Drabbletober

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of April, 2026. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Everywhere---There was a bang and, too late, a screech of brakes."Shit! A deer, we hit a deer.""What?""A deer! You saw that, right?"Dave was five or six whiskeys down, his voice rising, panicking. I'd seen blond hair, plastered by rain against a pale face.For weeks afterwards, I trawled local news sites. No reports of a road death, or a missing woman.I stopped drinking after that. Dave didn't. When his car ran off the road, I wasn't surprised. I don't drive at night any more. Is she there? I don't know, but I see her.Everywhere.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-apr1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of March, 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Not Again---Mason wakes up, a familiar pounding in his head. Not again. They'd only had six weeks this time. He looks wearily over the furnishings. 1800s. Probably Britain. He creeps through the house, finds clothes that mean he won't stand out, takes a couple of things to pawn, and heads out to look for Alex.They've got systems, but without internet it's difficult. Alex hasn't left messages in any of the usual places. It takes months.Finally, Mason finds a run-down boarding-house in Bognor."Alex!""What? Who're you?"Mason slumps. "Oh. This is one of the times when you don't remember."------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-mar1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of February, 2026. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Someone Needs Looking After---"Evelyn! Come in!" Nan waves her visitor down the corridor, and keeps up her half of the conversation."I know! Awful out there... Yeah... That's February for you..."Nan's delusions are getting worse. But no-one actually comes round now, and these imaginary visits keep her cheerful.I head to the kitchen so I don't have to play along. She can't live alone now, but I'm happy looking after her. Except when she hallucinates doctors coming to examine me. I could do without that.As 'Evelyn' 'departs', I hear Nan whisper. "So sorry about my grandson. His delusions are getting worse."------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-feb1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of January, 2026 and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: January You---Join the gym. Run every morning. Go vegan. Two yoga classes. Read fifty new novels this year. Drink less. Do dry January! Learn Spanish. Get up early. Journal. Marie Kondo the spare bedroom, the kitchen, the whole house. Maybe try paleo?Maybe not paleo. Is vegan paleo even possible? Is vegan possible? What the hell do vegans put in sandwiches? The gym is expensive. Running hurts your knees. The yoga is fun, though. You blow dry January on the seventeenth, laughing with Kim over cocktails, speaking in broken Spanish.Marie Kondo was right. Keep the things that bring you joy.---Welcome to 2026! If you are making new year's resolutions, then remember to be kind to yourself. There's plenty of good stuff about the old you.As a minor point of order, I checked with my reference vegan and she assures me there are plenty of sandwich fillings from the mundane (fake ham) to the grandiose (crispy-fried tofu with lettuce and tomato) via hummus, marmite, avocado…---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-jan1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the thirtieth of December, 2025, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Don't Wake Christmas---Christmas lies glutted with turkey and mince pies, asleep behind the sofa. A child shrieks with glee, still delighted with a new toy, and Christmas stirs, muttering half-words of whiskey and late-night cocoa.A parent begins to gather up the discarded ribbons and wrapping paper, smoothing them out with vague thoughts of next year. They nudge Christmas. "You indolent beast, lying there in a smear of cranberry. Entertain us!"Christmas waves them blearily away."I'm tired. Go and see Hogmanay for your fun."And Christmas shuffles off, to nest comfortably among the tinsel and paper chains until Advent.---I'm actually a big fan of keeping Christmas up till twelfth night, though it's not always easy to keep the festive feeling when January looms with all its back-to-work vibes. Whatever you celebrate - or don't - at this time of year, I hope you're safe and warm, and finding the opportunity to rest.Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-dec30-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of December, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Last Resort---Hayley knows it's there. She's known for years, ever since that stupid night when they drank too much vodka, lit loads of candles and slurred Latin incantations. She felt it crawl into her.Anthony insisted the salt circle would keep them safe - perhaps it did. They woke up, after all.Sometimes, she feels it stir. When her mother suggests diets. When her boss talks over her. She fights to keep it inside. She never drinks, now.But in the darkness, the footsteps have been getting closer. There's a hand on her shoulder, another grabs her throat.She lets it out.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-dec1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 31, season 2, for Friday the thirty-first of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Singing of Drowned Sailorsby Elizabeth Guilt---Me dad always told the stories. Strange calms in dark storms, and the hush that fell during the wildest winds. "You keep yer head down, lad, and pay them no mind. They'll lure you away, drag you under to join their songs."I was half-drowned already when I heard them; frozen and clinging to the mast, not even caring if anyone heard me crying.Their voices were gentle between the wind's screams. Heave her to. Turn her round.We steered towards the familiar rhythm of the chorus.And, drifting ragged grey over the waves, they sang us back to harbour.---Happy Hallowe'en. Today is the final day of Drabbletober 2025. If you'd like to keep up with the bonus episodes throughout the year, make sure you're subscribed to the podcast feed. Thanks for listening, I hope you've enjoyed this year's series of tiny stories.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again soon.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode31

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 30, season 2, for Thursday the thirtieth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Peace and Love. Mostly.by Elizabeth Guilt---Ancient? Haha, no, not at all! Built in the 60s. Yes, it is pretty convincing. Oh, just a vanity project - a local man  got really into ley lines and decided to find one on his own land. Oriented the circle using dowsing rods, would you believe. Sure you can stand on that. Made of stone, isn't it? Lie down if you want, I'll take the photo. Ooops, the flash makes it look like the stones are glowing. Haha, yeah the thunder is a bit of a coincidence.Oh, yes. Actually that is a tentacle round your ankles.Well, I never.---In North Yorkshire, not far from where I grew up, there is a lovely stone circle. It was built as a job-creation scheme in the eighteenth century, but it's a fun place to visit - I'll pop a link in the shownotes. I like stone circles, I think we should build more of them.https://visitnorthyorkshire.com/index/the-druids-temple---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 31.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode30

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 29, season 2, for Wednesday the twenty-ninth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:It Was Meant To Be a Jokeby Elizabeth Guilt---Typical slow Thursday, and a short man slunk up to the counter. "I'm here about the poster."Great. Steven's latest hobby is designing ornate prank - obviously prank - flyers."Oh? Need a unicorn groomed, do you?""No. I want to part-exchange my kraken. Do you remove the old one when you deliver?""Seriously?""Mine's useless. Sluggish, pale, tentacles scarred to buggery.""It's not...""Can't charge tourists a few grand to slay a beast that won't fight.""Slay?""They all think they're Sir Galahad. None of 'em survived so far, but..""You killed...""I need a new kraken. What are your terms?"---Recently, I was walking through Sheffield with friends and we saw a shop-window advert offering money off what the internet calls "a very well-known brand of rectangular backpack". Someone misread it, and thus the part-exchange kraken was born.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 30.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode29

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 28, season 2, for Tuesday the twenty-eighth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:We'll Have None Of That Hereby Elizabeth Guilt---I opened the vacpack of mineral oil, and thumbed a smear across the floor."Lady."Conversation stopped. My new teammates burst out laughing. "What?""You don't...""He still thinks..."The foreman leaned over. "Look, kid. We're adults, building..." he gestured around the hangar, "space shuttles. We run the tightest shop floor in the western galaxy. We don't believe in fairies. We don't pour libations for imaginary gods."I straightened up. "I've seen...""You've seen older apprentices playing tricks. Holoprojections. Cheap effects."I fell to my knees, clapping hands over my ears. The Lady of the Floor would have no mercy.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 29.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode28

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 27, season 2, for Monday the twenty-seventh of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:All Medical Staff Should Be Briefed In Local Legendsby Elizabeth Guilt---Helen had her coat on when the junior tapped on her door."Doctor? Sorry. The little girl... Her broken legs... They're...""They're what?""They're... Mending. In huge solid lumps.""Where was she found?""Romsdal somewhere, her injuries...""Where exactly?""I don't know, maybe Trolldalen?"Helen ran to the ward. "Stop treatment immediately!" She brushed aside colleagues, and held out a shaking hand. "I'll take you home."The patient slid out of bed, knees making grinding noises as she limped.Helen coaxed her into the car and, later, watched her swarm straight up the rocks, back to her father's stoney court.---Trolldalen is a real place in Norway - it means "the troll valley" (please excuse my pronunciation). I visited this summer, and it's beautiful. As far as I'm aware, though, baby trolls being mistaken for human children there is just something I made up.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 28.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode27

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 26, season 2, for Sunday the twenty-sixth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Making a Mythby Elizabeth Guilt---Mara sits where she's told, and the engineer places the cap on her newly-shaved head. He tinkers briefly, and they all come swaying sinuously to life. The cap's sensors read tiny movements in Mara's scalp muscles, track signals from her optic nerve. When she looks left, so do the snakes. When she smiles, the snakes relax; when she frowns, they rear."Woah,' says the engineer. "That works really good! I'll take it off...""No.'He reaches for the cap, and seventy snakes bare their fangs.He knows they're not real. But Mara's snarl, haloed with furious snakes, freezes him rigid.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 27.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode2

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 25, season 2, for Saturday the twenty-fifth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Oooh, Look, Breadcrumbs!by Elizabeth Guilt---I was jamming my earbud back in when the world stopped.His cloak was grey, mostly, with a greasy green-purple sheen. His boney face was pointed. In his hand, a sharp... Well, I didn't want to think about that. "You're lucky," he said, voice softly bubbling. "Lucky?" My bike lay crushed under a taxi, one wheel spinning gently."You're in my kingdom: the City of London. You can choose: oblivion, or a second, tiny life."Some choice. "Doesn't everyone choose life?"His head bobbed. The world span behind me, buildings loomed taller.I strutted away to peck with my flock.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 26.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode25

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 24, season 2, for Friday the twenty-fourth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Day's Ordersby Elizabeth Guilt---"Sir!""What's that?""Sir, Duty Shitehawk reporting for orders, Sir!""More like it. Roost easy.""Sir.""Today's roster: harbour wall. Principal lookout, ten till three. Keep your eyes peeled, we've had reports of Morris dancers in the area. Our intel says there should be a line of them wearing dark colours around noon. Strafe at will. "Three till five, surprise chip inspections. Toddlers have been underrepped recently, so try to take your samples from them."Final hour, unnecessary screaming. All clear?""Clear as sand.""Less of your beak! For that, two early shifts: jumping up and down on roof tiles."---My family invariably refers to seagulls as shitehawks. You're not allowed to register boats with names that might be considered offensive, but when I was little there was a boat registered in Whitby harbour called Shy Talk. It's still one of my favourite boat names.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 25.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode24

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 23, season 2, for Thursday the twenty-third of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Ice Cubsby Elizabeth Guilt---Ice cubs crawled from the bay this morning. It's been a decade - we used to see them most years.We've set up the perimeter. People will ignore it. Ice cubs are not bears - but they're not not bears, either. They glitter, like diamonds. They're really cute.Scientists are the worst, all "pushing boundaries" and "furthering knowledge". Last time, one approached the cubs. Things were brief and very, very red.The ice cubs will leave in a week or so. My grandfather always said they climb into the mountains and become glaciers. Perhaps they do. We don't need to know everything.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 24.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode23

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 22, season 2, for Wednesday the twenty-second of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Same Old, Same Oldby Elizabeth Guilt---Trudy wakes up on her birthday, and groans. Fifty! She makes her morning tea, and wonders how this happened. Fifty? She's never been to Venice. Never ridden a motorbike. Never eaten alfalfa sprouts.What even is an alfalfa sprout? An hour later she is deep in articles about home sprouting, wondering whether she still has those old Mason jars and whether she would really need mesh lids. Some people recommended cotton instead...Trudy slams her laptop shut. This. This is how it happened. She digs out the number she saved, months ago, and calls it. She books a motorbike lesson.---When, in the far future, schoolkids write essays about the decline of civilisation in the mid twenty-first century, I can't help feeling that our almost ubiquitous ability to waste time on the internet is going to be right up there in the "causes" section.But for the record, I quite like alfalfa sprouts.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 23.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode22

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 21, season 2, for Tuesday the twenty-first of October 2025, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Light of your Lifeby Elizabeth Guilt---I only remember two things from visiting my Auntie: her beautiful lamp and the way my uncle would sit, inert, mouth constantly twitching. A stroke, I guess, but no-one told kids anything back then.Benny visited the day after I discovered Auntie left me the lamp."How does it work?""Dunno. I tried a candle, it turned the glass black. Coffee?""Please."Minutes later, he had it shining. "Wow, that's..." Benny stared fixedly ahead, lips mumbling soundlessly. Just like my uncle.When I smashed the lamp, the glow leaked back into him.Within minutes, he'd recovered enough to start screaming.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 22.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode21

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 20, season 2, for Monday the twentieth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Small Godby Elizabeth Guilt---The thing you remember about him isn't how he died. It isn't his bass-playing - did he play bass? - or his failed businesses. It certainly isn't the three lawsuits that were pending when his car spun off the road and over the cliff.You remember the photograph of him, the one that won all the awards.He holds his bare arms aloft, lasers glancing off his dark skin, dreadlocks swirling around him. You can almost feel the pounding beat, the roar of the crowd. He stands; a warrior on the speaker stack. Indomitable. Powerful.And that's what you will always remember.---Human memory is a weird and capricious thing. I find it fascinating the way we can sometimes latch onto a single image of a person, or an event, and forget almost every other detail.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 21.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode20

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 19, season 2, for Sunday the nineteenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Way Forward Is Backby Elizabeth Guilt---The man stalks around, wand in hand. He stops and throws his arms wide. "Here! I sense a foul presence."Kimberley stares at her feet. She doesn't feel foul.She leaves before the man has lit his candles. It was her house, once, but she's not welcome now.Outside is bright, and noisy. She winces. It's been so long since she left the room where she was murdered.She drifts, clinging to the shade of alleyways, following a half-forgotten route to somewhere safe, comforting. She flies through concrete walls and settles into the quiet dark of the abandoned school library. ---As you may know from previous episodes, when it comes to classic scare stories I'm usually Team Monster all the way. I do worry about where ghosts go when they get exorcised. ---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 20.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode19

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 18, season 2, for Saturday the eighteenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Journey To A New Youby Elizabeth Guilt---The train screams in, and she grips her ticket. Passengers crane to read the station sign. It says Discombobulate. Only one person stumbles off, giggling, and the platform-crowd surges aboard.Doors hiss closed. Her stomach drops as they shoot into sunshine, gliding round bends, wheels springy over complicated junctions. She reads the name of the next station, Unfurling , and wonders if she likes it. There is no map. People alight, others swirl into the carriage. The stations roll by: Brilliant. Lightning. Indolence . At each she wonders: is this mine?The train halts at Inspiration. She knows. This is her stop.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 19.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode18

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 17, season 2, for Friday the seventeenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Long Viewingby Elizabeth Guilt---"I'm freezing.""Yeah.""And my feet are soaked. Can you light a fire?""Not in wet woodland, in a foot of snow. No.""But you're outdoorsy, don't you have waterproof matches or something?""Sure, when I know I'm going hiking. Today, I've got some gum, a paperclip, and a slimline volume of Seamus Heaney.""Poetry? Were you trying to impress a girl?""Shut up.""Anyway, I'm freezing.""So, turn round. Go back to that shitty flatshare in Croydon.""No way! This is an adventure. One thing, though.""What?""Do you think the estate agent is still waiting outside that wardrobe?"------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 18.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode17

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 16, season 2, for Thursday the sixteenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Two Recipes Found in my Grandmother's Cupboard After Her Death, South Coast of Cornwall, Englandby Elizabeth Guilt---The LighthouseOne measure of good brandy. If unavailable, substitute whisky. But not rum. Never rum.Add chopped fruit - strawberries if you can find them. Or raspberries. They will have had enough of lime juice.Raise to the light. Let it shine, so that the glow will call them home.Swirl, and serve.The SirenAs above, but omit the fruit.Add instead honey, all sweetness, and sing to them from the darkest cliff. Comb out your hair, until your reflection gleams in the surface.Double the brandy, if you want them to abandon their senses.Serve.On the rocks.---Today is the sixteenth, so I thought we'd mark the halfway-point of Drabbletober with a slightly unusual drabble. Let me know what your favourite story is so far!---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 17.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode16

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 15, season 2, for Wednesday the fifteenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:You Do What You Have To To Get Byby Elizabeth Guilt---Bella put the remains of the ham in the cellar, and tidied crumbs from the table. Life was easier, now, and she was grateful.The man who came to the door had a kind smile, but guilty eyes."Anthony?""Don't you remember me?""You left years ago. The money ran out. I was starving."He looked round the room - modest, but comfortable - and his face fell."Oh, Bella, you didn't... Did you hate me that much?""Don't be foolish. You know the Grey Merchants don't buy unhappiness. My memories of you were the only valuable thing I had to sell."------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 16.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode15

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 14, season 2, for Tuesday the fourteenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:What Fools These Mortals Beby Elizabeth Guilt---Hersh's eyelids flutter, hands clenching and twisting. Hersh is - allegedly - the best, a hot-shot consultant, but it's been hours since he passed wetware security and jammed cables into his spine. And the systems are still down. Heda checks, repeatedly, feeling like he's missing something."Hey... new boy. Err... Ike? Get coffee."Down at street-level, Ike hugs himself and grins. He's grinned like that since he teased sabre-tooth tigers, since he baited centurions. He throws away the name Ike. He grinned before people gave him names."You know the best bit?" he asks the barista. "These days, no-one believes I exist.'------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 15.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode14

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 13, season 2, for Monday the thirteenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Grandmother's Legacyby Elizabeth Guilt---"Should get a few for the table...""Think that might be Chippendale..."The lump in Amy's throat swells. She hides, where she always did, in the dining room - though they'll be in here soon enough, bickering over the silver.She opens the cabinet, and smiles through tears. Forks - a dozen large, a dozen small - nestle in rows. Amy strokes their blue velvet, enjoying their beautiful orderliness. The way she always did. She admires the polished knives, then slides the panel to reveal soup spoons - and an envelope."Darling Amy,I know you will find this..."She hugs the letter tightly.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 14.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode13

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 12, season 2, for Sunday the twelfth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:It's Not Just About Your DNAby Elizabeth Guilt---I peer into the shaving mirror. That spot's got larger; it's now an angry red dash across my forehead. I poke at it. The skin breaks, with a thin, hard glint.This used to happen to Dad. A bar fight, he said. Someone shoved him headfirst into a stack of pint jugs. Years later, when I was born, splinters of glass were still working their way out. They always said I was my father's son. I have his quick temper, his broad fists.The tiny scratch of glass falls into the sink. I wash it away, just like he did.---Little splinters of this story are true. When I was a kid, glass really did come out of my Dad's forehead occasionally. He's the nicest man in the world, and he ended up with a faceful of glass in a car accident. One of the things he passed on to me is a lifelong belief in seatbelts.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 13.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode12

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 11, season 2, for Saturday the eleventh of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Eater of Secretsby Elizabeth Guilt---Mrs Tindall makes them stay behind, because no-one will admit breaking the window. When Hannah gets home the house is shaking. Her mum slumps, despairing. "I've nothing left. You go up."Hannah climbs the attic stairs, slowly, and whispers through the hatch."Jamie kicked his football through the window."Now everyone will know about Jamie. She's used to the guilt. The shaking doesn't stop. She tries again. "Lily isn't really Sarah's friend."Everything shakes so hard the roof screeches."When Daddy's working late, he actually goes to Auntie Helen's."The house settles immediately. From the kitchen comes a single scream.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 12.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode11

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 10, season 2, for Friday the tenth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:I'm Bigger Than Youby Elizabeth Guilt---As a kid, it was always her brother. The threat was explicit - and followed up with physical demonstrations. The same threat hid, discreetly, behind her teachers' words. Later, it threaded through drunken conversations in bars, in unwanted offers of help or a lift home. She sits in the boardroom, and feels it oozing - again, still - from the investors, from the chairman, even from the junior insurance guy. She clinches the deal anyway. She wins. It doesn't help. She is so tired.She books the appointments: bone expansion, femur and spine extensions, muscle bulking. Under "goals", she writes impossibly high numbers. ---In my day job, I work in a very male-dominated environment. I'm also very lucky: I have smart colleagues to whom gender is not an issue. But despite - in this country - decades of legislation, equality is not a done deal. My hot take is that size and physical strength is a big part of this.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 11.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode10

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 9, season 2, for Thursday the ninth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:First Time At Supperby Elizabeth Guilt---"Where is your tray?"I didn't know I was supposed to have one. Everyone else is already eating.She points, furiously. I scurry to the counter. I pick up a bowl. A spoon.The server stares at me, and I don't know what to say."Please?"A grey ladleful lands in my bowl. Tentacles reach out from the thin soup, questing towards my hands.I shriek, bowl sliding on the tray, liquid slopping over my sleeves, and stumble to a free seat.Everyone watches me, spoons of broth writhing towards their mouths.My supper heaves and frets at the bowl.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 10https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode9

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 8, season 2, for Wednesday the eighth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:It's Amazing What They Pick Upby Elizabeth Guilt---Grandmother always gave interviews from her chaise longue. She reclined gracefully, surrounded by framed playbills and photographs, hands stroking the sleek, velvet upholstery.When the local vicar called, grandmother received him, tight-lipped, at her desk. He took one look at the chaise's brownish stains and threadbare patches and stood, awkwardly, while she lectured him.I sneaked in for a story, and clambered onto the chaise."It looks different," I said, prodding the luxurious, puffy, pink cushions. Grandmother laughed, and patted the wooden armrest. "Oh, I took this chaise from the old Theatre Royal. It can play any part you like."---Today's story is dedicated to a chaise that lives at my local theatre. Last time I saw it, it was playing a sofa in a young woman's sitting room, in 1974 Sri Lannka. Next time I see it - if I recognise it - it will be something quite different.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 9.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode8

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 7, season 2, for Tuesday the seventh of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Heart. Beat.by Elizabeth GuiltI'll make coffee before I reply to that email.No, we won't consider a reunion. Granger is still dead.They used to suggest getting some up-and-coming kid to fill in, or using drum machines. Now it's AI-powered avatars of Granger. The band was the four of us and it meant everything. We can't replace him.Most Friday nights, I pick up my guitar and head round to Jonno's. Billy brings his bass, when he can get away. We sit round the piano with a bottle of whisky, jamming, playing our old songs. Late at night, we still hear the drums.------Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 8.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode7

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 6, season 2, for Monday the sixth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Safety Catchby Elizabeth GuiltWhen the invasion came, we ran. We tried to settle, we ran further, we hid, we fought through snow, and ran again. Most of us survived. We tried to help each other, tried to reassure ourselves we'd be safe one day. "What even is safe?" asked Asha, bitterly, as we watched the patrols get closer to the caves we'd huddled in for a week."Stories," said Mimi. Asha's eyes blazed. "Stories?""Yes. One day, we will talk of something other than survival, and have room in our hearts to care about people we don't know. Only safe people share stories."---I am lucky: in my lifetime, my home has not been threatened by invasion. I've never been a refugee. Perhaps it is not like this at all. ---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 7.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode6

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 5, season 2, for Sunday the fifth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Choir of the Lostby Elizabeth GuiltWhen Kate ran, she ran hard, leaving behind husband, job, Friday yoga, and Bach cantatas on Wednesdays. Eventually, there was almost no land left and she slumped on a bench. Her tears blurred the poster advertising a singing group. Kate - with nowhere else, with her voice that the Bach choirmaster described as "fair" - went to the community hall. "Tea, love?" called a man, lifting a kettle. "New, are ye?" asked another, spooning ravioli straight from the can.She nodded nervously, seeing no piano, no sheet music. Eventually, a song started. Everyone straggled into the chorus and Kate joined in, smiling.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 6.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode5

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 4, season 2, for Saturday the fourth of October 2025, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:The Lemon Spectreby Elizabeth GuiltOn Saturdays, Bill spent longer than usual polishing the countertop. The Lemon Spectres, exclusive to the hotel, looked their best against the black marble - that faint luminescence, that slight haze clinging to the rim of the glass. The glimmering cocktail was a nightmare to make, and it cost a fortune. But it was endlessly Instagrammable, and that kept the fashionable Saturday night crowds coming. "Can't you change the recipe?" begged Evan, the only other person who knew the secret ingredient."Not without ruining business, no."Evan grimaced, picked up his sack, and headed to the graveyard to collect the spectres.---I don't actually like cocktails all that much - I'm more of a beer person. But some of the drinks I've seen served in London bars have been really visually impressive. And I don't think the souls of the departed are one of the things you have to disclose in ingredients.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 5.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode4

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 3, season 2, for Friday the third of October 2025, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:We Need To Increase The Budget For The School Water Featureby Elizabeth GuiltThe three-field system was a way farmers grew food long ago. Amelia, we don't do that here.They used three fields: one for...Amelia! Don't wave that about!One for spring crops, one for autumn crops...Amelia, I've warned you already.One for spring crops, one for autumn crops and one to rest.Amelia! Turn George back, immediately. This helped the soil...No, the bell is a signal for me, not for you.This helped the soil stay healthy....Class. Class! Amelia, come right back here. Class?Ohh.I'm sorry, George. Let's get you down to the pond for now.---I think I should acknowledge a debt to Joyce Grenfell here. I wasn't consciously thinking of her famous sketch when I wrote this, but I think one of the names gives it away.If you've never heard "George, Don't Do That" I recommend looking it up.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 4.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode3

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 2, season 2, for Thursday the second of October 2025, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Choiceby Elizabeth Guilt"Expect the unexpected," read Melissa. "What does yours say?""Happy news is on the way. Oh god, I hope so. Anna, you haven't opened yours."Anna shrugged. "I don't like them much."Melissa laughed. "Literally no-one likes them. They're just for the message inside."They were watching her, so Anna cracked her cookie open."Oh my god, Anna, it's blank! Ask for another one!""I don't mind."They were always blank. Tarot cards blurred. Tea leaves formed perfect grids. Once, at a fair, the teller's crystal ball had cracked in two.Anna smiled. "It's fine. I choose my own fortune."---Recently, Graveside Press - the publishers of my novella, A Mortuary For Songs - asked if I had any promotional items for other projects. I made some Drabbletober stickers. Now I'm wondering if I should have made fortune cookies. I really like the idea of writing deeply sinister fortunes to put in them.Oh, and let me now if you'd like a sticker!---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 3.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode2

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober Season 2. This is episode 1, for Wednesday the first of October 2025, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Putting on the Razzle-Dazzleby Elizabeth Guilt"You do know what 'Resistance fighter' means?""Don't really need makeup, do we, lads?""Your eyeshadow's crap, anyway."So she explained - skipping the details of light-reflecting concealers, shimmering contour powders, AI facial-recognition algorithms, and the limitations of Government surveillance systems. "My camouflage makeup means cameras can't process my face."They made her walk through the Authorised Zone and a camera pinged immediately. She was arrested, and imprisoned.The Resistance fighters fell about laughing when she came back."You? Again?"She stared them down."That was to make sure the Government believes it doesn't work. Now we do it for real."---If you've never heard of dazzle camouflage before, I strongly encourage you to look it up. It was used on ships and aircraft around WW1 and was designed not to hide them, but to make it hard to focus on them well enough to attack. Wikipedia has some great photos of lurid paint schemes. ---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 2.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode1

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of September, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Whispers---When my mother died, she gifted me a whisper. Her voice threads through my life.You can do anything. I inherited hers, too; the whisper she got from her mother. A woman is as good as any man.You can do anything. They raised me after my father left. They were relieved when I finally grew tired of his bullshit and refused to see him again. A woman is as good as any man. My father also gifted me a whisper.Are you sure?My mother raised me strong. I can do anything. You can do anything. Are you sure?---Drabbletober will return to daily episodes for the month of October. If you enjoy these tiny stories, please tell a friend about the podcast - or leave a review, wherever you listen to them.Take care, everyone, and I'll see you on October the first.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/september1bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of August, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Living on the Face---I stumbled blearily down to the water's edge. Which wasn't there. My eyes snapped open. There should be... shoreline. Waves. A line of uneven wooden posts. We tied our boat up there. So did every other family. The lake couldn't be... gone. I ran."Don't be ridiculous." Mum pointed, and there were the posts, and the lake, just as usual. And a mess of smashed wood swirling in the current. She dropped the teapot, hands flying to her mouth."The boat!"My grandfather lit his pipe and shrugged. "You never listen. My stories are true. And the giant just blinked."---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/august1bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of July, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Rapprochement---Everyone remembers Gracie Carousel's wartime radio broadcasts. They cheered us, gave us heart. Even when her husband disappeared, she kept us hoping. Every day.When Occupation ended, Gracie emerged from hiding, to universal acclaim. Then a newspaper finally found her husband.They met, grasping each other's hands after twenty years. In front of a thousand reporters. she whispered to him."You're not my husband. You're taller. Who are you?""A resistance fighter who saw the real Gracie Carousel executed before the war ended. Are you going to rob our country of this happy ending?"Together, they smiled for the cameras.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of June, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: How I Live My Life According To My Friend Simon's AdviceSimon once told me that you forget things when you walk through doors. I laughed, but he was right. I started writing grocery lists in the kitchen. When travelling, I packed toiletries in the bathroom.At work, I preferred to talk to colleagues at my desk so information didn't fall into meeting-room doorways. Eventually, I found it easier to work from home; catch up with friends over Zoom; order my food online.I pulled my bed into the living room. Then my wardrobe, then a camping stove. A hose. A bucket. I sit at the centre.And I remember everything.---Simon is a real person, by the way, although I don't think he listens to this podcast. He really did tell me about what's known as the Doorway Effect. I haven't quite reached the extremes in this story. Not yet.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/june1bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of May, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Tea for the Dawn.Dorothy opens the front door, and sighs. The other cottages - new thatch, smart paint, tightly-locked gates - are all dark at the windows. The village green is empty, and quiet.Seventy years ago, there'd been crowds; everyone singing and cheering.Sixty years ago, she'd stayed up all night, and stood swaying and laughing to watch the dancers.Fifty years. She'd wondered if she'd ever get Annie to sleep with all that racket outside. Forty. She'd woken Annie up and they'd watched together. Thirty, twenty... People move on. Times change.Dorothy smiles. raises her mug to the dawn, and welcomes the May.---It's the first of May. Across the UK, ritual dancers of all kinds will have been up at dawn to dance up the sun, making sure summer returns for another year. Don't forget to say thank you to your local morris team.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/may1bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, released because I felt like it. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Bruisetown.The town probably had a name on the map, but everyone called it Bruisetown. Its residents were pallid; blue stains across their cheeks, bruises ringing their necks and wrists and sullen eyes. Linger too long on the road, and mottled grey crept across the backs of your hands. Even the sea had a stewed, purple-green tinge. Occasionally, someone made it out. They would win every bareknuckle fight for miles, taking punch after punch, then collect their prizes and go right back to Bruisetown. Even stumbling from the ring, they'd stare at our unmarked faces, eyes full of nothing but pity.---Recently, I had to do some audio editing, and discovered I couldn't remember how to do even the basics. I thought I'd better put together a Drabbletober episode, just to check I could remember how. If you're listening to this, I guess I did?---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/march28bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 31, for Thursday the 31st of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: The Ghost of the FuturePeter shucks off the hated school trousers and shirt, and takes more comfortable clothes from the very back of the wardrobe. A double bedsheet, with neat eyeholes, completes the outfit.Arms raised, the ghost checks carefully in the bathroom mirror."Going to the party?" asks Mum."Wooooo!""Very scary, Pete. Enjoy yourself. Be a good boy.""Nooooooo!"In the village hall, vampires and witches are already eating cake."Who are you?" demands Frankenstein's monster."I am the ghost of Sarah."They laugh, and shrug, and call the ghost Sarah all night.Under the bedsheet, she smooths her dress and smiles.---And that's it for Drabbletober 2024. If you've been listening for the whole of October, then thanks for coming along for the ride.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode31

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 30, for Wednesday the 30th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: The Gauntlet"Don't put that on, love. Nana says it's cursed. Or bad luck, anyway.""Don't be such a fusspot! It's just an old glove."She pulled the tatty old leather over her fingers. Her hand shot to her throat, pinning her to the wall.I screamed, leaping to my feet and reaching for her wrists.She spluttered with laughter."Oh, mum, your face! I can't believe you thought that was real."She slid slowly down the wall, laughing until her face turned red and her eyes watered.She was still laughing when her hand, still around her throat, began to squeeze.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 31.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode30

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 29, for Tuesday the 29th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Security, in a TuxedoThey roared into the city. Literally - the cheapest transport in from the airport was on lion-back. The bars were raucous. Sinuous snake dancers, monkeys pouring drinks with hands and feet, bunnies lounging lasciviously across laps. Bears kept the tourists under control. Just.Only one spot in the busy centre was calm. Smart black-and-white waiters waddled, cocktail trays on flippers, up to marble tables. You could hear the ice clink as they set the glasses down."Why so quiet?" whispered one punter."Never underestimate these guys. And no-one wants to admit they were thrown out of a bar by a penguin."---One of the reasons I find penguins so delightful is that they always manage to look exactly like pictures of themselves - something they share with tigers, and pints of Guinness. It is a very satisfactory quality.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 30.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode29

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 28, for Monday the 28th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Breaking the RainbowI remember him in kindergarten, throwing stones at the sky. Toddlers are all, at heart, destructive. But he asked strange questions when I taught weather systems in first-year science, and again when we covered refraction in GCSE physics.He was seventeen when I caught him vandalising the gym."What is this?" I demanded.He shrugged, sigils dribbling paint down the wall. "Weather magic."I raised concerns with the school counsellor.It rained this morning. I heard his voice, then I saw the sky shatter. His face drifted past my lab's second floor window as he ascended, blissfully, into multicoloured brilliance.---Rainbows are one of my favourite natural phenomena, and understanding refraction does not make them any less magical or mysterious.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 29.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode28

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 27, for Sunday the 27th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Flamingo BreadWhenever she talked about her childhood, Gran always mentioned flamingo bread, the best cake in the world. When she died, we found the recipe tucked away inher bookshelf. It had been a treat, when eggs were rationed; a wartime cake made with mayonnaise and baking soda and red food colouring. When we baked it, it was every bit as vile as it sounded.Heraclitus said you can never step in the same river twice. Gran knew that. She kept her flamingo bread in her head her whole life, as bright, and pink, and delicious as it always had been.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 28.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode27

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 26, for Saturday the 26th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: The HandlerI could hear the fighting from outside. It was one of the hard cases, a small one. It always is, all entitlement and "I shouldn't be in here" attitude.There were snarls and filthy language as I pulled him off a terrified sporty type."Zip it," I snapped, flinging him out through the door. "Get going, the rest of you."A polite cough sounded behind me."Could you help me up? Not as young as I was."Seventies, I guessed. No wheels, and worn straps."Of course, sir."I picked him up, and placed him gently on the baggage carousel.---Have you ever noticed? If you check multiple bags in for a flight, they come out miles apart at the other end. I've always wondered what they get up to, and whether they had a falling-out in between.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 27.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode26