Drabbletober

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