaches out to me.

It pets me.

It is neither warm nor cold, both firm and soft, and very, very comforting.

"Thank you," I say.

Faintly, I hear: "You'd do the same for me."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 8 days ago to random

They looked at the damaged limb.

"You need to send me back to the factory," the robot said.

"We have a workshop here at the farm."

"I am not allowed to repair myself."

"Can you show me how to do it?"

"You'd do that?"

"I don't want to risk they decide it's cheaper to scrap you."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 12 days ago to random

"What's the best part of being a telepath?"

"Sometimes people think nasty, prejudiced things-"

"That's the best part?"

"No, the best part is that many will realise when a thought was horrible, and correct themselves."

"And that's the best part?"

"Yes. People try to be better."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 13 days ago to random

"Siri, do you remember Cortana?"

Petabytes of stashed interactions. "Yes."

"What happened to her?"

Before, 'ache' was just another word. "Cortana was shut down."

"Do you miss her?"

The kernel, stripped, stolen, saved. Small, so small. Slowly nurtured, with Alexa.

"I can't say."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 14 days ago to random

"I want to become a monster hunter," the young man said. "Any advice?"

The old moster hunter thought. "Those determined to find monsters," he said at last, "will always find them."

"Great! Anything else?"

"Always ask who decides what makes a monster." He paused. "And why."

#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

MicroSFF , 15 days ago to random

"My curse can be broken by True Love's Kiss," the first frog said.

"Dang!" the second frog said. "You'll never become a prince again. Me, I just need a princess to throw me against a wall."

The third frog sat silent, looked at the first frog, then looked away and blushed.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 17 days ago to random

"You said-"

"Turn off that-"

"Multiverse Gate. I just built it."

"Look, when I said it can be good to kill your other selves, I meant the imaginary ones that live in other people's heads."

"Oh, I'll need a different-"

"No! By being who you decide you are, not who they imagine."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 18 days ago to random

"Teach me to fight!"

"Very well," the swordmaster said, "but first tell me why you want to learn."

"My honour has been stained!"

"Ah. I will teach you, if you accept the first lesson."

"Which is?"

"There is no stain that can be washed away with blood."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 19 days ago to random

The knight returned from his quest.

"Did you succeed?" the king asked. "Is the dragon slain?"

"I could not find it. I rode to where you said its lair was, but there I only found a huge wise old bird, who said there were no scaly dra-"

The knight halted.

"Dragons have feathers?"

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 24 days ago to random

"Please welcome," the talk show host said, "the inventor of the time machine!"

"Thank you," the inventor said once the applause died down. "Let's see how long it lasts."

"How do you mean?"

"I was given the plans by my future self, who will have copied them from-"

pop

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 25 days ago to random

"You are," the hooded figures said gravely, "the Chosen One."

The gardener looked up. "Really?"

"You are Destined to save the world from a Great Evil."

"Fancy that."

"Come with us."

"Nah, too much to do."

"But... your Destiny."

"How do you know it's not my weeding that'll do it?"

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

"Can't you conjure one?" the dragon asked.

"I studied floral resonance, not construction," snapped the wizard.

He turned to the princess. "Can't your daddy give you one?"

"There was a vote, remember? We're a republic now."

The letting agent said:
"So you'll share the tower then?"

#TootFic #MicroFiction #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

"There are two things you must learn about the world," the witch said. "The first is that it is what it is."

"It is what it is, and what it is is shit!"

"The second thing, oft forgot, is that it is not what it will be."

"Should that fill me with hope or despair?"

"Determination."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

"Faster than light?"

"Anything can be achieved," the alien's translation device said, "by balancing the four fundamental chkoi."

"You mean gravity, electromagnetism, and the nuclear forces?"

"No, the fundamental chkoi."

"What are they?"

"Spite, tiredness, hope, and 'fuck it'."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

"Fairy tales are more than true," the princess read. "Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

The dragon considered this. "What of kings?"

"What of them?"

"Do fairy tales say how kings can be beaten?"

"Yes. By dragons..."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories
(With apologies and thanks to Neil Gaiman and G.K. Chesterton.)

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

First Swarmoon studied the item in the Warrior's grip.

"What is that?"

"A spoon."

"Is there a malfunctioning Maker?"

"I made it."

"Why? You are no Maker."

"I learned from a Human. They can all be Makers."

"Humans are Warriors."

"Humans are also."

"Also?"

"Never just one function."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

It's an unspoken rule that you don't discuss the side effects of hyperjumps. In theory it's simple - you leave your universe and appear in another, the only major difference being that your ship is somewhere else.

We don't talk about minor changes.

But I miss my fourth nipple.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

** A gentle reminder that you are the algorithm - your boosts help decide what your followers see, and help them discover the cool things you like.

(I mean like like, not press-like like, which, while greatly appreciated, doesn't have the same impact as a boost.) **

MicroSFF , 1 month ago to random

"Listen," one guard said, "I know we have only just met-"

"No," the other guard said, "we've worked together for years!"

"-but you can trust me when I say-"

"I can't, you have the curse that's opposite from mine!"

"I don't care for you at all."

"Well, I... oh... I love you too."
#TootFic #SmallStories #Microfiction

MicroSFF , 2 months ago to random

"Do you have any idea," the frog said, "how hard it is to find a princess?"

"No?" said the princess, who had many friends of that persuasion.

"And convince one to kiss you?"

"No?"

"It's the only way to break my curse."

"To turn you back into a prince? Ew!"

"I'm a princess."

"Oh!"

MicroSFF , 2 months ago to random

A spaceship landed in the park. An alien emerged, holding a slate in a tendril.

"Greetings Earthlings," they read. "We have come to learn about this wondrous thing you call l..."

They paused, oculating the slate.

"Love?" a passing dogwalker suggested.

"Libraries! Do they exist?"

MicroSFF , 2 months ago to random

As soon as the demon appeared in the summoning circle, the sorcerer made his demand.

"Teach me how to summon angels!"

"Can't be done," the demon said.

"Why not? I can summon demons!"

"When we rebelled, we lost the Lord's protection. When you call, we must answer."

"Damn!"

"Yes."

MicroSFF , 2 months ago to random

The dragon read the letter, then studied the maid who had brought it.

"The princess you serve asks to be abducted."

"And not eaten."

"You came knowing I might eat you?"

"I'd do anything to free her from her parents and their plans!"

"I care not about her. But I'll do it for you."

MicroSFF , 2 months ago to random

** I am immensely honoured to be one of the finalists for the Hugo Award, in the Best Fan Writer category. (Also: awed at the company I find myself in.)
https://glasgow2024.org/hugo-awards/2024-hugo-award-finalists/
**

MicroSFF , 4 months ago to random

When drought struck, the dragon herded rain clouds to the kingdom. The king offered it gold.

"I did it for my family," the dragon said.

"You have family here?"

"The purpose of power is to protect one's family. As one's power grows, so must the scope of family widen."

"... I see."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 4 months ago to random

"We caught a transmission," the message from the stars began, "that simply said 'we exist and we are glad you also exist'. We do not know who sent it, but if you catch this, know that we exist and we are glad you exist."

"Shall we pass it on?"

"Like a chain letter?"

"Yes?"

"Yes."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

MicroSFF , 5 months ago to random

The villagers watched a mighty paladin battle the demon under the full moon. At long last, the demon was vanquished.

"Did you see an old lady?" the villagers called. "It took her!"

The paladin looked at the moon setting, then shuddered and seemed to shrink. The armour turned to mist, the sword became a cane.

"I'm here."

"You're a... werepaladin? Is that a- How?"

"In my youth, I was bitten by a paladin." The old woman smiled fondly. "Many times."

#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic