Authors: Paul Di Filippo
Strange Trades (57 page)
This then, P. realized, was its true output.
Soon, P. knew, the boredom would invade his home, as it already had crept into the domiciles closest to The Boredom Factory. At such a time, there would no longer be any difference between home and the Factory.
And, ultimately, this was why he continued to go to work.
Strange Trades Drabble
Once a group of fiction magazine enthusiasts gathered online.
Their conversation flourished until the advent of virtual reality.
Then they all began to quarrel over avatars.
“I’ll be Tarzan!”
“No, me!”
“Take off that deerstalker, you second-rate Sherlock!”
“Make me!”
All civilized discourse ended when five people simultaneously appeared as John Carter.
Once the fighting had temporarily ceased, the wise list- moderator stepped in. “Ladies and gentlemen, we must resolve this sensibly. I suggest we each adopt the persona of a famous editor, assigned by lot. There’ll be no fighting then.”
He was right. Now faced with being editors, everyone left!
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
“Agents,” first published in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
, April 1987.
“The Boredom Factory,” first published as a portion of “Fantasy Trilogy” in
The Edge
, 2, no. 1, 1995.
“Conspiracy of Noise,” first published in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
, November 1987.
“Fleshflowers,” first published in
Back Brain Recluse
, no. 16, 1990.
“Harlem Nova,” first published in
Amazing Stories
, September 1990.
“Karuna, Inc.,” first published in
Fantastic Stories of the Imagination,
no. 21, Spring 2001.
“Kid Charlemagne,” first published in
Amazing Stories
, September 1987.
“The Mill,” first published in
Amazing Stories
, October 1991.
“Skintwister,” first published in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
, March 1986.
“Spondulix,” first published in
Science Fiction Age
, September 1995.
“SUITs,” first published in
Amazing Stories
, August 1993.”
Copyright © 2001 by Paul Di Filippo
Cover design by Open Road Integrated Media
ISBN 978-1-4976-1318-8
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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