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The Night of Grimalkin by Obiotika Wilfred Toochukwu

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Nurse Vicki tells the story of Ogochukwu, a woman in rural Nigeria convinced she is being targeted by a mysterious vendetta marked by menacing felines. Image generated with OpenAI Miss Vicki leaned her elbows on the duty table, the smell of disinfectant mingling with the soft cry of newborns behind the curtains. "I've told this story only once," she began, her voice thin, "and the last nurse who heard it resigned the following week." The generator outside coughed and steadied. The night duty nurse leaned closer. "It began," Miss Vicki said, "with a village woman named Ogochukwu - patient record number 174/21, if you care to verify. She arrived here pale, feverish, claiming that every time she saw a black cat, she lost a child." The woman had come from Amankwo, a village folded between red-earth hills where myths still patrolled the footpaths. Her husband, Malachi Uchenna, was in Lagos hunting for jobs. Farm work could no longe...
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NRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR by Jake Holland

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A woman living with her parents is troubled when her recently divorced stepbrother Theo moves in and starts a relationship with their vacuum cleaner. Image generated with OpenAI Theo was spending too much time with Harry. 'How long does it take to hoover a bedroom,' I said. 'He keeps it running all night.' 'It helps him sleep,' Mum said. 'Like white noise.' It was Sunday, so we were all eating together. Mum was at one end of the table. My stepfather at the other. My stepbrother Theo, in the middle. And there, in the seat directly opposite me, was Harry with his psychotic, plastic grin. Theo got up from his chair. 'I know it sounds strange, but do you mind if I switch on Harry for a bit?' 'Of course not,' Mum said. My stepfather stared down at his bowl, bringing a spoon to his lips. 'Fine by me.' We sat in silence slurping our soup while Harry sucked up his air. 'I can't eat with that thing star...
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The Ballad of Joan Henry by Steven R. Southard

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Joan Henry must compete with a robot for her job as CEO of a manufacturing company. Image generated with OpenAI Robots have taken over most jobs, Joan Henry thought, but they can't take mine as CEO. The blonde woman on the screen must have thought otherwise. "The AI in this new model is very advanced," Gretchen Greenbrier, chairman of the Board of Directors, said. "The Board decided it's worth a test." Joan shook her head and looked out her office window toward the downtown spires of Charleston, West Virginia, two miles away. A trim, thirty-seven-year-old black woman, she turned back to the screen and faced Gretchen with an intense gaze. "You're not talking about a test. You're talking about a competition." "A competition, then," Gretchen nodded. "SteelDrive will have two CEOs today, and the best one retains the job." "How will you judge who's best ? A CEO has to be creative, visionary, persu...
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By Night by Meredith Rosier

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A prima ballerina is gradually usurped by a youth with preternatural ability. Image generated with OpenAI "Ballet, like opera, is wonderful because it is monstrous, the hyper development of skills nobody needs, a twisting of human bodies and souls into impossible positions, the purchase of light with blood." - Irina Dumitrescu, Swan, Late: The Unexpected Joys of Adult Beginner Ballet . The lights bowed in a soft indigo upon the stage. The house seats waited, empty, in the gloom, but as she took those pointed, shuffling steps, Alice still felt it - the heavy, crushing presence of expectation. There was no music. Alice knew the steps by heart. She had taken on the name of Giselle many times. In fact, it was her favorite role to play. Like most girls, she had dreamed of being draped in veils of white, but when Alice put on the dress, she commanded eyes forward, not back. She dodged through the shadows on the stage. Twirling, jumping, twisting. Passé, Jeté, Saut...
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