No One Beats Us
Author: David Sydney
“We’re running out of bronze.”
“What?” Mel Schwartz squinted at his partner in disbelief.
“Look at these greaves, Mel.”
“My God. What must his shins be like?”
What was true of the greaves applied to the javelin, spear, scimitar, and bronze mail as well.
“Are you fitting out a giant?” asked Mel.
“Exactly,” said Percy.
O’DOULE & SCHWARTZ ARMORERS was profiting in the Bronze Age. But with customers so large, they needed all the metal they could get. The upcoming contest would showcase their products. Percy took care of the materials and Mel the prices. They skimped on neither. As they advertised, O’DOULE & SCHWARTZ– NO ONE BEATS US.
“Are sure he can pay, Percy? How big is this Philistine?”
It was before feet and inches. 6 feet, 9 inches was a cubit and a span.
“What? A span, too?” Who could be that large? Mel calculated the profit on the bronze.
“I should have everything finished by tomorrow.”
“We don’t want to mess with a guy like that.”
The fight was three days off.
“Keep working on things, Percy. I’m going to see Sam.”
“The bookmaker?”
“I’ve got got some business.”
Sam Luckman, a small man with a wiry beard, sat at his usual place at the back of MOE’S TAVERN. He enjoyed two things–bookmaking and wine. The interest in the upcoming fight kept Sam in his cups. He glanced up at Mel.
“So, how’s the armor coming?”
“It’s a living,” replied Mel, taking a seat after the bookmaker nodded. “We could always use more bronze.”
“Tell me about it.”
Mel got to the point. “I think we have everything covered no matter what happens. So what’s this kid like?”
The beard seemed to smile. MOE’S lacked decent candle power. Its oil lamp illumination was even poorer. A kind of soot settled uniformly. Sam cleared the surface of his wine of dark gray particles, then sucked his finger.
“He’s like this wine.”
“Not so good?”
“Let’s say kind of weak,” offered the bookmaker.
Mel motioned to Moe for two more wines.
“This one’s on me,” he said to Sam.
A successful bookmaker is impassive. When he’s covered by grey soot, he’s even tougher to read.
“I don’t suppose there’s any crack in the armor?”
“Why do you ask?”
“It might change the odds a little.”
“Look, we’re dealing with the Philistines here. As long as he’s got the bronze, Percy’s going to make Goliath invulnerable.”
That’s all Sam Luckman wanted to hear. He passed a small bag of coins to the armorer. It was always prudent to make sure all eventualities were covered. Impervious bronze against… What was it again? Had Sam drunk a little too much? Provided that Goliath was a sure thing, did it matter how much he drank? It came to him.
“They say he uses a sling.”
“What?”
“A sling and some rocks.”
“Rocks? Give me a break.” Mel pushed the bag of coins back to the bookmaker. “I’ll put all this on Goliath.”

The Past
365tomorrows launched August 1st, 2005 with the lofty goal of providing a new story every day for a year. We’ve been on the wire ever since. Our stories are a mix of those lovingly hand crafted by a talented pool of staff writers, and select stories received by submission.
The archives are deep, feel free to dive in.

Flash Fiction
"Flash fiction is fiction with its teeth bared and its claws extended, lithe and muscular with no extra fat. It pounces in the first paragraph, and if those claws aren’t embedded in the reader by the start of the second, the story began a paragraph too soon. There is no margin for error. Every word must be essential, and if it isn’t essential, it must be eliminated."
Kathy Kachelries
Founding Member

Submissions
We're open to submissions of original Science or Speculative Fiction of 600 words or less. We are only accepting work which you previously haven't sold or given away the rights to. That means your work must not have been published elsewhere, either in print or on the web. When your story is accepted, you're giving us first electronic publication rights and non-exclusive subsequent publication rights. You retain ownership over your story. We are not a paying market.

Voices of Tomorrow
Voices of Tomorrow is the official podcast of 365tomorrows, with audio versions of many of the stories published here.
If you're interested in recording stories for Voices of Tomorrow, or for any other inquiries, please contact ssmith@365tomorrows.com