Shortacool Fiction

Bells ring. Chaos breaks out. A painting unfurls not to be admired, but to be entered. Inside, colors spark, grass glows, and a towering elm whispers a cryptic warning: “Red shapes will show you the way.” But before the mission can unfold, fire consumes the island. The State is closing in. With no way back, there’s only one choice: step through the door. In this episode you’ll hear: A painting tha...

Encrypted Frequencies – Entry 007 Title: The Signal. After a narrow escape by boat, Detective Mertens lands on an island unlike anything he’s ever seen. There are no cameras. No patrols. Only color, art, and people living freely, something he never thought possible under State control. But this sanctuary isn’t just a hiding place. It’s the home of a rebellion. And they’ve been waiting for him. Mer...

FLASH FICTION – “Packing for Paris” By Shortacool A flash fiction tale about the limits of love and luggage. What if your partner sent you a bag instead of a plane ticket and expected you to fit? A surreal story about shrinking for someone else… in every possible way. From the Shortacool flash archive. This is a standalone episode and not part of the Encrypted Frequencies series. Written & narrate...

Encrypted Frequencies – Episode 6 Underground Rebellion in a World Without Emotion After triggering an alarm, Detective Mertens must escape with a dangerous artifact: a painting rumored to alter perception and maybe even memory itself. With the State closing in, he flees into the Well, a soot-choked district where the air burns and emotion has long been outlawed. Inside a crumbling home, a family...

After stepping inside the painting, Mertens is overwhelmed by color, memory, and forbidden emotion. But outside the canvas, the State is closing in—and someone is about to die. A rebellion begins with a feeling. Encrypted Frequencies is a weekly dystopian voice log series from a future where art and emotion are outlawed. New transmissions every Friday. Full archive + transcripts: https://shortacoo...

Entry 004: After capture, Mertens comes face to face with the Painter—and the canvas itself. What waits inside the painting is not just memory... it’s something alive. Encrypted Frequencies is a weekly dystopian voice log series from a future where art and emotion are outlawed. New transmissions drop every Friday. Full archive, transcripts, and behind-the-scenes: 🔗 https://shortacool.substack.com...

In a warehouse lit by open flame, Detective Mertens comes face to face with a painting long thought extinct—until it moves. And then something steps out. “I’d only heard whispers—what one might look like. But this... this is something else.” Shortform speculative fiction told through voice logs and transmissions from outlawed futures. Listen weekly on Substack, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Full tr...

Episode 002: The Well A descent into the forgotten district. Surveillance fades. Memory doesn’t. Shortform speculative fiction told through voice logs, transmissions, and story fragments from strange futures and forbidden timelines. Season 1: Encrypted Frequencies In a world where art and emotion are outlawed, a detective begins to remember. New stories weekly. Some serialized. Some standalone. Tr...

Entry 001: “The Painting” In a world where art and emotion are outlawed, a detective finds a forbidden sketch—one she can’t bring herself to destroy. Season 1: Encrypted FrequenciesFull transcript at: shortacool.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com