Storyfeather

There is a door in the basement of my new house that leads to nowhere, or so I thought… Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy   Excerpt : When buds are twisted too tightly, they will never bloom beautifully , my grandmother always said, all the more so after she'd witness my staying in my little corner of the room at a party in our house while the other children played with each other. But she did not know t...

A young boy seeks to make his mother proud by picking the pocket of a man whose fortunes no one has ever managed to steal, not even the master thieves. Genre: Fantasy   Excerpt : In the town of Pennyhaven, there was honor among thieves. For thieving was allowed, but only if done according to the strictest of rules, which were set by the Union of Thieves. The Union had a truce with the local consta...

To rescue her kidnapped infant sister from a magical monarch, Parni and her pet rat enter the dream realm and pass through nightmare and illusion. Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy   Excerpt : Three days has passed since Parnika's baby sister, Kulfi, has been taken by the Marshmallow Monarch. Such was the price of living in a town that bordered the famed and infamous slumberland—the source of all dreams...

A sixteen-year-old decides that her first journey alone will be into a forbidden valley of flowers that lies just beyond her town. Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy   Excerpt : There is a valley, where grow flowers of every hue and kind, colors and fragrance in harmony. They singsongs, it is said, in spring and summer, songs whose ghosts and echoes can be heard in winter and fall. These flowers are singu...

Researchers on the verge of a medical breakthrough must investigate why their advanced surgical machine works perfectly on some patients, and not at all on others. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : Waiting. We've been waiting for thirty minutes. A nuisance, maybe, if I were out in the world on an er-rand or anticipating someone's arrival. But here, in the antechamber, poised on the threshold of t...

A group of friends recruits one of their dads, a biology teacher, to help them identify a strange creature they discovered after a freak storm hits their town. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : Dani, Jon, Ameena and I had volunteered to help clean up the school after the flash storm hit our town a few days ago. We would get our community service requirement done for that quarter. And we would hav...

A wealthy capitalist steals a rare and cutting-edge piece of technology in the hopes of developing it for public use. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : "I have plenty of possessions and plenty of currency. And if ever I were to lose any of it, I know how to acquire more. But there is one currency that I cannot make more of. And do you know what that is, Leeke?" I paused long enough for h...

On the eve of giving one of the most important speeches of his life, the greatest orator in the known worlds develops a condition that renders him speechless. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : "Me for? For…me…only? No, not. For all." Quin peered at the man who was her mentor, her friend, and now, her charge. It was late, and they were both tired. But she believed that she under-stood wha...

To save the woman they both love, two men enter a forest where magic cannot abide, and any magic that enters unravels in unexpected and dangerous ways. Genre: Fairy Tale, Mythology, Fantasy   Excerpt : It was a time when dragonflies could flutter all the way up to the moon, when the flickering of a hummingbird's wings was faster than lightning. It was a time when the growl of thunder signified the...

A starry-eyed youth seeks to entreat the man in the moon to stop the lunar fairies from causing terrible storms in the earthen realm. Genre: Mythology, Fairy Tale, Fable   Excerpt : The starry-eyed youth named Carson cast his gaze at the full moon. His father had just cursed it, or rather, he had cursed those who dwelt upon it. "A storm is coming," his father said, gazing up at the low and looming...

A dying wizard forges a pair of enchanted rings to help himself fulfill his last wish, to speak with his baby granddaughter. Genre: Fantasy   Excerpt : When my grandfather, the humble and ordinary wizard Caducus, first heard the whispers of the after-world summoning him, he decided to heed the call, but only after achieving his last wish. My grandfather's trade always gave him strength, even as ti...

A modest town at the foot of the mountain holds a contest every summer with a powerful prize. Genre: Mystery, Mythology   Excerpt : The Contest Chevelure was a time-honored competition held in a modest town in the middle of a modest country. It was a contest to see who could have the most extravagant and beautiful head of hair. Only, there was one notable detail. None of the people in the town had...

A researcher comes across a legendary text and is overwhelmed by the knowledge contained within. Genre: Mystery, Mythology Excerpt : I glanced at the clean white bandage wrapped around her left hand and a good ways down her wrist. "It's going to be all right," I said. "I'm here to help." The steely-eyed woman sitting across from me in the booth gave a single nod. She wasted no time on small talk a...

A mortal apprentice to an immortal being is tempted to steal the great powers contained within the Cosmic Hourglass to tilt the balance of the cosmos toward good. Genre: Mythology   Excerpt : When young mortals were told the story of the Cosmic Hourglass for the first time, and taught to cherish each speck of sand, many would ask a question that their teachers foresaw (and had themselves asked). W...

A private investigator who thinks she's chasing a thief realizes that her case may be linked to her own uncanny past, and a truth she may not be ready to face. Genre: Mystery   Excerpt : She didn't let me into her house, but she did give me the trash bag with the broken shards of the mirror. And she did agree to take a picture of the mirror's remnants with my camera. (She frowned when Iteased her...

Every year on her birthday, the daughter of a mage receives a key that unlocks a different world in her enchanted triptych. Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy   Excerpt : When I was born, a clever mage, who was also my mother, made for me a triptych: three panels, attached in a row by hinges, depicting paintings of our home. The middle panel depicted our capital city, where we lived. The left panel depict...

A student seeking to learn the craft of enchantment is challenged to pass through a forest filled with strange obstacles. Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Mythology   Excerpt : "Wait until you are within the borders of the forest before you open the box, else you have failed before you have begun." With those words, the schoolmaster turned away and left Naji alone before the borders of the forest. Naji...

Two cousins decide to visit the mysterious isle of giants, and to steal portions of treasure small enough to escape a giant's notice, but large enough to make their fortunes. Genre: Fairy Tale, Fantasy Excerpt : "We will live in their house, as mice live in ours. Wes hall never want for anything. One slice of their bread could feed us for half a year." Slubber slapped me on the back. "Cousin, I ha...

ALERT : This episode contains a fictionalized depiction of a panic attack and heartbeat sound effects. Please listen with caution. A patient checks into the hospital for a simple procedure and experiences remarkable side effects. Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy   Excerpt : It was a simple procedure. A simple procedure. I would be admitted to the hospital overnight. I had to be fasting. Except for...

A lone astronaut and a ship's artificial intelligence spend two decades trapped in a spatial phenomenon from which there is no escape. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : What if you knew that you only had twenty-five years to live, safely and surely, but you would be alone, watching your death approach, unable to escape it? And what if you knew that whatever you did or accomplished in that time wo...

Andie Ogami is hired as a spy by a wealthy family because of her ability to astral project. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : "How do you feel?" the technician asked. She was holding one of those astral scanners toward my head. I blinked a few times. "Strange…uh, disoriented." My lips felt dry. I licked them and glanced over at the chair where I'd left my handbag. I had some balm in one...

A guest at an extravagant hotel gets lost and stumbles upon a strange secret. Genre: Mystery, Fantasy   Excerpt : I noticed the magician when he slipped in behind the last person to enter the golden-walled elevator, and I sucked in a breath. I held it, half-subconsciously, as if it would make me invisible to him. It did not. I started feeling thudding of my heart as soon as he started turning to p...

Strange happenings in one household trigger a police investigation that reveals a deeper mystery. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : A few days later, Reggie mentioned seeing a "weird-looking dog" in the backyard when he came home from school. He looked it up and realized that what he'd seen was a fox. But if there had indeed been a fox in the yard, it had run off by the time Reena went t...

A woman seeking medical treatment for what seems to be a travel-related infection in her foot becomes involved in a grander mystery. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : "Is there such a thing as hallucinogenic moss?" Seyyal raised her brows as she asked the question, and watched her cousin's fork freeze in mid-air. They were having their usual monthly brunch and catching up with each other...

A woman unwittingly misses the start of daylight savings, falls one hour behind, and is unable to catch up. Genre: Mystery, Mythology   Excerpt : On her way back to her cubicle, she called to her nearest neighbor. He didn't answer. She walked over, leaned against his cubicle and called his name again. He kept working. You too? she wondered. The silent treatment? For being late? Audrey sighed. It w...