Fantasy
He Saved a Genie… So Why Did It Try to Kill Him?
By(Haris Barki) Once upon a time a fisherman so old and so poor that he could scarcely manage to support his wife and three children. He went every day to fish very early, and each day he made a rule not to throw his nets more than four times. He started out one morning by moonlight and came to the sea-shore. He undressed and threw his nets, and as he was drawing them towards the bank he felt a great weight. He thought he had caught a large fish, and he felt very pleased. But a moment afterwards, seeing that instead of a fish he only had in his nets the carcase of an ass, he was much disappointed.
By Mariana Farias13 days ago in Fiction
The Goblin
Mr. Moore finished roll call and signaled to the bus driver to go. The bus started to move. Doug Barnes slipped on his head phones and turned on his Walkman. The year was 1998. He shut his eyes and got lost in the rock music playing in his ear phones. The bus hit a pothole and jostled everyone temporarily. Doug grumbled under his breath. If there was one thing Doug could not stand it was a long bus ride. This particular bus ride was going to last two hours.
By DJ Robbins13 days ago in Fiction
Merlina Magpie. AI-Generated.
Merlina Magpie did not sleep. This was not, in itself, unusual. Astronomy professors were not known for maintaining sensible hours, and Merlina had long ago abandoned any attempt at pretending otherwise. Still, there was a distinct difference between choosing not to sleep and finding that sleep would not come at all.
By Eris Willow13 days ago in Fiction
Merlina Magpie. AI-Generated.
Professor Merlina Magpie had always been particularly good at ignoring advice. This was not because she failed to hear it—quite the opposite. She listened very carefully, asked thoughtful questions, and even, on occasion, appeared to agree. It was simply that, once she had considered all the sensible warnings placed before her, she had an unfortunate habit of doing exactly what she pleased anyway.
By Eris Willow13 days ago in Fiction
Endless Online. AI-Generated.
The sound did not belong to distance. That was the first thing Merlina understood. The bell that rang beneath them was not echoing up through tunnels or stone—it was arriving. As if space itself had carried the sound directly into the chamber, bypassing every rule the world pretended to follow.
By Eris Willow13 days ago in Fiction
Endless Online. AI-Generated.
They did not leave at once. That would have been the sensible thing, perhaps—if sense still held any authority in Aeven. But nothing about the square felt stable anymore, and none of them trusted the appearance of calm. The fountain had resumed its harmless cycle, the water clear, the stone unbroken, the lanterns steady. Players drifted back in cautious clusters, muttering to one another about events, lag, hidden patches, developer interference. Already the world was trying to explain itself away.
By Eris Willow13 days ago in Fiction
