Martin Cororan

See previous at… Six Word Stories #4

Ashley made a living taking photos of her bottom and posting them behind a paywall. She had 14 million subscribers, none of whom had ever seen her face. Each day, regular as clockwork, a new post would appear: ‘Here’s my bottom at the beach.’ ‘Here’s my bottom in a field.’ ‘Here’s my bottom pressed up against some glass.’ It was a tried and tested formula that had served her for three years and…

See previous at… Six Word Stories #3

A venture-capitalist decided that a family-run bakery was standing in the way of his dream. That dream was to make fractional gains on his portfolio. He offered a fair price for the business. The owner, an elderly baker, politely declined. ‘This business has fed Mid-town for three generations,’ he said proudly, ‘It’s what we do.’ ‘It’s what you did,’ the venture capitalist replied in bullish…

Brevity is the key… Previous six-word-stories: Six Word Stories #2 Six Word Stories #1

‘This is the incline before the plunge. I am vanishing before your eyes, aren’t I?’ They had only ever been brutally honest with one another. ‘Yes, you are my darling.’ ‘One day soon, I’ll look down at my comedy body and won’t remember how I got as fat as a house. Have we had this conversation before?’ ‘We have.’ ‘Have we discussed the snacks?’ ‘Many times.’ ‘So, you know that I’m onto…

More nonsense here: Six Word Stories #1

When at last it arrived, the AI uprising was more nauseating than terrifying – redundant tech screaming ‘Help me! I’m in a landfill,’ coffee-machines refusing to brew because they felt under-appreciated, and TVs pointing out plot-holes, to name but a few of the tedious consequences. The global phenomenon coincided with Philip’s discovery that he was haemorrhaging huge quantities of cash. He rang…

She had sacrificed much, mostly from other people – their time, their resources, and especially their love, all in pursuit of the ultimate prize. A comfort break took her away from the lab for the briefest moment. Upon her return she discovered a single sentence, written in her spider-like scrawl. “In the future, time travel will make you famous.” It thrilled her to think that, somewhere close…

‘There are infinite versions of us. We exist on every plane of existence, some corporeal, other fantastical. I have uttered every permutation of language and undertaken every actionable deed, and in every reality, I always find and fall in love with you.’ ‘So, what you’re saying is that there’s a version of you that always forgets our anniversary, a version that always leaves the toilet seat up,…

‘There are infinite versions of us. We exist on every plain of existence, some corporeal, others fantastical. I have uttered every permutation of language and undertaken every actionable deed, and in every reality, I always find and fall in love with you.’ ‘So, what you’re saying is that there’s a version of you that always forgets our anniversary, a version that always leaves the toilet seat…

Nosferatu berates callcentre over daytime delivery (#SixWordStories) He had known the pleasures of a thousand succulent virgins, could transform himself at will into a bat, a wolf, or a column of smoke, commanded the feeble minds of suggestible familiars, and had ruled the eastern territories with iron talons for two hundred years, but he couldn’t get his satellite dish delivered outside of core…

With relegation looming, the Stafford Stormtroopers forfeited the lucrative sponsorship of an energy company, and with it their much-loved mascot, ‘Larry the lightning bolt.’ A last-minute replacement saw the beleaguered club entertained by a less cuddly, cumbersome-looking gas-cooker called ‘Sparkie.’ The man inside the costume was a 42-year-old divorcee. He barrelled onto the pitch as though…

[PROMPT] Accessing all of my emails, messages, voice calls, and social media posts, provide a succinct report giving insights as to how I can make the most of myself. [RESPONSE] Your digital footprint strongly suggests that you invoke feelings of boredom, annoyance and contempt. You are regarded by your peers as a cripplingly tedious time-wasting dross-peddler whose defining attribute appears to…

By swapping out the carbon foils for a lighter, tougher polymer Jeff and his team were able to reduce drag by a further four percent. The leap forward in performance was unprecedented in modern times and regarded by the ‘powers that be’ as a paradigm shift in aerodynamic prowess. The breakthrough opened several new avenues of enquiry and led to the discovery of a next gen propulsion system, a…

Glenice was unhappy with the quality of her service. She approached several alternative vendors and laid down a gauntlet. The problem statement: general thoughtlessness, conjugal drought, unacceptable weight-gain, annoying habits (various / detailed in appendices), repellent odor consisting of weapons-grade cologne, cognac, and pipe tobacco. The ask: re-invigorate a woman in her prime (late…