speculative fiction

  • The Return of the SS Strumble

    About a 24-minute read or a 36-minute listen. At White Head Lighthouse, Thomas Darling keeps the lamp burning through a violent storm. Then a half-drowned stowaway brings a warning about his former berth, SS Strumble, an empty ship, recorded lost, and now carrying ticking machinery that can calculate the future, and perhaps alter the coming…

    Read more →

  • Under a Yellow Moon

    Under a Yellow Moon

    About a 15-minute read or a 23-minute listen. Rhett lifted the brush, then stopped. Charlotte’s face lay beneath the lamp, pale and beautiful, but not at peace. The docket said ‘Cerebral Haemorrhage’. Her skin said otherwise. For ten years, Streindarke had trusted his hand to soften truth. Tonight, for the first time, he meant to…

    Read more →

  • The Broomfield Witch

    The Broomfield Witch

    About a 30-minute read or a 41 minute listen. Jess Harwood returns to her late mother’s home after seven years, uncovering memories and remnants of her mother’s life and secrets. As she begins to help the village with herbal remedies, she discovers a powerful stone, the Eye of the Dracan, which deepens her connection to…

    Read more →

  • Emmie and the Black Orchard

    About a 20-minute read or a 30-minute listen. In Duskdale, the arrival of winter deepens despair as a blight affects children, including young Pip. Emmie, seeking to save him, takes an apple from a forbidden orchard, causing a troubling shift in the village where memories of the dead fade. Ultimately, Emmie must sacrifice her memories…

    Read more →

  • Gossia’s Garden

    Gossia’s Garden

    About an 8-minute read or 12-minute listen. Yarnulf misjudged a journey to the nearest town, taking a shortcut through the forest. He encounters Gossia, a pixie, who reveals her garden of skeletons, victims of laughter. Despite earlier warnings, he becomes part of her collection.

    Read more →

  • A Monk, 2137

    A Monk, 2137

    About a 28-minute read or 46-minute listen. Brother Robert, a monk from the year 1137, encounters a temporal interface device in his abbey, leading to his displacement to 2137. He discovers a governing body, ARIX, that manipulates truth for perceived safety. Robert urges the leaders to embrace accountability and truth.

    Read more →

  • Raven’s Sacrifice

    Raven’s Sacrifice

    1,518 words · About an 8-minute read. In 1899 the photograph, ‘Horse Training’ was shot by French photographer, Felix Thollier. Said to depict free lunging, no other context was ever given and neither horse nor trainer were ever named. Until today.

    Read more →