Weekly Unfinished Tales and Short Stories from our Dataset
Welcome to our weekly dispatch from the ‘Unfinished Tales’ project, a creative arts and research program dedicated to narrative experimentation. The short stories presented here are drawn directly from our growing dataset, representing a series of explorations undertaken for the simple joy of storytelling and to discover what new creative avenues we can chart. This collection is a testament to that initial spirit of inquiry—a project that began for fun, and to learn what we can do when we combine traditional narrative with new technological frameworks.
Beyond their narrative merits, these fragments serve a dual purpose within our research mandate. For our study of AI-Assisted Scriptwriting, they act as foundational prompts and stylistic benchmarks, allowing us to analyze how generative models interpret genre, character, and tone. Concurrently, these pieces are crucial for our Talent Development and Training initiatives. They provide tangible case studies for creative professionals, highlighting the evolving skills required to manage AI-driven tools and foster interdisciplinary approaches, thereby mapping the new literacies essential for the future of digital and immersive storytelling.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
A Custard Tart and a Missing Trinket
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Mystery | Genre: Cozy Mystery
The aroma of cinnamon and stale coffee hung thick in ‘The Daily Grind,’ a small café nestled on the main street of Willowbrook Falls. Outside, the early spring sun, watery and pale, was just beginning to coax reluctant green from the dormant branches of maples lining the pavement. Inside, Agnes Winter, a woman whose spectacles often sat askew on her nose, was meticulously dissecting a custard tart with a tiny fork, her attention only partially on the pastry. Her friend, Betty Davids, across from her, was in full flow, detailing the latest local scandal.
Dust and Jasmine
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Dystopian | Genre: Romance
The afternoon light, strained through the smog-tinged summer air, cast long, distorted shadows across the plaza. The air was thick with the faint scent of ozone and the city’s ceaseless, electric hum from the overhead transportation arches. Pedestrians moved with a practiced, almost ritualistic efficiency, their faces mostly obscured by regulation-issued hoods against the solar glare, each person a solitary island in a sea of compelled proximity.
Rustle of Data, Chill of Progress
Author: Eva Suluk | Category: Legal Thriller | Genre: Contemporary
A damp, late October morning in a Canadian city. A young man sits on a park bench, observing the world and his own place within it, before seeking the quiet solace of a university library.
Iron Under Scrutiny
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Hardboiled Noir | Genre: Sports Fiction
The city’s breath hung heavy and grey over the frozen canal, exhaled by a thousand glowing screens and the acrid tang of melting road salt. Lamplight, fractured and weak, struggled to cut through the haze, painting the ice in sick yellows and bruised purples. A low hum vibrated from the temporary generators powering the floodlights, a mechanical heartbeat beneath the hush of anticipation. Tonight, the stakes were etched not in scoreboards, but in the desperate gleam in young men’s eyes.
Heat, Dust, and Debt
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Fast-Paced / Pulpy | Genre: Domestic Thriller
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.
Design Notes and Applied Research
This collection showcases a dynamic range of genres and subject categories, from the character-focused intimacy of Romance to the structural demands of a Legal Thriller. This intentional variety provided our participants a framework to develop distinct narrative skills, exploring the mechanics of suspense, pacing, and world-building across different formats. The inclusion of fast-paced and pulpy sensibilities reflects a direct engagement with storytelling methods adapted for digital consumption, a core objective of our program.
As an exercise in creative exploration, this project was a valuable and energetic undertaking for the incubator. The juxtaposition of established genres with contemporary subject matter generated unique narrative challenges and yielded insightful results into the evolving landscape of popular fiction. We are pleased to archive this collection as a successful experiment demonstrating the adaptive and versatile nature of storytelling in a period of significant digital change.
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.
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