Fredric: A Collection of Flash Fiction

by Moshe Sipper

“I’d like to buy a body,” said the man, his voice mingling with the chimes of several doorbells.

Short tales. Big ideas. Welcome to Fredric.

• Bob was a dragon. No, no, please don’t run away to seek cover. Bob was a very nice dragon.
• Fredric shouted gleefully as he was finally shot out of the cannon.
• The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.
• “Seventy-nine?!” cried Linda Ryan, Head of the Planetary Survey. “You're sitting here with a straight face, telling me the Takonians have seventy-nine different sexes?”
• “Have I understood correctly?” asked the g-cook, unable to conceal his disbelief. “You want me to genedit you with artichoke genes?”
• “Wintel is coming,” said the Queen on the Ifon throne.
• Stepping out of the time capsule, the Texan sun was as scorching as Professor Black remembered from fifty years ago.
• “Hello Darkness, my old friend,” I said as Sy took a chair opposite me, at the small café, beneath the warm Mediterranean sun.
• “We should see other people,” said Eve. “There are no other people,” Adam shot back.

Fredric is a collection of short-short science fiction and fantasy stories, written in the spirit of the master, Fredric Brown.

In this revised and expanded edition, award-winning scientist and author Moshe Sipper adds fourteen new pieces written since the original publication. Some continue familiar themes; others head in surprising directions — but all belong to Fredric’s strange little world.

Whether you're returning to these tales or discovering them for the first time, this edition offers fresh insights, sharper twists, and even deeper dives into speculative strangeness.

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 26, 2025

About the author

Moshe Sipper writes stories where science meets imagination. A professor of artificial intelligence and award-winning scientist, he has published over 220 scientific works and taught around the world.

His research explores topics from deep learning to genetic programming.

Alongside his academic career, he writes fiction that blends imagination with thought-provoking ideas. His books span science fiction, thrillers, absurdist humor, young adult and middle-grade fiction, biblical fiction, and cartoons.

He also writes popular science and computer science books that make complex ideas accessible to a broad audience.

Whether through fiction or nonfiction, his writing invites readers to explore surprising questions, strange worlds, and the possibilities of the future.

Learn more at moshesipper dot com.