Storyfeather

With his uniquely gifted voice, Nate tries to right a wrong by doing wrong. Genre: Fantasy, Mystery   Excerpt : As it turned out, Nate was the real deal. When he sang, his voice was like honey and sunshine. The piano player joked that Nate's last name was a fitting one for a man who could make people cry waterfalls worth of tears, whether he was singing a happy and hopeful song or a sad and mournf...

An unassuming artifact in a small museum might be a powerful mythical object from whence all sound arises. Genre: Mythology   Excerpt : There was a sound; it was called the "keynote." And just as a keystone holds all other stones in place in an arch, the keynote held all other sounds in place in the world. The keynote was also the sound from which all other sounds emerged.   CREDITS Story : " The...

The smallest bird in the world embarks on a quest to recover a lost gift left to him by his mother…his true name. Genre: Fable, Mystery, Mythology, Science Fiction   Excerpt : The thunderbird. The trickster raven. The creator heron known as Benu. He was in awe of them all. And he wanted to learn to acquire their qualities. Cleverness, strength, knowledge. And wings so magnificent that all creature...

A girl is haunted by a mysterious voice that she can only hear through her headphones. Genre: Mystery   Excerpt : She scanned his blueprints. She understood the math equations he had neatly written in his notebook, and some of the code he'd drafted. But she didn't really get how it all came together. "What is it supposed to do?" she asked. "Eavesdrop." Vinnie raised her brows. "Listen in on them b...

A rookie agent assigned to test a new piece of technology makes a momentous observation about a young woman at a taco truck. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : The human eye can only see so much. The human senses can only perceive…so much. That is why the Agency established an entire division to develop and test technologies that can augment and even surpass human perception. DarkGray, it was call...

A man struggles with his decision to become a "Cultural Ambassador" to a newly befriended alien species. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : Yeah, I've come to terms with it. I'm not going offworld to do anything noble, like teach aliens how to speak human languages, or to plant trees, build houses, or pass out blankets and water during emergencies. I'm going offworld to go live in the house of som...

When people in a newly prosperous town fall ill from a mysterious blood disease that doctors cannot cure or treat, one patient invents his own treatment. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : They went to visit him at night. They had to. They could not walk about by day, for the light of the sun was abhorrent to them. Those words were taken from the writings of a nurse who resided in the town at the...

In a kingdom ruled by threes, Princess Number Four was never meant to be... Genre: Fairy Tale Excerpt : Though he loved them all, he could not help but to feel distant from the fourth child, whose coming into the world had twisted all his joy into sorrow.     CREDITS Story : " Princess Number Four " Copyright © 2017 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel M...

A pair of inventors aim to 'think outside the box' and imagine a new purpose for an everyday item…chewing gum. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : At some point, Sunny got tired of pacing and settled in Jerry's chair. He watched the mind map forming with the suggestions and discussion they'd already covered. He leaned over it. "Wait, what if there's a way for the energy of chewing to be put to work...

A man inherits his grandmother's antique sewing machine, and the mystery of a secret treasure hidden within it. Genre: Mystery   Excerpt : "'Because, you see, contained within this sewing machine is my treasure,'" Selma read. "'Perhaps the most valuable treasure that I may share. And I leave it to you, for there is a mystery here to be solved. A mystery worthy of your curiosity. The treasure is lo...

A new technology may help a woman regain some mobility and independence by developing an ability she never had before. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : When Mrs. Santi first came to Jim's Gym (as he had so creatively named it), she was just looking for someone to help her exercise the muscles she could still feel and engage with fully, the muscles of her upper body. She aimed to delay getting a...

In a town renowned for their long hair and unique styles, one hairdresser learns the value of her trade. Genre: Fantasy   Excerpt : Everyone in town wore long hair in those days— children, grown folk, household beasts, beasts of the wild. Even trees and flowers bore long and thick filaments. Even the insects! The bumblebees bore the thickest and most luxuriant coats in all the country. And those w...

An aphid named Quintillion seeks to investigate the rumors that the insects are not the only sentient species in the world. Genre: Fable, Science Fiction   Excerpt : "How can we know for certain what the truth is, unless we seek to find it?" an aphid named Quintillion argued. She kept her wings respectfully folded as she stood before the Council of Grand Numerators. But she dared to sweep aside th...

A young woman wonders if the strange "behavior" of her new high-tech jacket is due to her roommate's tampering or to an ever-escalating malfunction. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : I'm old enough to remember a time when nanotech was not embedded in every piece of clothing we own, which is a weird thing to say because that was only about fifteen years ago. I took my little niece shoppin...

An abandoned factory that was once filled with a life-saving technology is haunted by the ghosts of its past. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : Back in the day, people called it the "organ factory." The irony is that we have actual organ factories now. Fabrication technology has spread farther than preservation technology ever did. But there was a time when all we had was organ preservat...

When a small town is chosen by chance to receive a visit from the leader of the realm, they must present a great spectacle to show they are worthy. Genre: Fantasy   Excerpt : The Sovereign is coming to our town. We must have entertainments ready. We must have feats to display. We must demonstrate the strength and wit and spectacle that she expects from her people. We must do this all the more beca...

A malfunctioning beauty product gives whole new meaning to the term "vanishing cream." Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : She was usually too tired to do more than close her eyes and sit through the commercials, telling herself that at some point, she should set up one of those systems that would allow her to skip them. And that's how she ended up hearing the commercial for Prosopokaf's Fusion Cre...

When a terrible creature stalks a little boy's nightmares all the way into adulthood, he uses his imagination to summon an unlikely ally. Genre: Fantasy, Mythology, Horror   Excerpt : I woke up one day soaked in sweat, gasping for air, sobbing, and not knowing why my chest felt so tight and so cold. I watched my bedroom door, expecting my parents to rush in. They must have heard me screaming, I th...

A sculptor working through a creative block notices something strange about the sculptures molded from a particular brand of clay.   Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : They say that a sculptor doesn't create what she sculpts. She only reveals what is already there in the medium. I was not finding that to be true. Either there was nothing to be revealed in the lump of clay that sat on the...

A mural painted by an anonymous artist inspires both dread and wonder. Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : On the wall of a poorly kept apartment building was painted a vast mural of a forest in the midst of winter, the trees laden with snow, the ground, likewise. The sky a crisp and sharp blue. The mural had appeared overnight at the start of winter. And it had greeted me every morning si...

An ambitious freshman believes her research project will uncover a hidden historical mystery. Genre: Mystery   Excerpt : Sometimes a thing isn't good or evil in itself. The sequence is a thing like this. It becomes good or evil when you touch it. If you are good, it becomes good. If you are evil, it becomes evil. But we humans…we are both. What happens when we touch it? Sam lay her fingers on the...

One monkey's mischief alters the course of four other animals' lives. Genre: Fable   Excerpt : Long ago, when the world was young, and in some ways smaller than it is today, and in other ways, greater than it is today, there happened a moment of mischief.   CREDITS Story : " The Serpent Who Sang Like a Bird " Copyright © 2018 by Nila L. Patel Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila...

A woman caught in the middle of an ecological attack becomes a subject of interest for the group who is responsible. Genre: Science Fiction   Excerpt : Chloe glanced again at the handsome man who was lingering at a sculpture. The sculpture was a caryatid, a column shaped like a woman, in this case, a celestial being. He gazed up at the stone carving of the heavily robed Herald of the Gods. The Her...

A brilliant architect impresses an ambitious aristocrat with more and more wondrous constructions. Genre: Fairy Tale   Excerpt : So charmed was the aristocrat that by the end of their discourse, he began to speak familiarly with the architect, as he would only typically do with a young man of his own station. He challenged the architect—dared him even—to build a magnificent monument to him from th...

A student fascinated with conjoined twins uncovers the lives of two brothers whom history only remembers as fortune tellers called Two-Man. Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction   Excerpt : I didn't know much about conjoined twins, but when the professor in my embryology class mentioned the accident in cell division that led to the phenomenon, I remembered my first dream in life. Before I dream...