SHORT STORIES

NEW FOR CHRISTMAS 2007
A CHRISTMAS LETTER     (for Christmas 2007)
(HTML browser version only)
A DRAG on Society     (NEW for Christmas 2006)
(HTML browser version only)
THE DEVILISH EXPERIENCE OF TAM MAITLAND     (for Christmas 2005)
(HTML browser version only)
WHAT IF? A rational man's story     (for Christmas 2004)
(HTML browser version only)
SANTA DIRECT     (for Christmas 2003)
(HTML browser version only)
A Christmas Carol: A story for our time     (for Christmas 2002)
(HTML browser version only)
Once Upon A Time     (for Christmas 2001)
Once Upon a Time (read it with your browser)
The Anomalous Frobisher     (for Christmas 2001)
Two versions -
    anomaly.htm (read it with your browser)
    anomaly.pdf (in pdf format)
If you don't have the Adobe Acrobat reader I can buzz you a copy by email in doc format or plain text.
Voices in the Wind    (A ghost story)
   Only one version
     Voices   (Read it with your browser)
Streaker McNab     (with apologies to John Buchan)
    "Sir, I have the honour to inform you that on the 12th of August, in this Year of Grace ****, I will run through the grounds of Glen Tally Estate for a distance of not less than three miles and in so doing I will pass within 500 yards of Glen Tally House itself. During this run I will wear no clothes at all except for stockings and boots.   Yours etc    John (the Streaker) McNab"

Versions: 
(1) Streaker.txt -   (plain text no line breaks)
      File, format and print with your own word processor system
      (eg WORD or WORDPERFECT)
(2) Streaker.pdf   (fully formatted)
      Read or print with Adobe Acrobat Reader
The Recursive Life and Loves of Michael Monk
    I wrote this story, or an earlier version of it, when I was working on natural language processing at the Dept of Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh University in the early 1970s. The characters are pure fiction, but a number of the ideas in it came from my own research. needless to say, I didn't get as far with the problem of computers handling real language as my main character in the story. Over the space of the intervening years several it has, in various versions, been bounced off magazines and competitions. One of the problems, of course, is that sci-fi fiction has made us accustomed to the idea of computers which can handle real (or natural) language without exposing us to the real difficulties. Invariably they also put some defect into the computer - such as not being able to understand humour. I still think this story comes close to facing the real difficulties and puting the record straight.
Versions: 
(1) Michael Monk (text)       (plain text no line breaks)
      File, format and print with your own word processor system
      (eg WORD or WORDPERFECT)
(2) Michael Monk (pdf)       (fully formatted)
      Read or print with Adobe Acrobat Reader
Polldubh    (a piece of nostagia)
   Only one version
     Polldubh   (Read it with your browser)
[TARTAN HEN] return to our homepage.
[VISITOR'S BOOK]  Please sign in. We like to know who we're talking to.
EMAIL your comments