Countdown -- Axxón 174, June 2007
http://www.axxon.com.ar/rev/174/c-174axxcr1.htm
(Total of 60 stories in the original, each successive story a single word shorter than the last.)
(All translations by Daniel W. Koon from Spanish, unless otherwise noted)
20 - Cold
José Brox
I love your glacial stare, your milk-white skin, your snowy curls... Pity that the police have come to defrost you.
19 - Automation
Eduardo J. Carletti
We regret that the current bombing cannot be halted; all System resources are busy attempting to cancel another war.
18 - Oxidant preferred
Jorge De Abreu
Eager to try new things, the extraterrestrial unfastened its helmet and died of asphyxiation in the CO2 atmosphere.
17 - Transformation
María del Pilar Jorge
The science fiction story absorbed all my time and all my thoughts... Finally, I became a character.
16 - The day God tripped
Eugenio Barragán
A spark crackled and the message appeared against the dark background of the universe: System Error.
15 - Ticktock
Carlos Daniel J. Vázquez
Mr. Ticktock knew how to stop time. He just never learned how to restart it.
14 - Spare part
Miguel Canel
"Doctor, I finally got those transistors you needed."
"Too late. I've lost the pulse."
13 - Bad luck
Daniel Argañaraz
Nobody has ever written a story thirteen words long; it's considered bad luck.
12 - First expedition to Mars
Andrés Diplotti
We have discovered life. Multicellular, carbon based. Limited mobility. Tasty when grilled.
11 - Come together
José Ángel Álvarez Quiñones
"Come together!," K'inich called his scattered remains... and together they came.
10 - Mother's Day
Santiago Eximeno
"Happy Mother's Day," Norman said.
"Thanks, son," Norman replied, smiling.
09 - The time traveler
José Vicente Ortuño
...ran into himself and didn't like what he saw
08 - Resurrection
Miguel Canel
Welcome to Year of Our Lord (You) 2145.
07 - From our expedition to the dead Earth
Georges Bormand
Submerged city found. Looks like New York.
06 - Restaurant on Rigel IV
Sergio Gaut vel Hartman
"Garçon! This human isn't done yet!"
05 - Want Ads
Wayne Enger Smith
Bigbang to rent. Original boxes.
04 - Universe assistance line
Odin Gottensen
Dial 463 and hold.
03 - The beginning of the end
Diego Ferruchelli
"Houston... commencing descent."
02 - Sign found on the gates of a parallel universe
Carmen Perea de Lezcano
"Don't disturb"
01 - My last anthrophagic, autophagic meal
Claudio A. Amodeo
¡Grrrmmmmmmahhhhh!
00 - The day the text-erasing T-bombs fell
Frank Roger (original title in English)
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