Setting: Modern
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What Makes a Snake
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Genre: DramaSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Dread, Drill down, Filing cabinet, Get the memo, Line manager, Minutes, Piss, Scroll (computer), Sexual harassment, Squeeze out, Synergy, Touch base, UrinalWord Count: 6590Original Author: Ariel GoodbodySam works in the stupidest department of his company: the ‘Synergy Snakes’. What they’re actually supposed to do, he has no idea, but he’s managed to create a system where he doesn’t have to talk to his co-workers and does as little work as possible. The only problem is, the company is looking to get…
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The Red Book
Gemma finds a strange red book on her way home from school. She starts reading it, and it is a story about a boy called Nai. In the story, Nai also finds a red book, and when he starts to read it, the story is about Gemma…
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Simon’s New Job
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Genre: ComedySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Chase, Control, Deodorant, Put the heating on, Scream, Smell, Stick to, Still, Sweat, Tear (pulling)Word Count: 1033Original Author: Ariel GoodbodySimon gets a new job, but everything goes wrong. He doesn’t wear enough deodorant and smells at work. He tries walking, taking the bus, the train, a taxi, but he always gets there too early or too late. One day, it all becomes too much…
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Four Windows
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Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Aerosol can, Distort, Moral (story), Mundane, Pristine, Quirk, Rut, Scrub, Sleep in, WarfareWord Count: 1609Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyTwo people live in buildings next to each other: a clean man and a messy woman. Each day, they look through the window into the other’s flat and imagine what their life is like. But in the end, only one person knows the truth…
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Eyes, Teeth and Toenails
Ken finally has his holiday. But his eyes hurt! Maybe watching TV will help. Lisa loves brushing her teeth – she does it EVERYWHERE. But what will happen when she goes to the dentist? Vladimir has beautiful, long toenails… but does his boss agree?
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Eileen
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Genre: HorrorSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Acid, Bruise, Bully, Climate change, Come up with, Disguise, Disprove, Exponential, Hack, PrecociousWord Count: 1449Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyWith every month that passes, Eileen gets cleverer. The kids at school hate her, and her parents are afraid of her. There’s something not… human about this child. This story covers my feelings about AI (artificial intelligence). I talk a lot about an episode of another podcast, Your Undivided Attention, which explains the dangers and…
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The Pancake Man
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Genre: DramaSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: At first, Connect (person), Flip, Frying pan, Giant, Grave, Lift weights, Pancake, Run (business), Sick of something, SpaceWord Count: 1194Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyFrancis’s mother dies, and his father gets very sad. One day, Francis’s father starts making pancakes. Francis loves the pancakes, so his dad makes bigger and bigger pancakes. But maybe they’re too big…
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The Labyrinth
A woman keeps ending up in bad relationships. A businessman works so hard he has heart problems. A young man killed his friend by drunk driving and now he can’t stop drinking. All three of them are lost. All three of them go to drive. They go to the place where all roads lead: the…
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The Perfect Pet
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Genre: HorrorSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Allergy, Bite, Blood, Butcher, Covered in, Guinea pig, Lock, Mean (unkind), Named after, Pee, Scratch, SocialWord Count: 1424Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyRory has always wanted a pet, but his parents don’t like animals. When Rory finishes university, he decides to get a pet. First, he gets a dog, but then things start going wrong…
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The End
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Genre: FantasySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Agony, Base instincts, Bioregionalism, Bloom, Buzzard, Cannibalism, Cathartic, Curl up, Cymbals, Horizon, Intentional, Millennium, Mourn, Roar, Solace, Tapestry, Tinnitus, Umbilical cordWord Count: 866Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyOne day, God came down and took all life from earth. Except humans. But how can you survive in a world without life?