Weekly Unfinished Tales and Short Stories from our Dataset
These stories are presented as part of our research into digital transformation in the arts.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
The Winter’s Grin
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Sports Fiction | Genre: Dark Comedy
The world outside the bus window was a smeared, grey landscape of exhaust fumes and slush, a typical Winnipeg winter tableau. But inside, it was just me and the ringing in my ears, the echo of Coach Graham’s words still burning through the static of my disappointment.
A Walk Through the City
Author: Eva Suluk | Category: Expository | Genre: Literary Fiction
The wind, a sharpened blade, scoured downtown Winnipeg, forcing Thomas deeper into his coat. Each breath frosted instantly, a fleeting cloud against the brutal grey sky. The city’s hum felt distant, swallowed by the cold, leaving only the crunch of his boots on the gritted ice and the insistent, looping echo of a memory he couldn’t outrun.
Winter’s Reckoning
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Post-Apocalyptic Survival | Genre: Legal Thriller
The wind, a razor blade honed on the prairies, sliced through the gaps in the buildings, turning the open spaces of downtown Winnipeg into a gauntlet. Snow, old and new, lay heaped against everything, burying cars, shopfronts, and memories under a relentless white shroud. Above, the sky pressed down, a bruise of grey, promising more, always more. It was a city carved from ice and despair, and Andrew Foster, a man older than most of the ruins, walked its silent, unforgiving streets, each step a testament to a stubborn refusal to break.
The Northern Ridge Line
Author: Tony Eetak | Category: Sports Fiction | Genre: Political Thriller
The wind bit at my exposed skin, an icy gnaw that stripped away thought, leaving only instinct. Snow, relentless and unforgiving, swirled around our ankles, erasing our tracks almost as quickly as we made them. The sky above, a bruised purple-grey, pressed down with the weight of unshed tears, promising more blizzard. We were a flicker of warmth in an expanse of white, two figures against the vast, indifferent theatre of the Northern Ridge. This was no longer about the biathlon, not really. This was about survival.
The Empty Shop
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Hardboiled Noir | Genre: Cozy Mystery
A biting winter wind whipped through the village of Oakhaven, carrying fine, crystalline snow that settled on every surface like a fresh coat of quiet. The afternoon light, a weak, bruised violet, was already fading. Three small figures, bundled in more layers than seemed possible, stood before the dark, silent front of Mrs. Johnston’s Secondhand Books. The air smelled of woodsmoke and crisp, wet cold, with the faint, sharper tang of salt from the gritted pathways.
About the Project
The Unfinished Tales and Short Stories collection was an interdisciplinary arts and narrative storytelling experiment in 2025. It was part of a creative arts and participatory research project by The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and the Art Borups Corners collectives. It focuses on two key areas: AI-Assisted Storytelling and Scriptwriting, exploring AI tools for generating ideas, plot structures, and story arcs; and Talent Development and Training, studying digital skills, literacy and training needs for creative professionals by experimenting with AI and immersive technologies to inform future projects. 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.
About the Author
