<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is an occasional bonus episode, for the first of December, 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Your one-hundred word story for the day is: Last Resort&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Anthony insisted the salt circle would keep them safe - perhaps it did. They woke up, after all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Sometimes, she feels it stir. When her mother suggests diets. When her boss talks over her. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;She fights to keep it inside. She never drinks, now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;But in the darkness, the footsteps have been getting closer. There's a hand on her shoulder, another grabs her throat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;She lets it out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again sometime.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2-dec1-bonus&lt;/p&gt;</description>

A tiny speculative fiction story for December 1st, 2025.

"Last Resort" is a tiny speculative fiction story for December 1st, 2025.

Season 2, Bonus Episode 1: Last Resort

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 31, season 2, for Friday the thirty-first of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Your one-hundred word story for the day is:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;The Singing of Drowned Sailors&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;by Elizabeth Guilt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Me dad always told the stories. Strange calms in dark storms, and the hush that fell during the wildest winds.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"You keep yer head down, lad, and pay them no mind. They'll lure you away, drag you under to join their songs."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;I was half-drowned already when I heard them; frozen and clinging to the mast, not even caring if anyone heard me crying.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Their voices were gentle between the wind's screams.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Heave her to. Turn her round.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;We steered towards the familiar rhythm of the chorus.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;And, drifting ragged grey over the waves, they sang us back to harbour.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Take care, everyone, and I'll see you again soon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode31&lt;/p&gt;</description>

A tiny speculative fiction story for October 31st, 2025.

"The Singing of Drowned Sailors" is a tiny speculative fiction story for October 31st, 2025.

Season 2, Episode 31: The Singing of Drowned Sailors

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 30, season 2, for Thursday the thirtieth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Your one-hundred word story for the day is:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Peace and Love. Mostly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;by Elizabeth Guilt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Ancient? Haha, no, not at all! Built in the 60s. Yes, it is pretty convincing. Oh, just a vanity project - a local man&amp;nbsp; got really into ley lines and decided to find one on his own land. Oriented the circle using dowsing rods, would you believe.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Sure you can stand on that. Made of stone, isn't it? Lie down if you want, I'll take the photo.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Ooops, the flash makes it look like the stones are glowing. Haha, yeah the thunder is a bit of a coincidence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Oh, yes. Actually that is a tentacle round your ankles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Well, I never.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://visitnorthyorkshire.com/index/the-druids-temple"&gt;https://visitnorthyorkshire.com/index/the-druids-temple&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 31.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode30&lt;/p&gt;</description>

A tiny speculative fiction story for October 30th, 2025.

"Peace and Love. Mostly." is a tiny speculative fiction story for October 30th, 2025.

Season 2, Episode 30: Peace and Love. Mostly.

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 29, season 2, for Wednesday the twenty-ninth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Your one-hundred word story for the day is:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;It Was Meant To Be a Joke&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;by Elizabeth Guilt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Typical slow Thursday, and a short man slunk up to the counter.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"I'm here about the poster."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Great. Steven's latest hobby is designing ornate prank - obviously prank - flyers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"Oh? Need a unicorn groomed, do you?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"No. I want to part-exchange my kraken. Do you remove the old one when you deliver?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"Seriously?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"Mine's useless. Sluggish, pale, tentacles scarred to buggery."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"It's not..."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"Can't charge tourists a few grand to slay a beast that won't fight."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"Slay?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"They all think they're Sir Galahad. None of 'em survived so far, but.."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"You killed..."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"I need a new kraken. What are your terms?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 30.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode29&lt;/p&gt;</description>

A tiny speculative fiction story for October 29th, 2025.

"It Was Supposed To Be a Joke" is a tiny speculative fiction story for October 29th, 2025.

Season 2, Episode 29: It Was Supposed To Be a Joke

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 28, season 2, for Tuesday the twenty-eighth of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Your one-hundred word story for the day is:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;We'll Have None Of That Here&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;by Elizabeth Guilt&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;I opened the vacpack of mineral oil, and thumbed a smear across the floor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"Lady."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Conversation stopped. My new teammates burst out laughing.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"What?"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"You don't..."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"He still thinks..."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;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."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;I straightened up. "I've seen..."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;"You've seen older apprentices playing tricks. Holoprojections. Cheap effects."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;I fell to my knees, clapping hands over my ears. The Lady of the Floor would have no mercy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;---&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 29.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode28&lt;/p&gt;</description>

A tiny speculative fiction story for October 28th, 2025.

"The Lady of the Floor" is a tiny speculative fiction story for October 28th, 2025.

Season 2, Episode 28: The Lady of the Floor

<p>The podcast of tiny speculative fiction. Brand new drabbles (stories of exactly 100 words) every day during October.</p>

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