#shortstories — Public Fediverse posts

Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]

https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/

Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]

https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/

Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]

https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/

Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]

https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/

Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]

https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/

Hisham Matar Reads “New Shoes”

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-writers-voice/hisham-matar-reads-new-shoes

#shortstories #writerslift #booksky #writerssupportingwriters #writethestory inventingrealityediting.com/2...

How to Pen Engaging Dialogue f...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #amwriting #writingcommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Include note asking readers to...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #amwriting #writingcommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Include note asking readers to...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #amwriting #writingcommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Include note asking readers to...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #amwriting #writingcommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Include note asking readers to...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #writer inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Which Story Setting to Use? Ba...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #writer inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Which Story Setting to Use? Ba...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #writer inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Which Story Setting to Use? Ba...

#shortstories #writesky #writerscommunity #writer inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Which Story Setting to Use? Ba...

Behind the Scenes: Part 3

https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/

Behind the Scenes: Part 3

https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/

Behind the Scenes: Part 3

https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/

Behind the Scenes: Part 3

https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/

Behind the Scenes: Part 3

https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/

The Dreamers of the Fading Bloom – Newsletter #8

https://veilofentheos.com/2026/09/04/the-dreamers-of-the-fading-bloom-newsletter-8/

The Dreamers of the Fading Bloom – Newsletter #8

https://veilofentheos.com/2026/09/04/the-dreamers-of-the-fading-bloom-newsletter-8/

The Dreamers of the Fading Bloom – Newsletter #8

https://veilofentheos.com/2026/09/04/the-dreamers-of-the-fading-bloom-newsletter-8/

The Dreamers of the Fading Bloom – Newsletter #8

https://veilofentheos.com/2026/09/04/the-dreamers-of-the-fading-bloom-newsletter-8/

The Dreamers of the Fading Bloom – Newsletter #8

https://veilofentheos.com/2026/09/04/the-dreamers-of-the-fading-bloom-newsletter-8/

Five Great Quotations about Theme
#shortstories #author #writingcommunity #amwriting #writerscommunity
inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Five Great Quotations about Th...

Some of Violet Jacob’s works are available to download as free ebooks via @gutenberg_org

4 novels: Flemington, The Sheep-Stealers, Irresolute Catherine, & The Interloper;
2 poetry collections: Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems, & Songs of Angus and More Songs of Angus;
The Golden Heart, & Other Fairy Stories

8/8

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/7709

#Scottish #literature #Scots #Scotslanguage #19thCentury #20thcentury #WomenWriters #VioletJacob #novels #poetry #shortstories #shortfiction #fairytales

And yes, that means our time is fast approaching.

The place: Zoom.

The time: FOUR DAYS from now.

Get your ticket to ride >> writingtheoccult.carrd.co

#writers #writing #artist #filmmaker #film #books #tv #fiction #shortstories #novel #novella #sciencefiction #timetravel #horror #gothic #fantasy #darkfantasy #writingevents #writingtheoccult #occult #fortean #weirdfiction #weird

The Sun’s Beloved – Àsùnmọ́ (Embrace the Sun)

a half dragon born to Ashuton, Nari and Niccolo
a dragon of the moon and stars, worshipped in the modern day
he was stolen from them and marked as a divine envoy
forced to join the proto-Sun Devourer cult
he is forced to telepathically connect to an emotionally distant serpent god
it is painful for him, but he feels himself growing closer to the seemingly cold god
his followers await his reappearance
even in his absence, they still beg for his guidance under the Big Dipper

day after day he completes tasks meant to appease the serpent
writing constant devotions, praises and affirmations
but sometimes he fights against it
he writes his resistance against the serpent
as punishment for his insubordination,
the serpent cursed him to become his divine representative
forsaking his own divinity of the stars and pledging only to him
linking them for as long as he lives

but at the end of his service, Àsùnmọ́ is fated to be devoured
brought before the serpent and eaten, his power stolen in the process
he values his life, he values waking up every morning
he values the moon, the stars, the sky, grapes, the friends he once had
he doesn’t want to die…
he still dreams of having his first kiss

Name meaning

A common Yorùbá oríki, likely meaning someone that you like to be with or be around. (Source)

Read about the Sun Serpent here

Rate this:

The Sun’s Beloved – Àsùnmọ́ (Embrace the Sun)

a half dragon born to Ashuton, Nari and Niccolo
a dragon of the moon and stars, worshipped in the modern day
he was stolen from them and marked as a divine envoy
forced to join the proto-Sun Devourer cult
he is forced to telepathically connect to an emotionally distant serpent god
it is painful for him, but he feels himself growing closer to the seemingly cold god
his followers await his reappearance
even in his absence, they still beg for his guidance under the Big Dipper

day after day he completes tasks meant to appease the serpent
writing constant devotions, praises and affirmations
but sometimes he fights against it
he writes his resistance against the serpent
as punishment for his insubordination,
the serpent cursed him to become his divine representative
forsaking his own divinity of the stars and pledging only to him
linking them for as long as he lives

but at the end of his service, Àsùnmọ́ is fated to be devoured
brought before the serpent and eaten, his power stolen in the process
he values his life, he values waking up every morning
he values the moon, the stars, the sky, grapes, the friends he once had
he doesn’t want to die…
he still dreams of having his first kiss

Name meaning

A common Yorùbá oríki, likely meaning someone that you like to be with or be around. (Source)

Read about the Sun Serpent here

Rate this:

The Sun’s Beloved – Àsùnmọ́ (Embrace the Sun)

a half dragon born to Ashuton, Nari and Niccolo
a dragon of the moon and stars, worshipped in the modern day
he was stolen from them and marked as a divine envoy
forced to join the proto-Sun Devourer cult
he is forced to telepathically connect to an emotionally distant serpent god
it is painful for him, but he feels himself growing closer to the seemingly cold god
his followers await his reappearance
even in his absence, they still beg for his guidance under the Big Dipper

day after day he completes tasks meant to appease the serpent
writing constant devotions, praises and affirmations
but sometimes he fights against it
he writes his resistance against the serpent
as punishment for his insubordination,
the serpent cursed him to become his divine representative
forsaking his own divinity of the stars and pledging only to him
linking them for as long as he lives

but at the end of his service, Àsùnmọ́ is fated to be devoured
brought before the serpent and eaten, his power stolen in the process
he values his life, he values waking up every morning
he values the moon, the stars, the sky, grapes, the friends he once had
he doesn’t want to die…
he still dreams of having his first kiss

Name meaning

A common Yorùbá oríki, likely meaning someone that you like to be with or be around. (Source)

Read about the Sun Serpent here

Rate this:

The Sun’s Beloved – Àsùnmọ́ (Embrace the Sun)

a half dragon born to Ashuton, Nari and Niccolo
a dragon of the moon and stars, worshipped in the modern day
he was stolen from them and marked as a divine envoy
forced to join the proto-Sun Devourer cult
he is forced to telepathically connect to an emotionally distant serpent god
it is painful for him, but he feels himself growing closer to the seemingly cold god
his followers await his reappearance
even in his absence, they still beg for his guidance under the Big Dipper

day after day he completes tasks meant to appease the serpent
writing constant devotions, praises and affirmations
but sometimes he fights against it
he writes his resistance against the serpent
as punishment for his insubordination,
the serpent cursed him to become his divine representative
forsaking his own divinity of the stars and pledging only to him
linking them for as long as he lives

but at the end of his service, Àsùnmọ́ is fated to be devoured
brought before the serpent and eaten, his power stolen in the process
he values his life, he values waking up every morning
he values the moon, the stars, the sky, grapes, the friends he once had
he doesn’t want to die…
he still dreams of having his first kiss

Name meaning

A common Yorùbá oríki, likely meaning someone that you like to be with or be around. (Source)

Read about the Sun Serpent here

Rate this:

The Sun’s Beloved – Àsùnmọ́ (Embrace the Sun)

a half dragon born to Ashuton, Nari and Niccolo
a dragon of the moon and stars, worshipped in the modern day
he was stolen from them and marked as a divine envoy
forced to join the proto-Sun Devourer cult
he is forced to telepathically connect to an emotionally distant serpent god
it is painful for him, but he feels himself growing closer to the seemingly cold god
his followers await his reappearance
even in his absence, they still beg for his guidance under the Big Dipper

day after day he completes tasks meant to appease the serpent
writing constant devotions, praises and affirmations
but sometimes he fights against it
he writes his resistance against the serpent
as punishment for his insubordination,
the serpent cursed him to become his divine representative
forsaking his own divinity of the stars and pledging only to him
linking them for as long as he lives

but at the end of his service, Àsùnmọ́ is fated to be devoured
brought before the serpent and eaten, his power stolen in the process
he values his life, he values waking up every morning
he values the moon, the stars, the sky, grapes, the friends he once had
he doesn’t want to die…
he still dreams of having his first kiss

Name meaning

A common Yorùbá oríki, likely meaning someone that you like to be with or be around. (Source)

Read about the Sun Serpent here

Rate this:

Pirra and Frost’s story is $1 on Barnes and Noble!

Guuuuyyyyyssssss. The story about a cute black fairy and the dragon shifter she’s trying to save from his crazy ass ex! It’s partially written in a poetry style, too! (No rhyming going on)

Take a look! https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-alien-space-dragon-and-a-fairy-lponi-baldwin/1149240854

Thank you~

Rate this:

SHORT STORY: The Last Train Out

Ava had just clocked out of work and was heading home.

She usually passed by the train station on her way back, although she rarely used it. She preferred taking a bus and walking the rest of the distance. It was her little way of keeping fit after spending most of her day sitting in a laboratory.

Ava worked in one of the largest biochemical research laboratories in the city. She couldn’t imagine herself working anywhere else. The laboratory was known for its experimental research, but it had also become strangely notorious. There had been three unexplained contamination outbreaks within the facility in the past year, and even the CDC couldn’t keep up and had threatened to shut them down multiple times. Most people found that terrifying. Ava found it fascinating.

She had always been curious about everything and even things that science couldn’t immediately explain. That curiosity would eventually be the reason she survived. 

While heading home she passed by the train station and heard it whistle, she instantly had dejavu like she had heard the whistle before, not just the whistle, the exact whistle, the same length, the same pause at the end of the whistle, and at the exact same time, 9:00 p.m. 

Eventually, she shrugged it off. She passed the station every day. Maybe her brain was simply playing tricks on her.

The next evening, it happened again.

Same whistle.

Same time.

Same strange feeling.

Then again the following day.

And the day after that.

By Friday, Ava had stopped pretending it was a coincidence. 

Suddenly, Ava found herself standing in the middle of Central Station with thousands of other people.

She didn’t remember walking there.

She didn’t remember entering the station.

One moment she had been walking to get a bus. The next, she was surrounded by people staring desperately at the tracks.

Ava looked around with no idea what was going on.

At exactly 10:00 p.m., every phone in the station buzzed at once.

Ava pulled hers out.

The same message appeared on every screen.

DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.

Then the electricity went out.

Then the explosions began.

One.

Then another.

Then several at once.

The ground shook beneath their feet.

People screamed.

The train everyone was waiting for was no where to be found just the sound of train racks shaking. Within an hour of waiting at the train, parts of the city were on fire. Everyone scattered around moving to different platforms hoping the next train that came they’d jump in without thinking. While there was chaos everywhere, At 11:30 p.m., another message appeared.

LAST TRAIN LEAVING CENTRAL STATION AT 12:30 A.M.

DESTINATION: NORTH TERMINAL.

Ava stared at the message.

North Terminal had been abandoned for years. She knew that because her laboratory had once worked with the railway authority on environmental testing around the site. There hadn’t been a functioning train there in years. So why was the city sending a train there now?

Ava was already at central station, she sighed relief but before she knew crowd of people were already trooping in, some even pushing others onto the empty tracks.

While struggling not to fall and also to wait for the train, she heard a familiar voice.

“Ava!”

She turned.

Daniel was running toward her.

“You made it,” he said, breathless.

“I almost didn’t.”

Neither of them had time to say anything else.

Then the train whistle sounded.

Neither of them spoke.

The train rolled into the station.

It looked old

Dark

Its windows reflected nothing.

The doors opened.

People rushed inside even pushing some people out of the way. 

Ava grabbed Daniel’s hand.

“Don’t let go.”

They boarded.

As soon as everyone settled into the train the lights came back on.  

The first journey lasted forty-three minutes.

Ava remembered that because she kept checking the clock.

12:31.

12:47.

1:03.

1:14.

Then the train stopped.

The doors opened.

North Terminal.

But there was no station.

Only darkness.

A voice came through the speakers.

“One passenger must remain.”

Then the lights went out.

Ava grabbed Daniel’s hand.

“Daniel?”

Nothing.

She squeezed harder.

Her hand closed around empty air.

“Daniel?”

When the lights returned, everyone was gone.

When the lights returned, everyone was gone.

Every passenger.

Every bag.

Every person.

Ava was alone.

Then she saw him.

Daniel was standing outside the train.

On the platform. A single flickering light hung above him. His back was turned.

“Daniel!”

Slowly, he turned around.

His face was covered in blood.

Ava stopped breathing.

Something moved behind him.

Two eyes opened in the darkness.

They were looking directly at her.

Ava screamed and stumbled backward, hitting her head against the metal wall of the train.

The train doors slammed shut.

The train moved.

Ava woke up at her desk.

Her heart was pounding.

The laboratory was silent.

It was already 9:00 p.m. She couldn’t remember falling asleep. 

She felt a stinging feeling like her palm was burning. 

A strange symbol had appeared across her palm. A small black circle. She had never seen it before. She rubbed it but it hurt her as she did like a fresh flesh wound. 

She picked up her things to leave the office.

The hallway lights flickered as she walked toward the elevator.

One.

Two.

Three.

Each light went out just after she passed it.

Ava stopped.

The last light above her flickered.

Then went completely dark.

She stepped into the elevator.

When the doors opened again, she was standing outside the train station.

Ava stared at the entrance.

She didn’t remember walking there.

Her phone buzzed.

DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.

Ava stared at the message.

Then another appeared.

LAST TRAIN LEAVING CENTRAL STATION AT 12:30 A.M.

DESTINATION: NORTH TERMINAL.

She was already at central station. People began trooping in. 

She dropped the phone.

She saw Daniel

They got on the train together 

The darkness.

His bloodied face.

Everyone disappears 

She hit her head and falls

The train doors slammed shut.

The train moved.

She wakes up in her office again at exactly 9:00pm

Same cycle repeating itself

This time when she woke up in her office, she was the only one. 

Same thing on her palms. 

Then someone knocked on her door.

Three times.

Ava froze.

“Who is it?”

No answer.

She opened the door.

Nobody was there.

Only a piece of paper lying on the floor.

She picked it up.

There was one sentence written on it.

DON’T LET HIM GET ON THE TRAIN.

Ava stared at it.

She didn’t know who “him” was.

Until she got the train this time and saw Daniel, it clicked and looked at Daniel. 

“Don’t get on the train,” she told him.

He laughed.

“Ava, the city is literally burning.”

“I know.”

“You want us to stay here?”

“I want to know what’s happening.”

The train arrived.

Ava watched the doors open.

Everyone boarded.

She didn’t.

Daniel stared at her.

“Ava.”

“Don’t.”

The train doors began closing.

Daniel stepped back.

Then suddenly, a little girl grabbed Ava’s hand.

Ava looked down.

The girl was crying.

“Please don’t let it leave.”

“Why?”

The girl pointed toward the train.

“My mother is inside.”

Ava looked through the windows.

The passengers were sitting silently and strangely every passenger was looking at her.

The doors closed.

The train left.

The moment it disappeared into the tunnel, the entire station went dark.

The little girl disappeared.

Ava was alone.

She looked around looking for Daniel but didn’t find him. 

Then everything went black again but this time she didn’t hit her head. 

Ava woke up in her office.

Again.

She screamed.

She knew immediately.

She was living a repeated cycle.

But this time, something was different.

The symbol on her palm had changed.

There were now two circles.

Ava stared at it.

Then she remembered the little girl.

The man on the train.

The sentence on the paper.

And one thought came to her.

Maybe the train wasn’t the destination.

Maybe it was a clue.

She had less than 2 hours before the whole cycle reset itself again. 

Ava didn’t go to Central Station.

She went to the old railway archives.

She searched through newspapers.

Maps.

Construction records. Everything she could find about North Terminal.

She discovered that the North Terminal had been abandoned five years ago due to the fire outbreak and train accident that happened. 

There was no functioning station there.

She looked at the map of the station and discovered an underground control room.

The original railway plans showed a tunnel that had been sealed.

Ava found an old photograph with newspapers that talked about a fire outbreak. 

Six people stood in front of the tunnel.

Engineers.

Scientists.

Government officials.

And behind them was the same symbol on her palm. The two circles.

Ava’s heart began pounding. She needed to know more but she was running out of time. 

She took the map and pictures and was heading further but she was out of time. Everywhere became pitch black and she woke up in her office again.

This time Ava went straight to the North Terminal.

She found the sealed tunnel.

Behind the rusted doors was a staircase.

She walked down.

Until she heard something.

A train.

But there were no tracks.

The sound was coming from beneath the ground.

She followed it.

At the bottom, she found a massive underground room.

Machines covered the walls.

Thousands of wires disappeared into the ceiling.

And in the centre was a giant glass chamber.

Inside it were people.

Dozens of them.

Sleeping.

Connected to machines.

Ava walked closer.

Then she saw Daniel.

Her breath caught.

He was inside the chamber.

Alive.

She ran toward him.

“Daniel!”

His eyes opened.

“Ava?”

She touched the glass.

He shook his head.

“You need to destroy everything, Ava.”

The lights in the room came on.

Six people stood behind her.

The same six people from the photograph.

Except they hadn’t aged.

Not a day.

“You finally found us.” One of them said

Ava turned.

“What have you done?”

The woman in front stepped forward.

“We built the first train.”

“Why?”

“To save the city.”

Ava looked at the machines.

“You’re killing people.”

“We’re preventing something worse, and the sacrifices are for the greater good.”

“Every cycle ends with the city destroyed.”

“So you reset it.”

“Yes.”

Ava stared at her.

“And everyone forgets.”

“Everyone except you.”

“Why me?”

The woman smiled.

“Because you were the first person who survived the last train out.”

Ava froze.

“What?”

“You were never supposed to remember.”

“How many times?”

The woman answered:

“One hundred and twelve.”

Ava’s face went pale.

She had lived this night 112 times.

Each time, she had boarded the train.

Each time, the city had died.

Each time, everything had started again.

“But why?”

“We built the machines using untested chemicals and machines that were found in space to make the train faster, we realised we could also travel in time and reset things using the train, but the more we used the more we upset the balance of time.”

“We’ve been stuck here feeding the machine and trying to stop the end of the world.”

The room began shaking.

“You have two choices, Ava. Only you can save us all.”

The woman raised her hand.

“Board the train again.”

The machines began humming.

“And the cycle continues.”

She pointed towards the machines

“Or destroy the machine.”

Ava looked at the people trapped inside the chambers.

Then at Daniel.

Then at the machines.

“What happens if I destroy it?”

Before the woman could answer she fell and hit her head and was having a seizure. 

The other five tried to attack Ava but she took a metal pipe and hit the chamber filled with liquid. She knew the liquid was harmless, but volatile and realised that her laboratory were the ones who first created the liquid. At that time she didn’t realise what they were creating such large quantities. The liquid from the chambers swept the other five in different directions hitting their head on the metals around. 

Ava looked at Daniel.

“Can you walk?”

He nodded.

“Then let’s end this.”

The alarms began screaming.

Daniel pulled the emergency lever beside the glass chamber.

The machine exploded with sparks.

The room shook violently.

“Stop!”

The woman got up and screamed.

“You don’t understand what you’re doing!”

Ava looked at her.

“I understand perfectly.”

She ran toward the central machine.

The woman tried to stop her.

Ava pushed her. Crashing each other against the controls.

The machine began overheating.

The train whistle sounded somewhere beneath them.

The woman screamed:

“IF YOU DESTROY IT, THE TRAIN WILL NEVER COME BACK!”

Ava pulled the final lever.

The machine exploded.

The underground room filled with white light.

Every screen shattered.

Every wire burned.

The sound of the train became deafening.

Before they could make it out, it exploded flinging them outside to the train tracks. 

Ava felt a ringing sound in her ears before closing her eyes and then silence.

Ava opened her eyes.

She was lying on the floor of Central Station.

The station was crowded.

People were talking and walking past her.

Trains were arriving.

Nobody was screaming.

Nobody was running.

Nobody was dying.

Ava sat up and quickly looked at her palm. The symbol was gone.

Ava’s phone rang, it was the hospital. 

They had called to tell her Daniel woke up from the coma. She smiled. Daniel was Ava’s fiancée, he had been in the train accident that happened five years ago and had been in a coma since. 

She looked toward the tracks.

A train arrived.

Ava’s heart skipped a bit.

It was the same black train.

The same one.

But this time, it was different.

The windows reflected the passengers.

The lights inside were warm.

The doors opened.

People stepped off.

Alive.

Real.

Ava watched silently.

Then she saw them.

The six people from the photograph.

They stepped off the train.

Behind them came the little girl and her mother.

The woman who had been trapped inside the machine looked at Ava.

She smiled.

“Thank you.”

Ava frowned.

“For what?”

“For letting us go.”

Ava looked at the train.

“The six of you…”

The woman nodded.

“We were trapped inside the machine just as much as everyone else.”

“And the train?”

The woman looked back at it.

“It was trapped too.”

Ava looked at the black train.

For five years, it had carried the same people toward the same ending.

Over and over.

Never arriving.

Never leaving.

Until now.

Ava looked back at the tracks.

The black train slowly disappeared into the morning light.

For the first time, it wasn’t taking anyone anywhere.

It was simply leaving.

Thank you for reading!!!

Love,

Dupe Abiona

#RayBradbury #ShortStories #AmericanLiterature #AllSummerInADay #Venus

I remember watching this on TV. It never left my memory and TIL it was a Bradbury short story. I should have known.

https://www.libraryofshortstories.com/storiespdf/all-summer-in-a-day.pdf

Midnight Tea in a Graveyard by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc now live on Amazon

https://midnight-publishing.org/2026/07/20/midnight-tea-in-a-graveyard-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc-now-live-on-amazon/

Midnight Tea in a Graveyard, A Gothic Collection of Darkness by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc goes live on 7/20

https://midnight-publishing.org/2026/07/06/midnight-tea-in-a-graveyard-a-gothic-collection-of-darkness-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc-goes-live-on-7-20/

Short Story Sunday #2 – The Fourth Keeper

Gulls have a way of sounding almost human.

It was the first thing Andrew Kerr noticed as the ‘Hesperus’ pulled away from Eilean Mòr. The engine chugged steadily into the grey Atlantic until the little relief vessel became little more than a dark smudge against the horizon. Before long, even that disappeared into the drizzle leaving only the lighthouse, the wind and the sea.

Andrew had spent the previous five years tending lights around the Scottish coast, but nothing had prepared him for the Flannan Isles. The older keepers spoke of the place in lowered voices. They never refused an assignment outright – that was not the way of lighthouse men – but neither did they volunteer.

“It’s only lonely,” one had told him. Another simply shook his head.

“Mind the weather.” That was all.

The lighthouse itself was immaculate.Whitewashed walls, gleaming brass, every pane polished until it reflected the endless Atlantic beyond. Principal Keeper Malcolm Fraser believed that a clean lighthouse was a reliable lighthouse, and Andrew quickly learned that dust was treated almost as seriously as darkness.

There were three men stationed there. Fraser, Ian MacLeod and Andrew himself. The routine never changed. Rise. Clean. Wind the machinery. Polish the lenses. Log the weather. Trim the lamp. Eat. Sleep. Repeat…

But, by the third day he could almost believe the stories had not been exaggerated.

It began with a mug.

After breakfast, Andrew washed the cups and stacked them carefully on the wooden rack beside the sink. One. Two. Three. He counted them without thinking. The following morning there were four. He frowned.

“You expecting someone?”

Fraser looked up from his porridge.

“No.”

Andrew lifted the extra mug. “It’s not mine.”

“It belongs there,” Fraser replied without looking. MacLeod continued buttering his bread. Neither man seemed interested. Andrew shrugged. Perhaps one had been tucked away in a cupboard. He placed it back.

The following evening he noticed something else. Four pegs beside the door. Three oilskins hanging on the pegs, one peg empty. It was probably nothing. The station had once housed different crews. The spare peg had simply never been removed.

Still…He found himself counting.Three beds. Four mugs. Three men. Four pegs. It felt as though the island was beginning to play tricks.

A week later the weather closed in. Not a violent storm, but a slow, relentless mist that wrapped itself around the cliffs until the world beyond the lighthouse ceased to exist. The sea vanished, the sky vanished. Even the cries of the gannets seemed muffled. That evening Andrew climbed alone into the lantern room to tend the light. As the great lens revolved, its beam swept across a wall of white.

Then he saw movement. Three figures crossing the compound below. Fraser, MacLeod… Andrew frowned.That couldn’t be right. He was here.

He leaned closer. One man stopped. The second carried a coil of rope. The third wore no oilskins.

Andrew’s stomach tightened in confusion as voice spoke behind him.

“You’ll strain your eyes.”

He spun around. Fraser stood in the doorway. MacLeod beside him. Both carrying tools. Andrew looked back through the glass. The three figures were still there. Walking slowly towards the western path. One.Two.Three. Then another emerged from the mist.

A fourth.

The newcomer walked several paces behind the others. Not hurried or hesitant. Simply following.

When the four reached the edge of the cliff, the last man stopped. Though Andrew could not possibly make out a face at that distance, he knew – absolutely knew – that the figure was looking directly at him. The stranger raised one hand – not in warning or greeting. The gesture seemed like it was almost……in recognition…

Then the figure stepped calmly into the empty air beyond the cliff edge.

Andrew shouted.

By the time Fraser and MacLeod reached the window, there was nothing below except waves exploding against black rock.

“You saw them, didn’t you?” Andrew whispered. Fraser’s face remained unreadable.

“What exactly did you see, lad?”

“There were four.” Andrew heard his voice quaver in confusion and fear.

Silence. MacLeod lowered his eyes. Fraser rested one hand upon the window frame.

“My predecessor told me something when I first came here.” He began. Andrew waited.

“He said this island always has four keepers.”

“But there are only three…” Andrews voice faltered. Fraser nodded slowly.

“Aye.”

Neither man spoke again. No explanation followed. No laughter. Not even suggestion that Andrew had imagined it. Only silence.

The relief boat arrived twelve days later beneath a pale winter sky. Captain Morrison came ashore with fresh supplies and a sack of letters from home.

As Andrew helped carry provisions into the kitchen, the captain paused, his eyes on the drying rack. He looked at Andrew.

“Still keeping it, then?”

“Keeping what?” Andrew replied.

“The fourth mug?” Andrew felt the colour drain from his face.

“What fourth mug?”

The captain pointed. There they were. Four stoneware mugs. Dry, clean and perfectly arranged. Andrew counted them twice, then a third time. One. Two. Three. Four. When he turned to ask Fraser about it, the older keeper was already carrying sacks towards the store. MacLeod never looked up. Neither man acknowledged the mug.

Andrew packed his belongings that afternoon.

He never returned to the Flannan Isles. Years later, after his retirement, a journalist asked whether the stories about the vanished lighthouse keepers were true. Andrew smiled politely.

“No,” he said. “The sea took three good men. That’s all anyone can prove.”

The reporter seemed disappointed.

“So there are no ghosts?”

Andrew considered the question for a long moment. Then he remembered the mist. The cliff. The raised hand. The fourth mug drying quietly beside the sink.

“I didn’t say that.”

Outside, somewhere beyond the window, a gull cried over the sea, the sound almost human…

Perhaps it was…

Tales From The Territory: A Cosy ARC Book Review

https://collectingandreading.co.uk/2026/05/28/tales-from-the-territory-a-cosy-arc-book-review/

100 Years of the Best American Short Stories "These forty stories represent their eras but also stand the test of time" Sale: $36 to $1.99 by Lorrie Moore, Heidi Pitlor Rating: 4.4/5 (1,081 Reviews) #ShortStories #Anthology #AmericanLiterature #Fiction #Reading #Books #BookSky

100 Years of the Best American...

This week's Story Hour took us through loneliness and grief...and left us with love and healing. Phenomenal stories from Corey Farrenkopf and James L. Sutter. You can still watch! storyhour2020.com/ #Horror #HorrorFiction #CoreyFarrenkopf #JamesLSutter #Bookstodon #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #Bookstodon @CoreyFarrenkopf https://youtu.be/gxe2ydwm6IQ

This week, the delightful Corey Farrenkopf returns, and James L. Sutter makes his Story Hour debut! Prepare for beauty, eeriness, and melancholy. Join us Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. PST! https://www.storyhour2020.com/ #Horror #HorrorFiction #CoreyFarrenkopf #JamesLSutter #Bookstodon #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading @CoreyFarrenkopf

The Gods of H P Lovecraft

https://library.hrmtc.com/2025/10/03/the-gods-of-h-p-lovecraft/

#AaronJFrench #AdamNevill #AmericanLiterature #Azathoth #BentleyLittle #book #BrettTalley #ChristopherGolden #Cthulhu #DavidLiss #DonaldTyson #DouglasWynne #ElderThings #FantasyFiction #GreatRace #hPLovecraft #HPLovecraft18901937 #HPLovecraft18901937Influence #horror #HorrorCollectionsAnthologies #HorrorFiction #horrorStories #HorrorTales #InfluenceLiteraryArtisticEtc_ #JamesAMoore #JoeRLansdale #JonathanMaberry #LairdBarron #LiteraryCollections #MarthaWells #MiGo #monsters #MonstersLiteraryCollections #MonstresAnthologies #NightGaunts #Nyarlathotep #PopularFiction #RachelCaine #review #SeananMcGuire #shortStories #ShortStoriesAnthologies #ShubNiggurath #TPolyphilus #TheDeepOnes #Tsathoggua #Yig #YogSothoth

From shocking short stories to a talking foetus: Ian McEwan’s 10 best books – ranked! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/15/from-shocking-short-stories-to-a-talking-foetus-ian-mcewans-10-best-books-ranked #Shortstories #IanMcEwan #Culture #Fiction #Books

KINDLE EDITION RELEASED!

8: Tales of The Big Men from The Nod/Wells Timelines

https://amazon.com/dp/B0D26NHT3J

8 is...
✅ unique
✅ quirky
✅ sci-fi
✅ horror
✅ intense yet subtle
✅ dark & light
✅ power with consequences
✅ standalone but interconnected short stories

READ IT TODAY!

@specfic @scifi @horrorbooks

#unique #quirky #scifi #horror #intense #subtle #dark #light #power #consequences #standalone #interconnected #shortstories #book #books #bookstodon #booktodon #whattoread #booksofmastodon #readit

In a Lonely Place

https://library.hrmtc.com/2024/04/08/in-a-lonely-place/

This month on #BowieBookClub we read Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr. - Is it a #novel? A collection of #shortstories? An unrelenting parade of bleakness in a pre-genetrification borough-no artisanal yogurt in sight!)?
@bookstodon #amreading #books
http://www.bowiebookclub.com/episodes/2023/8/26/last-exit-to-brooklyn-by-hubert-selby-jr

Lull

https://library.hrmtc.com/2022/12/18/lull/