Imagine the quintessential French city nestled at the base of the French Alps, and it’s likely that the picture in your head will look a lot like Grenoble. Known for its winter sports, impressive museums, and groundbreaking scientific research, picturesque Grenoble can now add one more attraction to its repertoire: literary innovator. Short Edition, a startup based in Grenoble, has started producing “short story distributors,” futuristic-looking consoles that dispense flash fiction on long strips of receipt paper. There are currently eight distributors throughout the city, placed in libraries, city hall, and anywhere people may need a distraction from, well, their distractions.

“Technology can do many things,” says Quentin Pleplé, one of the co-founders of Short Edition. “It’s up to each one of us to use it and channel it towards something useful.”

It was this belief in harnessing technology, rather than fighting it, that inspired Short Edition to invent their machines that offer users 1, 3, and 5–minute respites from their cell phones. Still, the idea of these distributors, featuring 600+ short stories from Short Edition’s online collection, is rooted in something commonplace.

“We were having a break in front of the snack vending machine,” Pleplé says, “and we had this crazy idea to build one for short stories.” That was more than two years ago, and now, after a considerable amount of effort, the response has been resoundingly positive. Pleplé and the team at Short Edition are thrilled about the future of their short story vending machines.

“We feel great! We plan to open it to all countries of the world, by translating our content in all languages.” Here’s to increasing readership around the world, one short story at a time.

Amy Crumbaugh is a writer living in Bloomington, Illinois. She is a regular contributor at Hypertext, and has been published in Columbia College’s award-winning student anthology Hair Trigger. Visit her at AmyCrumbaugh.com.