LOLcats
Author : Joshua Reynolds
“Can I has cheeseburger?” the cat whined plaintively. It’s voice was an electronic squeal that grated on Jim’s nerves. Jim swatted the cat on the butt and pushed it off of the desk.
“No.”
“Plz?” it mewled up at him, eyes unblinking. Jim shook his head.
“I said no.”
“OMG.” the cat yowled. Jim threw up his hands and tried to focus on his work. Schematics for cybernetic voice-boxes filled the screen of his laptop. EMP hardened as most things were these days. No help there. There had to be-
“ROFL!” a cat screeched, rolling onto its back on the desk, swiping at him.
“Shut up!” Jim shoved it to the floor.
“Happy cat is out of happy.” another cat burbled, laying flat on the floor behind his chair.
He glanced at it and went back to work, muttering, “Happy cat is out of happy because happy cat snorts catnip like it was going out of style. Happy cat needs to knock that shit off before happy cat burns out his teeny-tiny brain.”
“Plz can I has cheeseburger?” the first cat purred, leaping into his lap and rubbing its head against his arm.
“No, no, no! A hundred times no!” Jim banged his head against his desk. “Just shut up!”
“I has bucket!” a third cat yowled from the top of a bookcase. Jim whirled.
“Get out of that flower pot!”
“I can fix it.” a fourth cat mumbled, fumbling at Jim’s laptop. Jim turned back and swatted it away from him. His computer screen hiccuped.
“Don’t touch that!”
“Cheeseburger!”
“No! No cheeseburger!” Jim buried his face in his hands. “No damn cheeseburger.”
It had seemed like such a good idea. People loved cats. People loved those stupid pictures. Just a slight cybernetic modification to the animal’s larynx and bam! Talking cats. Everybody who was anybody wanted one. For about ten minutes. Then nobody did. The fad ended and he was left holding the bag.
“OMG lurve you.” the cat on his lap grumbled. Jim sighed and stroked it.
“Thank you.”
“Can I has cheeseburger now?”
“AUGH!”
It wasn’t the talking that bothered people really.
It was the fact you couldn’t get the damn things to shut up.
This is your future: Submit your stories to 365 Tomorrows

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