Write a story from the POV of a now-defunct piece of technology.

Posted in Short Story on Jan 10, 2025

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✍️ 80 stories

“The Arcade Machine” by Les P

Submitted to Contest #285

(This story is based on the song Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon) "Are you sure about this, Professor?" a nervous undergrad with a significant moustache said, in a soft voice. He smoked a cigarette in the older man's garage, gazing at the work. Professor Arthur McMills stood over a half-complete arcade machine, wires exposed. Tools were scattered around the two men. On the far end of the room, a gurney stood, prepped for surgery, in whatever makeshift fashion a computer science professor could arrange in a few hours' time. "I just know this will...

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“One in a Row of Ten” by Lynn Matchett

Submitted to Contest #285

One In a Row of Ten Clunk! Here I go again. Belting out another performance on Molly’s Sony Stereo System. The speakers are four feet high with a twelve inch woofer. The sound that floats out of these speakers is loud and thumping. Molly and her friends can’t get enough of my fun music and cool vibes. She presses the button and I am alive and happy to be the spotlight of the evening. Here comes my favorite part of being a cassette- the heads are bobbing, the hands are clapping and the feet are tapping. Once I hit the...

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“Snapshots” by Katherine Bunn

Submitted to Contest #285

I’ve been sitting in the attic for a while now. Some days are lonelier than others. On these days, I reminisce. Today, for example, I think back to one of my earliest memories. It was a rainy day, like today (I know because I can hear the rain pattering against the roof).I looked out from the back porch to see three children playing in the rain. The eldest was pretending to tell me a weather report. In the background, the daughter jumped into a puddle, which resulted in her slipping and falling. The youngest, a boy, saw her and joined in. Th...

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“VERSION 2.0” by Erick Otieno

Submitted to Contest #285

I would be lying if I said the cacophony downstairs isn’t getting to me. It feels like they are smugly rubbing it in. “Look, we are down here enjoying our evening while you are locked up there wishing you were down here with us.” I imagine that’s what Ricky would be thinking to himself. Aluminium foils crinkling, a hotpot lid opening and shutting, Tony asking Maria to pass the rice bowl. Such a flurry of activity can only mean it’s the best night of the year. What used to be my favourite night. It’s Christmas night. In about thirty minutes o...

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“Niccolo's Computation” by Conor Smith

Submitted to Contest #285

Earth, in those days, was mainly supported by the labor, food, and energy derived from planets of the outer systems. It had become a paradise afforded only to those people with the proper lineages—and of course the proper funds. Thousands of planets with trillions of people supporting an Earth that many had never actually visited. Before everything, before the deaths, chaos, and destruction, Balthazar was a boy on one such world. The inception of Earth’s automaton servants marked a golden age for the planet and its people. The universe’s str...

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Write a story from the POV of a now-defunct piece of technology.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 80 stories

“The Arcade Machine” by Les P

“One in a Row of Ten” by Lynn Matchett

“Snapshots” by Katherine Bunn

“VERSION 2.0” by Erick Otieno

“Niccolo's Computation” by Conor Smith

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in the form of a landline phone conversation.

Write a story in which someone time-travels 25 years or more into the past.

Write a story about people preparing for Y2K.

Write a story with a character or the narrator saying “I remember…”

Contest #285

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

430

Contest entries

147

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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