The Island of Misfit Toys by Fiona Moore

 I finally squeezed in the time to read some short stories from my subscription of Clarkesworld Magazine. In Issue 171, December 2020, this was the first story I read. It was good. I really liked how the homeless man ended up doing something with himself despite the hardships he was going through. And I loved how he was able to fix up the discarded AI from the city to build a happy little community for himself. There are many times I wish I could have lived alone on an island, and I love reading stories, even today, about people that make it happen. Does it seems plausible that nobody would find out though? Living on a small stretch of land in a lake (or river, I can't remember what it was anymore) in the middle of a big city seems hard to believe. It's hard to stay anonymous out there. I remember reading about a real homeless man in London that was living in an underground home in a park for years, but he eventually got caught. Your best bet is to live in an apartment if you want to be left mostly alone in the big city I think.