The old pier was a little way outside of the modern harbour, a leftover from the days of sail. These days it was popular with swimmers more than boats. At night, though, it was unlit and very lonely.

Detective Lieutenant Dave Chandler looked around the dark beach. No-one. It seemed unlikely that someone would bomb the pier, and it would take a professional sniper to hit him from the nearest cover - and if that was the threat, he was already dead. He pulled his windbreaker closed, and started up the wooden stairs.

The old pier was nearly three hundred metres long, and it was distinctly odd to be walking it at night, with no-one around. He reached the end, checked his watch, and looked around. No-one. No boats, nothing.

"Down here" came a voice, a familiar one, if only heard in passing. He looked down, and there was Iris, in the water.
"Iris? Here, let me give you a "
She cut him off with "No, I'm better off here for now," and then pointed "Come around to the swim deck so we can talk."
He walked back to the steps down, and then sat at the edge of the deck.
"Hello, Dave. Sorry I've not been able to come by like usual."
"Iris, why don't you come out? It must be freezing in there."
"That's part of what I have to talk to you about. Look down into the water."
He started to look down, and snapped his eyes back to her face, blushing. "Err, Iris, you're, um" he stuttered.

She giggled, sounding years younger.. "I know, go on, look. It is important."
He looked down again, and then stared. And kept staring. Halfway down her naked breasts, just where the water met them, they vanished. Like there was only half a torso bobbing on the surface.
"Now watch carefully" as she spoke, the rest of her body faded into view below the water, and then faded away again.
"What...how...Wait! You're not human! That's how you survived! But why are you not coming out of the water?" He paused. "Actually, what are you?"
"Turns out being half naiad is still a naiad."
"A naiad?"
"A water nymph. My mother is one. As for why I'm not coming out, that's a bit more complicated. I will be able to in a few weeks, but I'm really going to be stuck here for a good few years."
Dave frowned, clearly not following.
"I can't leave the water because it would hurt the baby."
He stared again.
"They won't be like me. They'll be a merperson, and I'll have to take care of them full time."
"A merperson?" he asked, bewildered.
"You know how fish spawn? Well, fish like to spawn near naiads. The offspring are lucky or something. I was unconscious after getting shot in the face, and some of what was going on ended up in me."
Dave didn't know if he should be horrified.
"I'm fine with it, but it is going to make it hard to keep the mob under control" Iris continued "and I had hoped we'd get a chance to date."
He ran out of surprise at that and squeaked "Me?"

3rd and final part of https://aus.social/@rdm/114704704529092909
#SF #microfiction #SFF #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting.

I wrote something out of years of frustration, most of it towards my parents - everything culminating to the current situation. #Blog #IAmWriting #LongReads (it's pretty long, and I tried to not add too many details to begin with)

It's For Your Future

Detective Lieutenant Dave Chandler never forgot the day he first met Iris. He'd only just made Detective, and was doing a coffee run for the 'pit and this girl - no young woman - bumped into him, quite deliberately, and made a big to-do about him walking into her. And in the middle of it all, he felt her hand go into his shirt pocket, so slickly and smoothly, he was certain she was a pro. But a shirt pocket? So when she'd moved on, and he was in the queue for the coffee, he'd checked it. And there was a folded note with times, dates, and what looked like cargo manifests with ship names.

It took some convincing of his then boss, but he got permission to do a stakeout. And it had all checked out.

With the photos he'd taken that night, they'd made quite a hit on the local drug smugglers.

It had stayed like that for a few years, this pretty woman with blue-green hair would bump into him somewhere, and he'd find a note.

So he'd asked around, and found out her name, and that she was actually a year older than him. The daughter of a fisherman who'd disappeared the day she turned eighteen. No one knew who her mother was. She had a small fishing shack and a boat.

Then one night he saw her get shot, and fall into the harbour.

He'd almost gone charging in, but there were far more of the mobsters than there were of him and his partner. So they called for backup, and by the time they got there it was all too late.

But the next day, Iris had bumped into him again, and this time softly said "I'm fine." She'd known he was staking out the scene. And somehow managed to not only survive, but dodge the sweep they did to try and find her body! He'd tried to grab her, but she'd given him the slip in seconds - despite the distinctive hair.

That was the first time. Over the past year, he'd seen her shot, clubbed, stabbed and run down at least eight times. Every single time ending up in the harbour, and each time she'd bump into him the next day as if nothing had happened.

This last time, though, she'd not been back.

And now there was this letter. Telling him to look after the shack and the boat. And to go out to the old pier tonight. Alone. He had not planned on following those instructions, except for two things. A single strand of blue-green hair folded into the letter. And another list.

#microfiction #SFF #SF #Microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting

A companion to https://aus.social/@rdm/114676145868865943

Short story - King of the Mountain: https://matthewhurst.micro.blog/2025/06/17/short-story-king-of-the.html

#writingcommunity #iamwriting

I have a new story on the website - What if witchcraft was available through an AI powered app? ss.lucidillusions.in/shortstory/2... Check out the new #FlashFiction here! #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting #ShortStory

Witchcraft 101

The story got accepted for July issue 🎉🎉🎉 Patreon has been updated with 2 stories. 😁 #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36h6ttx2g23zqr4accilbvo7/post/3lqu6pb635225

@SFFMagazineCovers

Iris was a source of endless trouble for the local Mafia. She'd rat to the local police what was happening on the docks, and they'd send her off to "sleep with the fishes". Then the next morning she'd be back.

Of course Iris was the daughter of a naiad, but she never told them that. Getting shot was not that much of a problem either - a quick dip, and she was as right as rain, so to speak.

And she'd been getting shot a lot. And she was not always conscious when she hit the water. It took a little while for the water to heal her, so she did not wake up straight away.

The problem was the local fish. They could tell her heritage, and would take any opportunity to spawn near her.

So now she was pregnant. She couldn't blame the fish, they were just doing what fish did, but it was inconvenient - raising a mer-child around here was not going to be easy, and it was not like there was a colony of them near here to foster them with.

So she was going to have spend the next eight or nine years down here at least. Which was going to make it hard to keep those pesky gangsters under control.

And was going to be especially hard to explain to that nice police lieutenant.

#SF #SFF #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting

I finished writing another story, and since I am not sure where to send it to, I've shared it on @patreon.com Check it here www.patreon.com/posts/dear-i... Imprudence, An anxious demon who wants to befriend a human. #ShortStory #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting

Dear Imprudence | Lucid Illusi...

This is available on my site now: ss.lucidillusions.in/shortstory/2... #FlashFiction #ShortStory #IAmWriting #WritingCommunity

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36h6ttx2g23zqr4accilbvo7/post/3lp33ldxwck24

Thirty Six Frames

Added a new story on @patreon.com I feel like this has a lot of scope to grow into something longer (about 8-10 chapter long, but it is gonna be a slow process) Anyway, it's free to read - you just need to become a 'free' member. www.patreon.com/posts/vigila... #WritingCommunity #IAmWriting

The Vigilantes Offer | Chapter...

@SFFMagazineCovers
Janice considered the statue in the hallway. The eyes glowed red.
"Oh, poo. It is the ides, isn't it."
The statue started to twitch.
Janice quickly assumed the same pose as the statue.
The eyes continued to glow.
She saw that her hand was not clenched, so she corrected that.
The eyes dimmed.
"I'll have to warn the dinner guests I suppose."

#sff #sf #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting

Me as a reader at a book conference listening to a reading: "Wow, some day I'm going to write like that."

Me as an author at a book conference listening to a reading: "Shit, I will never be anywhere near that good. This whole writing thing is folly, I should go sell ice cubes for a living, I'd do better."

It's not really that bad, of course, but there's so much more to do. So much more.

#IAmWriting

WRITER FUEL: 'Jetsons' robot finally arrives: Sweater-wearing Neo Gamma android helps with household chores.

https://www.limfic.com/2025/06/06/writer-fuel-you-may-soon-be-able-to-buy-a-robot-to-do-household-chores/

#Writing #Writers #Authors #IAmWriting #IndieAuthor #SelfPublishing #Writing #Non-Fiction #BookReview #Review #bookstodon @bookstodon #book #books #Robots #Robotics #Jetsons

So that’s the plotting done. Now it’s just… typing. Which is great and also daunting.

#writingcommunity #iamwriting

Up until nearly 10 PM working on my presentation slide deck for this week's class. It reminds me, in an odd way, of the last minute rush to finish a term paper back in my high school or college days.

I'll finish up early in the morning, just like I did back in the day. #IAmWriting #writing

@SFFMagazineCovers

Goldfrapp's cover of the King Missile debut hit was a bold move. The resulting video clip was banned in many countries, which resulted in it becoming their highest charting song ever.

The band's singer called it 'satisfying'.

#IAmWriting #microfic #tootfic #microfiction #NotSFF

#iamwriting #poetry
https://abuseofnotation.github.io/tags/poetry/

Memory & Moggies: McIlvanney, Muriel & Making a Novel
10 June, free online

Prof Zoë Strachan explores the inspiration behind her latest novel, the historical fiction Catch The Moments as They Fly (2023) – including the work of William McIlvanney, & Muriel Spark’s advice that writers should acquire a cat…

@writingcommunity
@litstudies

https://www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scotland/

#Scottish #literature #writing #historicalfiction #novel #IAmWriting #WritingCommunity #Scotland #Ayrshire #memory

Kenji looked at his transfer orders: "Report for advanced elite training. Division G."

He knew at once where these had come from. They had come straight from the General. And he knew why.

Three weeks ago, he'd been on leave, and, as any normal guy would, went to a nightclub. He'd had a couple of drinks - not enough to get drunk - danced hard, and met Mai, who was a very nice young woman just a couple of months older than him. One thing led to another, and they'd spent the night together - at her folks place, which she had been looking after while they were away.

And her parents had come home from their trip. While they were still in bed. In her room.

You'd think that parents of a 24 year old woman would have some respect for her personal space, but not her father. The General.

Which led to this transfer. To Division G. "Advanced elite training," sure. Division G existed for one reason alone. To distract kaiju from the civilians long enough for them to get away. Divisions M, S, and X got the funky experimental weapons. Sometimes those actually worked. But Division G just got the conventional stuff. They were the sacrificial distraction.

At least Mai appeared to have had no regrets and did actually care. She was still writing to him and calling anytime he got a break. Hopefully she'd be able to convince her father to relent. Hopefully before he became kaiju chow.

#SFF #SF #SciFi #Kaiju #IAmWriting #microfiction #microfic #Tootfic