Explore every episode of the podcast Drabbletober

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 31, season 3, for Saturday the thirty-first of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: You Didn't Get That From Amazon

by Elizabeth Guilt

Frank buttons his jacket, and looks in the mirror. 

Not bad, he thinks. Not bad. 

He doesn't go out much. He hates the way people stare. 

But on Hallowe'en? Well, that's different. He gives the bolt through his neck a final polish.

Annabel totters in, and Frank smiles.

"Darling, you look fabulous."

She giggles. 

"It's a big occasion. You know I like to get all undressed up."

She's pulled off the huge hoodie she always wears. Her bones gleam in the candlelight.

He puts his arm around her and they step into the night, to be adored everywhere they go.

---

Happy Hallowe'en, everyone! The 31st marks the end of this season of Drabbletober, though I'll be popping back for bonus episodes. Thanks for joining in again this year!

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode31

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 30, season 3, for Friday

the thirtieth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Commuting

by Elizabeth Guilt

The woman on the platform is arguing with someone who isn't there. 

"You forgot. Again."

She's not wearing earbuds. She's young, smartly-dressed. Pretty. She jabs a manicured finger in the air.

"I am never - never - a priority."

The steady stream of commuters pours past. No-one looks at her, shouting by herself.

I get off the train, and sit on the bench beside her.

"No," she says. "No. It's not good enough. You're always late."

Her eyes bore into mine. 

And I remember. I remember every single time I've let her down.

A tear rolls down my face.

"I'm so sorry."

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 31.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode30

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 29, season 3, for Thursday

the twenty-ninth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Defence of the Realm

by Elizabeth Guilt

When the demons arrived, Marshall was immensely surprised when the most senior civil servant simply rolled his eyes, and said "not again".

Marshall was dispatched to an obscure corridor to consult an incredibly elderly librarian.

"Er, ma'am, do you know anything about, um, binding demons?"

"Oh yes, dear. Small splash of milk. Stops them feeling funny on your teeth."

"Milk? Teeth?"

"Or maybe that was binding tannins. In tea, you know. It's been such a long time."

"Mrs Barrington. We're in danger! Demons! Please try to concentrate."

The notebook Marshall held began to smoulder.

"Don't you patronise me, young man."

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 30.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode29

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 28, season 3, for Wednesday

the twenty-eighth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: The Training

by Elizabeth Guilt

You roll over. 

"God, I feel awful."

Surprise.

"I didn't even drink that much."

You always say that.

You rub your eyes. 

"I was chatting to your friend. Kerry?"

"Kira."

"Kira. I had some wine. Then... Nothing."

I'm so tired of having this conversation.

Your face crumples. "I'm sorry," you whisper, as you shuffle away. You pause in the doorway. 

"When we went to bed... were you telling me the names of cities?"

"What?"

"Sorry."

The moment you're out of sight, I reach behind the bed to tweak the device's settings.

You should not remember anything. Especially not The Training. 

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 29.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode28

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 27, season 3, for Tuesday

the twenty-seventh of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Early Learning

by Elizabeth Guilt

I hated getting paired with Bella in gym. She flew up ropes and leapt, spinning, off boxes. She mocked my broken-down plimsolls and scruffy shorts. She sneered at my caution.

"You're too scared of everything. You don't even try."

I couldn't. She cartwheeled along the beam; all I could see was how easy it would be to slip, to overbalance, to plummet face-first.

The day she did slip, breaking her arm, the look on her face was surprise.

And I finally understood the difference between us.

All her life, whenever she'd fallen, there had always been someone to catch her.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 28.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode27

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 26, season 3, for Monday

the twenty-sixth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Hundreds Witness Touching Scene From 2031 Bestseller

by Elizabeth Guilt

I didn't make a special journey. I mean, I kind of did, but I was near the area. I got there before dawn, not expecting the crowd. I guess other people loved the book, too. We nodded to each other sheepishly. Eventually, little conversations broke out. 

"This scene..."

"It's my favourite."

"Ezra coming here every year, just for a glimpse..."

The sky paled. We stared, eyes fixed on the window.

We gasped.

We all saw it - the flash of his face behind the glass.

The Guardian reported that the author had paid an actor.

No-one believed a word of it.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 27.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode26

Wikipedia link to Toynbee tiles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toynbee_tiles

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 25, season 3, for Sunday

the twenty-fifth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: The Message

by Elizabeth Guilt

I saw it and stopped dead.

The square bricks, with their one-sentence message, were a common sight around town. People mostly ignored them. This one made me stare.

It looked just like all the others. But I hadn't put it there.

I abandoned my commute. I visited every one of my bricks. I declined calls from my boss. Every brick was in place. 

The new brick was just that.

New.

I examined its dimensions, checked every detail. Same message. Same script, same colour.

And on the base, in tiny letters:

You picked this up. Now I know who you are.

---

On a recent Wikipedia-rabbit-hole evening, I read about the Toynbee tiles: bright-coloured, cryptic tiles that have appeared in various US cities since the 80s. It's a cool mystery: I'll pop a link in the show notes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toynbee_tiles

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 26.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode25

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 24, season 3, for Saturday

the twenty-fourth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Former Wine Critics Are The Worst

by Elizabeth Guilt

"The carotid? Overrated. The radial is much more delicate on the palate..."

"Radial? Oh no. Too thin, packs no punch. The femoral's coppery overtones..."

"There are still people drinking venous, can you believe it? So hollow over the tongue..."

Henrik rolled his eyes. 

When the teenager blundered over, Henrik deliberately sank his fangs into their jugular.

"Oh, how gauche."

"This club used to be selective."

Henrik wiped his face, and gave the kid a gentle push back towards the door. He glared at the lounging shadows.

"Gentlemen. Fate made us monsters. We can choose whether or not to be wankers."

---

Looking back at my notes, I don't think we've had a vampire drabble since 2023. This surprises me immensely. 

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 25.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode24

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 23, season 3, for Friday

the twenty-third of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Wolfkin

by Elizabeth Guilt

Before she sets out, Emma looks again at the photo. He's frozen at sixteen: long straggly hair, uneven beard. She's grown up, overtaken him. Now she's not fighting for attention from her beloved older brother, she can see how unhappy he looks.

"A loner", everyone said. Before he vanished, they'd called him worse.

He'd told Emma what he had planned. But she was six and no-one listened. 

She hikes for hours, long past sunset. The howling makes her uneasy, but they lope straight past her.

One wolf, shoulder to shoulder with his packmates, meets her eyes for a long moment.

---

When I talk about "my family", many of the people I include in that group are not actually related to me at all. Your family is the people you choose to be your family.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 24.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode23

The ball sailed across the street, straight through Mrs. Winterbourne's window. The sound of falling glass lasted forever.

"Sam!"

"Shhh."

Sam screwed his face up, hands clapped over his ears.

"Sam! We're so dead."

He grinned. "We're fine."

"We're not!" I pointed at the... unbroken window. "What?"

Sam shrugged.

"Parallel words, innit? I just moved us one world over." He hooked the ball from under a car.

"But..." I looked around. "What about the other us? Where've they gone?"

"Don't care."

I cared. How many parallel Sams also knew how to switch worlds? What trouble would they land us in?

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode22

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 21, season 3, for Wednesday the twenty-first of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Coming Back

by Elizabeth Guilt

My dad was always a joker. So even though he was dying, I didn't believe him. 

The green notebook was full of his slanted writing.

"My name was David Baker," it began. "I joined up in 1914. I was seventeen."

"You dictated it all to me," Dad said. "You were about five."

I flipped through. Names. Dates. Details. A horrific day of shelling, ending with a direct hit.

I remembered none of it, now.

"A five-year-old couldn't make this up."

"I never thought you did."

"So what..."

"I don't know. But you work with little kids. Look out for me."

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 22.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode21

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 20, season 3, for Tuesday the twentieth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Fluorogirl

by Elizabeth Guilt

The crowd roars as she tumbles over their heads and lands lightly on the stage. They scream her name, showering her with violets. She bows low, feels a hot pain in her back, and wakes in the cramped room.

She curses quietly as she struggles out of bed, the back pain more real than the memories of flowers.

The blue glow flickers and glitches, but it's enough to see by. 

Not that these genetic mods would be legal nowadays. They weren't exactly legal then.

At least the locals don't stare any more.

But she only hears her name in dreams.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 21.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode20

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 19, season 3, for Monday the nineteenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Arcanophagy

by Elizabeth Guilt

The first sign was my grandfather eating his Bible. We noticed torn pages on Sunday, and by Tuesday it was gone, leather binding and all. Grandfather blinked his pale eyes, and said "but I was hungry". Mother gave him extra porridge. Then our crucifix vanished, then the church complained of tooth-marks in the candles. 

Through the crack in Grandfather's door I watched him stand, hand resting on the shelf. A red maw broke through his palm, and fastened around his prayerbook, crunching noisily. His eyes wandered absently around the room. My stomach rumbled, and my own palm began to itch.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 20.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode19

Wikipedia article about the Clown Statue urban legend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_babysitter_and_the_man_upstairs#The_Clown_Doll/Statue_version/legend

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 18, season 3, for Sunday the eighteenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Clown Statues

by Elizabeth Guilt

...so she texts the kid's parents, and says "OK, but the life-size clown statue is freaking me out".

Yeah, yeah, we've all head this before. They reply to say "we haven't got a clown statue", and it turns out it's a murderer, and...

No. They text back and say "LOL, we bought the clown statues in a fleamarket in Bognor, aren't they funny?"

And she says "statues? where's the other one?"

And they reply "what? they're right next to each other in the lounge".

But there is definitely only one clown statue.

And behind her, she hears a high-pitched giggle. 

---

I was recently shocked to find that some of my younger friends don't know the urban legens of the Clown Statue. Do kids not try to scare each other with dubiously-sourced "true stories" any more?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_babysitter_and_the_man_upstairs#The_Clown_Doll/Statue_version/legend

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 19.

--

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode18

Wikipedia article about the Angels of Mons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_of_Mons

--

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 17, season 3, for Saturday the seventeenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Angels. Again.

by Elizabeth Guilt

"You ok?"

"Not really. Weird conversation with my uncle."

"Yeah?"

"He was in the army. He never usually talks about it, but it's getting to him. On the phone last night he kept going on about angels. They..."

"Angels?"

"Yes, in battle. They..."

"Doesn't he know we've all read Arthur Machen? That Angels of Mons stuff was debunked decades ago."

"He's seventy! He wasn't at Mons. He..."

"Same stupid story: angels show up, intervene in the battle, God's on your side, what a just war."

"No. That's not what he said. The angels he saw were fighting for the enemy."

---

If you have actually read your Arthur Machen, you'll know that his story involved not angels, but a phantom bowman. However, the evolution of the Angel of Mons legend is fascinating - I'll pop a link to the Wikipiedia article in the shownotes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_of_Mons.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 18.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode17

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 16, season 3, for Friday the sixteenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Some People Will Never Be Satisfied

by Elizabeth Guilt

Death swung his scythe. The man looked angry. Not angry with Death, more like he was always angry with everything.

"Who're you?"

The empty eye sockets swirled gently.

"I'm Death. You get one question before you travel on."

"What?"

"Anything you've ever wanted to know. I will answer one question. It's the rules."

It wasn't. Death could do whatever he wanted. But people found rules comforting.

"Did she cheat on me?"

Death sighed. He'd already explained JFK's death eight times today. But he knew exactly how this conversation would go.

"She did not."

The man spat. 

"I don't believe you."

---

If you've been here every day, then you'll know that the 16th means we're just over halfway through Drabbletober's main season. If you're enjoying it, why not recommend Drabbletober to a friend? If you'd like to leave a review on your podcast platform, that would also be brilliant.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 17.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode16

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 15, season 3, for Thursday the fifteenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Scope

by Elizabeth Guilt

"This feels off."

"That's just a hunch. This is the distillation of fourteen thousand hours of eyewitness testimony, done by state-of-the-art tools..."

"AI tools."

"Accredited tools, using gold-standard cognitive interview techniques."

"I know, but... does anyone ever read the transcripts?"

"You know they do! Thorough consistency checks..."

"Are done by AI. When did a human last look?"

"We can't. Even skim-reading the transcripts for this case, this one case, would take a solid year."

"What if there's a flaw in the..."

"Longitudinal review would identify systemic anomalies."

"Another review done by AI. For fuck's sake, why are we even here?"

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 16.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode15

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 14, season 3, for Wednesday the fourteenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

When You're Not Looking

by Elizabeth Guilt

Katie sits in the kitchen. Mum will be home in a minute.

The phone rings. She screws up her face, hoping it will stop.

It doesn't.

Maybe it's Mum. Katie will be in trouble if she doesn't answer. 

But she can't leave the kitchen.

The phone is still ringing. 

She dashes down the hall: it's double glazing. She slams the receiver down, but by the time she's back in the kitchen it's too late.

It's happened.

She's still frantically shoving tins back into cupboards when she hears Mum's voice, furious and despairing.

"Katie! Not this nonsense about a poltergeist again."

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 15.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode14

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 13, season 3, for Tuesday the thirteenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Domesticity

by Elizabeth Guilt

Honey, could you get oat milk? And some avocados? And maybe... 

Why is there a severed head in the fridge? 

Haha, yes, I know it wouldn't fit if the body was still attached. Buy why...

Sure, of course. But it's dripping into the salad drawer. 

You don't, no. But I like salad.

I'm sure you can get bigger Tupperware, if it's that... Well, at least put it on a plate. 

What? Why not? What's in the freezer? 

Oh. I see.

What are we going to do with...

No, don't be ridiculous. 

You know perfectly well I'm trying a vegan diet.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 14.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode13

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 12, season 3, for Monday the twelfth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Opportunity

by Elizabeth Guilt

The lady stood, arms on the balustrade, facing out to sea. Garrick couldn't believe his luck.

He strolled, elaborately nonchalant, and dipped into her bag. Quick fingers identified comb, diary, purse...

She moved like a viper, squeezing his wrist until the bones cracked.

He dragged against her grip, visions of police, courts, and gallows crowding in on him. 

Slowly, she let go. She pulled a gold coin from a hidden pocket, flashing him just a glimpse of it. 

"I need a thief. Steal that coin from me by Sunday, and you're hired. But if I catch you again, you'll hang."

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 13.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode12

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 11, season 3, for Sunday the eleventh of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Funny, That

by Elizabeth Guilt

Ben said he wanted to be a fireman. George said he'd be a nurse.

"Don't be stupid, boys aren't nurses!"

"They are!"

Mrs Hayman intervened. "Boys make great nurses. What about you, Hattie?"

I said I'd like to be a witch.

"That's not a job! What will you do when you're grown up?"

"Witch."

Everyone laughed. Even George.

Well, who's got a BMW and a swimming pool now? And no, since you ask, I don't have a 'little shop'. I'm not on Etsy.

Mrs Hayman slipped on the stairs. And left me all her money. So did George.

Funny, that.

---

I'm pretty sure that the witches who are posting daily content on Instagram—and wearing t-shirts about being the granddaughters of those you didn't burn— are not the ones you really need to watch out for.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 12.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode11

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 10, season 3, for Saturday the tenth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

The Voices

by Elizabeth Guilt

You're used to us now, aren't you? Us, the voices in your ears; telling you stories, making you laugh.

Not always nice stories - but you'd rather listen to us tell you about a serial killer than overhear that couple's conversation. Other people on public transport are the worst.

So we're always with you. Long journeys, boring workdays. You take us to bed, even into the toilet. Without us, you'd be bored. And exposed. Lost.

We love you, too.

You didn't notice, did you? Your headphones went flat ten minutes ago.

You'll never have to be alone with your thoughts again.

[distorted theme music]

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode10

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 9, season 3, for Friday the ninth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Milda Sings Destruction

by Elizabeth Guilt

Milda picks up the bone flute, and plays to the trees. The wind sings with her, high and shrill, and a nearby vixen screams. 

Her father snatches the flute. "No, Milda!"

He scoops her into his arms, tickling her until she laughs and the tree branches are still again.

Soon she will be too big to pick up, too old to be soothed with silly games. 

Soon, when Milda sings destruction, he will not be able to stop her. He knows what he should do.

He buries his head in her curly hair so she will not see his tears.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 10.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode9

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 8, season 3, for Thursday the eighth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Does The Body Rule The Mind?

by Elizabeth Guilt

They couldn't get ethical approval, it was a spare-time project. I volunteered as the subject - it was my girlfriend's research, after all.

It took weeks. 

"Wouldn't take so long if you didn't keep changing it!" she said. "All those audio books weren't there when we started."

"You try lying completely still all day in silence."

Finally, she showed me the rack of servers. "That's it. The complete copy of your brain."

I pointed to one drive. "Bet that one's just Smiths lyrics."

She looked uncomfortable.

"What?"

"I ran simulations of what you'd say."

"And?"

"Smiths lyrics? It was spot on."

---

Sometimes I do genuinely worry about exactly how much of my valuable brain real estate is taken up with lyrics to the songs of The Smiths. I'm not sure those synapses are really earning their keep.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 9.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode8

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 7, season 3, for Wednesday the seventh of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Unknown death god(?)

by Elizabeth Guilt

It started as a joke. 

The history teacher herded us onto a bus to visit a local archaeological dig. Bits of clay pots, unreadable inscriptions on grave markers, corroded twists of metal. The usual. 

A cabinet labelled "Religion" was full of things no-one could identify. A card described a blobby lump as "Unknown death god(?)"

Afterwards we refused all kinds of things, claiming they went against our beliefs as followers of the unknown death god(?). Teachers rolled their eyes when we declined football, and chanted instead.

It was funny, until the first death. The coroner gave the cause as "unknown".

---

It's been my belief for quite some time now, that the phrase "probably of ritual significance" is really just archaeologist-speak for "stuffed if we know".

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 8.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode7

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 6, season 3, for Tuesday the sixth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Between the Lines

by Elizabeth Guilt

Today, I sent you a voicemail. 

It said...

Did you know there's a five thousand kilometre fence across Queensland, just to keep dingoes away from the sheep? It also blocks emu migration routes, so the emu can't disperse seeds. Dingoes are apex predators, so without them the land is overgrazed by rabbits and feral goats. They have to cull the kangaroos now. The dingo-free side is so stripped of vegetation you can see the difference from space.

I hope you listened to it.

I hope you heard the things I couldn't say. 

I love you. 

I miss you. 

I'm sorry.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 7.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode6

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 5, season 3, for Monday the fifth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

You've Really Blown It This Time

by Elizabeth Guilt

They're trying to reach something behind the sofa. Their back is turned, their attention elsewhere.

Only for a moment. A moment's enough.

I snatch the thing from their waistband, the metal still warm from the pressure of their back. The angles are unfamiliar in my hand, but we've all seen the films. Played with the toys.

No time to aim. Finger goes there, just pull the trigger.

They realise. They fall suddenly still, begin to turn.

I've crossed a line. They will kill me for this. 

But I can't miss from here. Can't miss.

Brace for the explosion.

Trigger.

Click.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 6.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode5

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 4, season 3, for Sunday the fourth of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

The Plumbers' Merchant at the Intersection of Everywhere

by Elizabeth Guilt

Three Ganymede joints? Certainly, love, is that half-inch or twelve mil? Right you are. Do you want parallel-threaded or tapered? Clockwise or counter?

Freddie! Fetch the lady three counterclock imperial taper Gannys, sharpish.

Here, that'll be...

What? Not copper pipes? Half-inch amorphous? Didn't even know they made those. You sure?

Well, blow me. Aha, read the date on the lead braze... wait, that'll be Gregorian not Julian. Pre-decimal lead, too.

Is it... oh. Android. Which version?

Broad gauge or standard?

Yeah, it would be.

Humming in the pipes? I should think you have!

Now, this humming. Concert pitch or chamber?

---

I attempt plumbing - if I attempt it - nervously. It's amazing how often you can buy something which looks like the right thing, connects like the right thing, and turns out not to be the right thing.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 5.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode4

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 3, season 3, for Saturday the third of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Hedge Witch

by Elizabeth Guilt

She was a vile old bag, a pile of cardigans wrapped around a core of hatred. We heard her muttering in her tiny garden, forever fiddling with herbs and plaiting shapes out of larch twigs and rags.

We should have arrested her. The stories from the war were enough evidence. But everyone found some excuse; no-one wanted to deal with her crazed mind.

The orders came, eventually. I drew the short straw and wrestled her out from her forest of twisted twig-figures.

"Why?" I asked her. "Why bother with all these useless charms?"

"Kept you fuckers away for years, dinnit?"

---

Magic doesn't always need to be a complicated spell-casting system. I'd say this witch's magic was 100% successful, at least for a while.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 4.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode3

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 2, season 3, for Friday the second of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

You Aren't There

by Elizabeth Guilt

George fiddles with his dinner, and thinks about the Great War. How soldiers came home on leave, over a century ago, and found their families drunk on stories of glory and bravery. No-one wanted to hear that the fighting was muddy and brutal, horrific and terrifying.

Everyone knows war isn't like that anymore. It's fought by drones, it's fought at a distance. There's no trauma, now, of course.

Just sitting in a barracks pressing buttons?

More like computer games, really, isn't it?

Sounds rather fun, actually.

George buries his fork in his pasta, his thoughts with those long-dead British Tommies.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 3.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode2

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober Season 3. This is episode 1, for Thursday the first of October 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

Refuge

by Elizabeth Guilt

I never liked the snow globe, it always seemed creepy. Tiny figures, trapped in their glass shell.

Some days there were just a few kids playing in the snow. Sometimes a dozen. I tried not to count them.

The snow globe had stood on Nan's mantelpiece - then Mum's - forever. But Bren didn't want it; Alice said take it to the charity shop.

I couldn't. Reluctantly, I put it on my bookshelf.

It's crowded in there, tonight. Little people huddled together, sharing blankets, passing cocoa. Tomorrow, most of them will be gone.

I dust the glass, carefully, and whisper.

"Take care."

---

In a writing workshop earlier this year, most of the class agreed that snow globes were inherently creepy. But then, many things are creepy if you don't quite understand what they're doing.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 2.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s3episode1

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of September, 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Distraction Tactics

---

"Sculpins? My study. Now!"

Master Board swept past, his gown trailing a wake of angry sparks. Sculpins scuttled in behind him.

Words escaped past the slammed door.

"Disgraceful behaviour... Trusted... Expensive... Phoenix wings indeed..."

When the Master stormed out again, we were all bent closely over boxes of newts' eyes, or assiduously counting replacement wand-tips.

Sculpins, when he emerged, did not even look shamefaced.

"Phoenix wings?" hissed Turner. "You can't have hoped to get away with putting them on your order."

"Oh, no. Course not."

"So why..."

"He didn't notice the gold ceremonial blade. Got away with that, didn't I?"

---

This is a true story, as told by my Dad. Admittedly, he worked for an engineering firm not a wizards' suppliers. His colleague was told off for ordering a Land Rover from Stores - but it was enough of a distraction that his boss missed the large and expensive socket-set.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

http://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-sep1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of August, 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Missing Persons

---

A woman? Down there? You leave her be. Someone dies in the water, there's plenty of creatures there to strip away flesh so the bones tumble to the bottom.

A body drifting? arms trailing, hair swirling? that's bad news. You think the things with teeth weren't hungry today?

If it's not good enough for them, it's no good for us either.

Current'll take her away again.

Rare occasions a body washes up on the shore, you get down there with a can of petrol. Matches.

Someone might be looking for her? Not your concern.

Stay away from the floating dead.

---

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-aug1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of July, 2026, and I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: The Rules Are There For A Reason

---

There was a tearing noise and there I was again. Slap-bang in the middle of some little scrote's chalk circle.

It's always teenagers. They find an old book, think it'd be funny...

No-one expects it to work. They're so surprised; they muff the binding and I head home, trailing sulphurous clouds.

This guy was different. Older. He offered a deal:

Free reign across earth to (I quote) "show those weaklings who's in charge" - so long as I let him live to witness it.

I accepted, stepped through the circle, and tore his head off.

There's a reason you bind demons.

---

Remember everyone: it's always a bad idea to read the Latin out loud.

But if you must, at least make sure you do it properly.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-jul1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of June, 2026. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Generational

---

She looked at me, disappointed.

"Don't you want to?"

"Of course I do! But... I need permission."

"From who? You're an adult!"

"The Paterfamilias."

"Ha, the Paterf... wait, you're serious? You still have one?"

My great-great-grandfather wanted his dynasty to last forever. During that narrow window in the mid twenty-first century, when everyone thought they knew the future, he set up complicated deeds and entails. And he did it well. It's completely watertight - we still haven't found a legal route to unplugging the damned thing.

"So, yeah. If we want to get married, we've got to convince a century-old AI."

---

As I'm sure you'll have noticed, AI is currently the answer to everything. I do wonder which particular aspects future generations will look back on and groan at our stupidity.

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-jun1-bonus

This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of May, 2026. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Anything From The Canteen Sheet?

---

He lunges when it slides under the door. The first week, still used to shops and restaurant menus, he sneered at the crooked page. He mocked his cellmate's eager interest - and got punched for it.

Now, he's the same. Any break in the grinding tedium is welcome. Anything. When something new appears on the list, he savours it. Plays with it in his mind. Orders it, even hair products he will never use. Anything for novelty.

This week, between instant noodles and A4 notebooks, is a new item: Final Apocalypse. He writes a 1 in the box.

Immediately, thunder rolls.

---

A while ago, I entered a drabble competition which had a theme of "Canteen". I sent this one, having discovered that the weekly order forms given to prisoners - in the UK at least - are called 'canteen sheets'. It wasn't placed, but I'll pop a link to the winning drabbles in the show notes.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/100-word-project-128068977

---

Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.

https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-may1-bonus

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 Sailors

by 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 Joke

by 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 Here

by 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 Legends

by 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 Myth

by 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 Orders

by 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