From 2016 to 2020 I produced a short story (under 1000 words) roughly every couple of weeks. In various genres (science fiction, horror, thriller, fantasy and more), some end positively, others negatively. Some are straightforward, others strange.
These stories are collected in 5 volumes of Millenary, available as free ebooks (click on the covers below for more information), but if you’d prefer to read on-line a complete list of the stories, in chronological order, can be found below these covers.
1 The Job Only the best need apply.
2 A Lesson In Death Rodin gets interrupted at work by an inquisitive child—not what you want when you’re an assassin.
3 Missing An absent cat, a departed woman, and an old man with a dark secret.
4 Work Units Business can be murder.
5 The Gardener All life is precious … to someone.
6 The Weather Report If the weather could be controlled … should it?
7 Influential Friends A business proposition, but who has the most influential friends?
8 Escape They say escape is impossible, but there has to be a way out.
9 Allegiance Some jobs demand allegiance, but so do friends.
10 The Greatest Fraud If you lie for a living, can you stop lying to yourself?
11 Just A Bit Of Harmless Fun Games are always serious.
12 Release Everything has a cost, everything must be repaid.
13 The Offering They found the offering after a night of heavy rain…
14 Patients It’s better when they have something to keep them occupied.
15 The Customer Is Always Right If customers come for more than food and drink, you have to give them what they want.
16 Safe Who keeps you safe … and why?
17 High Stakes Only play for what you can afford to lose.
18 Artificial Intelligence The code doesn’t do what is expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
19 Investigation Sometimes thing’s aren’t what they look like.
20 Never Only One Side There’s always more than one side to a story.
21 Perfect Sometimes things are that good.
22 Monster They call me a monster, but only because they do not understand.
23 A Joke Life can be a joke—but that doesn’t mean it’s any fun.
24 Ghost A coffin, and a secret.
25 Clay The pain of creation.
26 The Tracker Sometimes, the only thing you can do is run.
27 A Little Moment Of Happiness It’s the small things that make all the difference.
28 The Pinnacle A perfect opportunity.
29 Life Story You are the story you tell.
30 Don’t Go If you live in someone’s shadow, what happens when they go?
31 Waiting How long would you wait?
32 They Need To Learn Misdemeanours need correcting, but how far is too far?
33 Old Bones Burn Strong Sometimes the crazy fight is the only sensible choice.
34 Invitation To Dinner Something for Halloween…
35 Eight Hours Sleep, work, play—but is this enough?
36 The Gift And The Giver Music can be demanding.
37 Running The Gauntlet A challenge, or something else?
38 Tradition Traditions are more than stories.
39 Fire Fire destroys everything, right?
40 Unspoken Remove the message. Every copy.
41 Pushing The Limits A little sci-fi action.
42 The Rendezvous A meeting over coffee. What could possibly go wrong?
43 …if you only walk long enough There must be an exit.
44 Blood Bind If the family is everything, what are the individual members worth?
45 It’s Not Murder If They’re No Longer Human …but they won’t all understand this.
46 The Illusion Of Control You think you’re so smart.
47 Predictable Warning: the main character in this story is not a pleasant person.
48 Paradise Enduring solitude for the greater good, or something else?
49 Virtually Reality Jumping between reality, virtuality and dreams.
50 Crossing Even the most mundane of journeys can become unexpected.
51 For Blood (I) Revenge. Payback. Blood for blood.
52 For Blood (II) There’s always another side.
53 The Campaign What is reality?
54 Rumours Can you trust someone who doesn’t lie?
55 Prepared Being prepared means never forsaking the rituals.
56 Stowaway Stowing away is the easy part—first you need to get on board.
57 Hold Back The Waves There’s no rest from saving the world.
58 Suspicion “So why are we following her?”
59 Freedom At Any Cost? When you’re that desperate…
60 End Of The World The world ended sixteen days ago, and nobody noticed.
61 Boxed In Being stuck in traffic can mean life or death.
62 First…And Last Could you spend the night in a haunted house?
63 Fascination Never get too close.
64 Shell How safe is too safe?
65 Time Away Everyone needs time away.
66 Opportunity Golden opportunity, or just gold-plated?
67 The Endling What would you do to keep your identity?
68 New Eden This time, perfection will remain.
69 Power If you could have unimaginable power, what would you do?
70 Watch And Learn …but be careful of the interpretation.
71 Stronger Than Death Life and death are two sides of the same coin.
72 There’s Always A Choice Just hope you make the right one.
73 Do You See? Is it a sight-seeing trip, or something more?
74 Just Doing My Job And sometimes, even that’s more than people expect.
75 Nightmare Park What if the stories are all true?
76 Worth Fighting For There has to be a reason.
77 Food For Thought First Contact leads to war—but why?
78 A New Life Is it possible to start over?
79 Tenancy Agreement Always good to know about previous residents!
80 Memories …but are they what they seem?
81 How Legends Are Born Games aren’t always innocent.
82 To Serve The job is all he has.
83 Ties Of Love Not all are forever.
84 Always The Same When routine is all you have.
85 Sentinels It’s not about what you do.
86 Where Does The Time Go? One moment they’re a baby, the next they’re almost an adult.
87 An Issue With The Car What would you do if you found a body in the back of a hire car?
What Goes Around (a series of connected stories):
88 Part 1: Get The Right One The answer’s not always obvious.
89 Part 2: Always A Silver Lining …if you can find it.
90 Part 3: No Return Some things are unforgivable.
91 Part 4: It Takes A Steady Hand It’s the small things that matter.
92 In The Dark …and alone.
93 Trophy Hunters Every prize has a price.
94 The Long Way Round The planet should’ve been empty—but it wasn’t.
95 Payment Now, or later?
96 Bugs There’s always a chance those dreams of flying away might come true.
97 The Hangman It isn’t only a job.
98 Always A Reason …even if it’s not a great one.
99 A Lesson In Life Lessons come in all forms.
100 Canvas The chance of a lifetime.
All these stories (including the ebook collections) are free, but if you want to support me, you can ‘buy me a coffee’ by clicking on the button below.
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If you’re interested in longer short stories, click here to see the list of stories I have available in various anthologies (all available through Amazon).
TW Iain 