Editors' Choice
Caring for Barbara by B. M. Gilb is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for March/April. This is a new author here on SFS, and he already he has two more stories that have been accepted! Welcome to SFS and keep the submissions coming. We enjoy reading your work.
Last month's theme prompt, Othering AI, ended on April 17, with the final accepted entry published on May 6th. We published fourteen theme stories last month exploring the complex relationships between AI/robots and humans. While some of those relationships were antagonistic, even warlike, we tended to prefer the ones that asked us to imagine ways in which the two could work together in beneficial ways. Because, after all, that is what we must do at this juncture in the development of sentient AI in the real world.
Gilb's story has a main character who exhibits all the characteristics we normally associate with humanity, except one: physicality.
About the Winning Story
Step into the heartwarming tale of "Caring for Barbara," where love transcends time and memory. Join Barbara and Robert in their cozy home, where a simple search for a missing paintbrush unfolds into a cascade of tender moments and cherished memories. From sweet surprises to nostalgic reminiscences, witness the power of love to bring comfort and joy, even in the face of life's challenges.
But there's more to this story than meets the eye, as a young man named Michael enters their world, revealing layers of devotion and sacrifice that redefine what it means to care for a loved one. Experience the warmth, the laughter, and the tears as this touching narrative reminds us that true love endures, no matter the circumstances.
"Caring for Barbara" is a tale of love, family, and the timeless bonds that hold us together, leaving hearts full and spirits uplifted.
If you haven't read Caring for Barabara yet, support our SFS family and click the link below. Don't forget to give a rocket or five if you like it!
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Honorable Mentions
There were three other stories we'd like to mention this month that also do a good job helping us recognize, and hopefully avoid, "othering" entities who are not like us.
"sudo" by James Hornick "Driving Humanity" by B. M. Gilb
"Dog Food" by Jim Dutton
Note that Mr. Gilb submitted two stories for the theme prompt this month, which is technically against the rules. If one of our editors had been paying closer attention (ahem, me) we would have disqualified the second one from the prompt and published it as a normal story. However, this is also an excellent example of the most important rule of fiction writing: if a story is good enough, the rules don't matter.
Of course, you should read all of this month's prompt stories to appreciate and enjoy the variety of ways our writers chose to treat this common theme. Here's a full list:
Display Title | Author | Release Date |
Nagarjuna K | Apr 5, 2024 | |
James Hornick | Apr 12, 2024 | |
Jim Dutton | Apr 16, 2024 | |
B. M. Gilb | Apr 17, 2024 | |
J. Millard Simpson | Apr 18, 2024 | |
J. Cabral-Jackson | Apr 19, 2024 | |
Anne Wilkins | Apr 23, 2024 | |
Nina Miller | Apr 24, 2024 | |
Randall Andrews | Apr 25, 2024 | |
Andrew Leonard | Apr 26, 2024 | |
Jeff Currier | Apr 29, 2024 | |
B.M. Gilb | Apr 30, 2024 | |
J. Cabral-Jackson | May 2, 2024 | |
sd hodos | May 6, 2024 |
Next Month's Theme Prompt
The next theme prompt, Meta-Sci-Fi was announced in April and will end at midnight on May 15. Check it out, and send us your best inside-out, upside-down, self-referential flash sci-fi story.
To allow sufficient time to publish all the accepted theme stories before announcing the editors' choice, we ask you to please complete any necessary revisions within one week of receiving editorial comments.
If you are a subscriber to our site, you can click on that little rocket icon
at the end of a story (up to five times) to express your appreciation to the author. Each month, we award a cash prize to the story that has the most rocket blasts.
You can read each of these amazing stories, plus a new one every weekday, for less than the cost of a robot's eyelash. All you have to do is,
Привіт друже, дуже гарний запит, та загалом тематика, зараз тобі дам рекомендацію з приводу новинного порталу, та тут одразу зможемо поспілкуватися про всі останні новини. Можу тобі відверто сказати, що я сам тільки нещодавно розпочав читати новини на якісному порталі. Також з нового для себе відмітив, новини про Джозефа Байдена https://glavcom.ua/tags/dzhozef-bajden.html, котрий відкрився для мене з нового боку, а також, я не забуваю читати новини пов'язані з моєю країною, що дозволяє мені бути залученим у життя різних областей та міст. Окрім новин про Джозефа Байдена, я активно читаю новини закордонних країн, що також дуже важливо, бо світові новини та справи дуже впливають на світосприйняття. Також, я не забуваю читати новини про нашу неньку, це вже звичка, котра переросла в обов'язок.