Drabbletober

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 25, for Friday the 25th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: 5 Phoenix CourtAs Mara leaves the station, she can smell smoke. She hears the sirens before she's halfway up the hill.She checks the little group huddled on the pavement. The Barries, the Patels. The old man from 2 is sitting on the wall, the new couple are holding their screaming baby. Mrs Delamere is still in Egypt. Everything she owns is burning. Piles of unread books, cupboards full of childhood treasures she can't give away, wardrobes stuffed with vintage clothes. Letters from old lovers, inherited paintings, paperwork, electronics, furniture... In the flickering light, Mara dances. She has never felt so free.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 26.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode25

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 24, for Thursday the 24th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:RecognitionMy neighbour was always odd. Harmless, but odd; staring with a strange intensity whenever we crossed paths. Until he started screaming. Every night, for hours, his howls drilled into my skull.Then, suddenly, he was gone. Dead, I think. His flat was larger, so I gave notice and moved across the hall.When a new tenant took my old flat, he looked familiar. Very familiar, but for years, no matter how I tried, I couldn't place his face. Without warning, it struck me in the middle of the night. I knew exactly who he was. And I started to scream.---Jeffrey Lewis is a New York antifolk hero, famous for his songs and his hand-drawn "low-budget videos". I've been going to see his gigs for probably more than twenty years now. Today's drabble was directly inspired by his song Sad Screaming Old Man. I'll pop a link to the song in the shownotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrQgVRGvLkQ---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 25.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode24

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 23, for Wednesday the 23rd of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is: UnicornsWhen the barriers crumbled between our worlds, everyone went exploring. Especially the motorcyclists. On whining two-strokes and beefy Harleys, they tore through the winding roads of Fairyland.The King of the Fairies met the King of the Bikers at the Border, and begged him to stop them.The Biker King laughed."I will send unicorns to guard the border," said the Fairy.The Biker King laughed harder, and on Sunday morning he lead the roaring engines down the road.The unicorns waited, bigger than shirehorses. Bull-necked and wild-eyed; jagged metal battering rams bound at their brows.Heads down, they charged.---If, like me, you've lived in towns and cities all your life, it's always a bit of a surprise how large and intimidating horses can be. I've never quite believed that adding a huge, spiralling horn would make them into gentle and compassionate creatures.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 24.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode23

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 22, for Tuesday the 22nd of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Yo Ho HoThe last visitor trudged reluctantly into the lashing rain, and Nigel rolled down the shutters. He rested his forehead against the window, enjoying the brief moments of peace.There was a crash from the main exhibition hall, then muffled swearing.He drew a deep breath."It's ok," he shouted, "they've gone".Stormy nights were always the loudest. By the time he'd turned the corner, he could hear at least three shanties and a concertina.The preserved fishing smack rocked on its hydraulic supports, grey figures spilling from the decks. Nigel sighed, and went to the museum store room for rum.---In my head, this is how all museums work. If you're a museum curator, please don't write in!---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 23.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode22

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 21, for Monday the 21st of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Great New OnesThere'd been trouble at Mill 3 for weeks. Rumours, mutterings, machine operators thinking they could bargain with me for an extra penny or another break. I sent men to break up their meeting. They found the operators chanting, fleshy horror already half-materialised in the circle. I interviewed one of the survivors, fresh blood over old scars of missing fingers."How could you be so stupid?"He stared through swollen eyes. "We worship Him.""He cares for nothing. He will consume you, grind through everything around him, and never be satisfied."He laughed bitterly. "And yet you chose to worship capitalism."---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 22.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode21

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 20, for Sunday the 20th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Afternoon Out"Oh my god, oh my god, Bob's gone!""What?""He's gone! Just like that! Gone! Oh my god!" Harry snapped his pincers frantically. "Calm down, calm down. He'll be back.""He's gone! He saw a bit of food, and then just... Gone! Whisked away!""Stop panicking! This is always happening!"Harry scuttled away in distress.There was a distant splash, and Bob sidled nonchalantly over. "Hey!""You OK?""Me? Oh, fine. Had a great afternoon. Lovely snack, then hung out in a bucket for a while with a couple of ladies. Beautiful shell, one of them. Did I miss anything?"---I was recently walking along the harbourfront in Whitby with a friend. Half adozen families were dangling lines over the side, hauling up little crabs. Thecrabs aren't edible, and will eventually be tipped back into the harbour.We spent our walk wondering what the crabs thought of the whole business.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 21.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode20

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 19, for Saturday the 19th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:SkirmishThe war ended, and neither side truly won. The farmers brought in the harvest, and worshipped the Autumn God, just as they always had done. The colonists stayed. They settled in the rocky places, and thanked Arhayun for the good food they could buy.The farmers threw water on Arhayun's bonfires; in return, the colonists toppled The Autumn God's cairns. Amid smoke, and screams, and sliding rocks, the war flashed back into life The two gods shared a flagon of mead and shook their heads. "How do we stop them?" asked Arhayun.The Autumn God shrugged. "I don't know, brother."---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 20.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode19

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 18, for Friday the 18th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Jump!"Jump!"She clambered onto the windowsill, her small fingers clutching the frame. When she looked down, she whimpered."I don't want to, Billy.""Hold my hand. We'll jump together."Billy's strings trailed from his wooden arm."It's so far down. I'll die.""You're going to jump, Judy.""But I'm scared."His painted black eyes grew darker."Jump. Now."She stared, dazed, at the people screaming below."Jump."Sobbing, she grabbed Billy and stepped into empty air.Judy landed in the net the firefighters held, and loving parents scooped her up. "Judy! You're so brave! And you even saved your puppet!"---I think puppets and dolls get a really raw deal in horror stories. Painted porcelain faces or wooden joints are invariably cast as creepy. But sometimes, your childhood toy is urging you throw yourself from a high window with the best of intentions.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 19.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode18

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 17, for Thursday the 17th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Sudden AutumnLily loved the oak tree in their new house's garden. After a day of customer complaints swamping her optical feeds, connecting with nature was so important.Stepping outside, she almost dropped her tea. The oak's branches were bare against the June sky, drifts of leaves piled brown on the grass.She yelled up the stairs."Jase! Have you split up with your girlfriend again?"A low moan, almost a sob, echoed back down. She sighed. Jase was so selfish.Outside, Lily ran her fingers over the rough bark until the control panel popped. She wrenched the dial back to midsummer.---I've only just realised that this is the second drabble this October to feature a Lily. This Lily is, of course, not the Lily from "Don't Let Go", she just has the same name.Years ago, I accidentally wrote a 10,000 word story in which two main characters had the same name. I did wonder why my beta-readers kept getting confused. ---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 18.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode17

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 16, for Wednesday the 16th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:FiredogsThe feast-frenzied guests waited restlessly for the firedogs to dance against the midsummer sky. My lord, fury covering his fear, sent us to the cave."Prick them out!"No red glow flickered, and I blundered in assuming it deserted. A hissing bulk loomed above me, then slumped to the floor.I crept closer: lanternlight bounced back from a dull eye. One scaled beast coiled around the silent other, sweet breath gusting out like sobs. The odour was choking but, without its mate to blow bitter tar, stone cold.My lord's pikemen would be useless. A firedog could not dance alone.---This story began its life as an 1000-word flash fiction, which contained a lot more detail about my lord's political situation. Decimating it - literally - to make it into a drabble was a very interesting exercise in working out which pieces were actually vital to the story.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 17.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode16

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 15, for Tuesday the 15th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story, which today contains a minor swear, is:Gunpowder and WineMy grandfather refused to go near the bar. "Too many damn idiots," he said, of the tourists who poured in. They bought overpriced jugs of gritty cocktails to toast the revolution 'in gunpowder and wine'."Better off with beer," he grumbled."Mrs McClusky told us in history that it was just a metaphor, anyway.""Well, your Mrs McClusky doesn't know shit, either.""Did you? Really?""Wine was too expensive. We drank shots of rum with a teaspoon of gunpowder. Once.""Why?""It tasted foul. But we thought we were going to die that night, and stupid gestures gave us courage."---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 16.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode15

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 14, for Monday the 14th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Like a BearGood morning, welcome to Sicut Urso. You're right on time.You've been eating well, I take it? What's that? Pasta for every meal? Ideal, sir, glad to hear it. Ha ha, yes, I'm sure you enjoyed it. But you took plenty of lemon juice too? Great.Leave your things here, we'll keep them safe. There are fleecy pyjamas in your room.Ah, I see you've found the bed. Another blanket? Of course. I'll pop a couple of spare pillows over here.Ready?Just one sharp scratch.There, that's the shot done.Comfy?Excellent, sir.We'll wake you in the spring.---I am not a summer person. I really enjoy snow, and frosts, and the lovely dark blue skies you get in the UK on winter afternoons. I actually look forward to winter, and the days when the air stings your lungs.But I appreciate that's not for everybody.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 15.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode14

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 13, for Sunday the 13th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Duty of CareAdam always wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to help anyone who was in trouble. His teachers laughed, given his grades and his slow reading. Then the apocalypse came, and suddenly careers didn't matter any more. Very few things mattered."Get inside, love."Adam gave his daughter a gentle push. She toddled through the door, oblivious to the groaning wails coming closer up the road.The undead thing shambled across the farmyard, one arm torn almost away. Adam patted its good shoulder, and led it into the barn. It sat patiently, and he began to sew up the rips.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 14.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode13

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 12, for Saturday the 12th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:We're Adults NowWe were around ten, I guess. The summer was hot, bakingly hot, and no-one noticed us building a spaceship behind the greenhouse. We used old plywood, the gears from Emily's bike, and a car battery, and blasted off for the Moon.We were back in time for tea, of course.Years later, worn by a messy divorce, I bumped into Emily. We went for a drink, then another. She remembered!"Want to build another spaceship?" I asked. "Revisit the Moon?"She shook her head. "We're adults, now."I nodded, stupid with disappointment.She smiled. "This time, let's aim for Mars."---Did you build a spaceship when you were little? We did. And we dug a treasure mine in the front garden, and figured out a machine for talking to aliens.I think we could all do with a little more of that energy in our adult lives.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 13.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode12

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 11, for Friday the 11th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:These Bills Don't Pay ThemselvesCursing people is easy. Anyone can do it. Removing curses, now. That's a skill. Learned it from my grandmother and I'm good at it.No-one who comes through that door and pays up leaves with any kind of curse on them. Those who won't pay, mind, that's another story.Trouble is, people are boring. A curse for a woman: losing her looks. A man? Usually someone's hoping, you know, something will drop off.Past couple of weeks, mind. Wow. There's been some... yeah. Creative curses. I'm impressed.It's intricate work, too. Looks ingtriguing. Looks... profitable.I'm in the wrong business.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 12.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode11

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 10, for Thursday the 10th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Would You Like A Flake With That?The kids tumbled giddily from the car."Let's get ice creams!"Dad bought 99s for the family, and they raced onto the beach. Elderly ladies strolled along the promenade, nibbling at melting vanilla. Teenagers dared each other into waves that washed off the last streaks of chocolate."No, thanks," said Henry. His date stared. "But... We're at the seaside!"He eyed the jagged purple rocks, and the seething yellow-grey sea."I don't like it here.""Because you haven't had an ice cream, silly!"Sweet cherry slid down his throat, so cold it numbed. He smiled, and walked towards golden sands.---If you live in the UK, a trip to the beach can often be a collective delusion. I've eaten ice cream on days when I've had to shield it to stop the wind whipping my flake away, and also when I've had to race the tiny pits that formed as raindrops splattered into my scoop of vanilla.There's got to be some kind of explanation.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 11.https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/episode10

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 9, for Wednesday the 9th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Set FairElla turned her back."I'm not a child any more. I'm not stupid!"Steve laid gentle hands on her six-year-old shoulders. "I know, love." He stared at the horizon. In the milky light from the silica skymesh, thepodhouses soon shimmered into misty distance."It's true, though.""It's not true! How would it get to the hydroponics?"Ella kicked the polymer ducting, hard enough that the vibrations risked tripping alarms at the recyc. plant."Don't do that, Ella."He didn't blame her. Even he struggled to believe that, when he was her age, water had sometimes fallen from the sky.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 10.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 8, for Tuesday the 8th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Wrath"And Henry rode up with the head on his lance...""Don't be stupid.""He did! Though he must have stopped at the ford to stick it there, just to show off. It'd be too heavy to ride far...""He wouldn't even be able to pick the lance up.""Are you saying my brother didn't slay the dragon? I saw the head!""You liar.""I'm not. It was the size of Farmer Brod's sow.""What?""I've told you, he's killed...""Oh, gods. We're doomed.""Henry's saved us!""That size? Henry killed a baby. We're not going to survive the mother's anger."---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 9.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 7, for Monday the 7th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Don't Let GoWhen Lily slipped, I caught her and we fell screaming together. Snow tore our faces until I slammed into rock, and she disappeared over the edge.Pain stretched the seconds, and spun the sky dark. I clung to my grip on her wrist, hers on mine.Eventually, help arrived."Save Lily!" I begged, her weight dragging my arm numb."Who's Lily?" they asked.When I woke in hospital, her hand was a comforting bracelet. We held on to each other through the surgery, through the long rehab.Each day I wake, face down and arm outstretched, still holding Lily safe.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 8.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 6, for Sunday the 6th of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:TitrationAfter the earthquake, shorn power conduits shook and writhed until downtown was flooded with electric. Dirty, unaligned electric - no use to anyone, and lethal. The council set up cordons, and tried to explain they couldn't clean up yet. Couldn't plan operations until they knew the Wattage.Which is where I come in, with my suitcase of ghosts. It works, and science guys hate it. Electric and ghosts don't mix - lit rooms give spectres no corner to hide. So I just let 'em out, one at a time, until there's enough to be visible.37 ghosts. That's 14 TeraWatts. You're welcome.---There is an idea, which I've heard a few times though I haven't been able to find out whose it was originally, that electricity killed ghost stories. Once rooms were well lit, people stopped seeing ghosts.I like the idea that the ghosts are fighting back.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 7.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 5, for Saturday the fifth ofOctober 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:It's Not The Labour, It's The PartsI waved as he disappeared. I held my breath.He didn't come back.I waited a couple of hours, but still no cheerful creak as he shouldered open the door, brimming with stories.Perhaps things weren't as predictable as we'd thought. Maybe our calculations were off.After a year, I had to know the worst. I thrust a spade between the roots of our old oak tree, riving the ground apart until I found the metal box, rusted after a century in soil. It was stuffed with letters. He loved me, missed me, but could not repair our time machine.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 6.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:New TricksGirls love a boy who's spliced in dog DNA. They can't wait to ruffle Hugo's fur, fondle his ears. Sylvie doesn't notice that the hand curled around the glass is too much paw these days. Doesn't see him when his money's run out, snapping and snarling over bones in the gutter."You'd look cute with a tail," she says."That's not for me," I murmur.My changes are minute, easily hidden. Fly DNA for reflexes. Tarantula and scorpion for stealth and defence. Enough to pull off the deals to pay for more splices.This isn't about girls. It's about survival.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 5.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 3, for Thuresday the 3rd of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:DestinyShe was born, red-haired and screaming, on the third full moon. The priests took up their chanting.Her siblings, whom she never met, worked the fields; she was taught to read the scrolls.They starved and huddled by the hearth; she ate banquets and slept on silk. They fought among themselves; the priests waited for her to fulfil the Prophecy. They laughed, and shouted, and danced, and ran; the priests waited for her to fulfil the Prophecy. And yet, the priests were surprised beyond belief when she escaped out the window, and ran away with a band of strolling players.---It's amazing how many books start with a kid hearing about a prophecy and, lo and behold, by chapter ten there they are, growing into their own and fulfilling it.I honestly think we need more books about people who hear a prophecy, and run rapidly in the opposite direction.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 4.

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 2, for Wednesday the second of October 2024, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Becalmedby Elizabeth GuiltHe stared across the turquoise waves. Something wasn't right."Braithwaite!""Cap'n?" The First Mate came running."I don't like it. The seas are too quiet."Braithwaite gazed for a long minute. Not one of the rolling, foam-topped wave crests moved. At all. "And not a breath of wind either."They both looked up to the sails, which bellied round with wind. A wind that did not blow. Braithwaite ran towards the wheel. Then the rudder. Then the mast, then the side again. He stared at the waves. And the ship, in the tiny glass bottle, on the shelf, sailed on.---Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 3.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:Part of the Furnitureby Elizabeth GuiltThe sofa was the softest leather I'd ever touched, and I relaxed into its warm embrace. I had never sat anywhere so comfortable."Curl up, get cosy," encouraged the sales assistant. "You'll find it needs very little care.""Uh-huh." I wasn't really listening."You won't see any behavioural problems with this model.""Really?" I was struggling not to doze off."The central nervous system is completely minimal."I sat up hurriedly. "What?""The brainstem has been...""This thing is alive?"I leapt to my feet. The cushions slid slowly away, as if they could hardly bear to let me go.---Are you sitting comfortably? Were you sitting comfortably? When I first shared this drabble with some friends, one of them reported that it caused her to jump up and stare suspiciously at the chair she had been sitting on.And that's just the kind of effect I like my stories to have.

For October 2024, I'll be trying to post an episode every day, featuring a brand new 100-word story.I've done this in written form the past two Octobers: you can find all 2023 stories at https://www.elizabethguilt.com/blog/tag/drabbletober23, or 2022's at https://www.elizabethguilt.com/blog/tag/drabbletober.