Episode 101 (20 December 2024): Since Episode 100, I’ve taken a break from podcasting to plan a new direction for Season Five of Tall And True Short Reads, which I hope to launch early in 2025. Meanwhile, I’ve “gift-wrapped” the first episodes from Seasons One to Four of the podcast for this year’s bumper Kris Kringle.
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The job offer notification pops up on my phone early on Christmas Eve. It’s a short-term role helping with overnight deliveries. The regular delivery driver has hurt his back and needs an offsider for heavy lifting. Once, I would have declined the job and spent Christmas Eve with my kids.
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In April, June and September 2024, Danielle Baldock (@WritingDani) ran a #30Words30Days microfiction challenge on Twitter/X, posting daily prompts and inviting the #WritingCommunity to share our 30-word creations. Despite NaNoWriMo in November, I hoped Dani would run a fourth challenge. And she did!
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Zing and Zap’s flying saucer orbited the barren planet. “Why didn’t global warming galvanise them into action?” Zing asked. It seems they were too busy posting cat videos,” Zap replied. I wrote this 30-word story for September 2024’s #30Words30Days challenge on Twitter/X. Is it sci-fi or speculative fiction?
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Your William Shakespeare crafted clever lines with hidden meanings, like, “All the world’s a stage.” It’s as if he had insight into my five-act play on my pet subject, humanity. Act One: Earth is a Garden of Eden. A troop of apes descends from the trees and totters on two legs on the African savannah.
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Dad probably hoped to take his secrets to the grave, but a heart attack scuppered his plans. “Will you come back for the funeral, Aaron?” my sister, Becky, asked when she called with the news. “Yes, of course,” I replied. “And can you stay a few days to help Mum and me tidy up Dad’s stuff?”
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In September 2024, Danielle Baldock (@WritingDani) from the #WritingCommunity on Twitter/X ran her third #30Words30Days microfiction challenge for the year. She posted daily prompt words and invited writers to share our 30-word stories. As with the earlier challenges, it was fun and addictive!
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I’m not anti-woke, but the interview line-up in reception for the call centre job looks like your typical twenty-first-century checklist to ensure unsuccessful applicants can’t sue the company for discrimination. For a start, the six serious candidates are split fifty-fifty between males and females.
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Episode 98 (1 September 2024): The local dog club, where I volunteered as a trainer for twenty years, ran season-ending Fun Days with events like Fancy Dress, Agility Slalom, Waggliest Tail, and other novelty races that changed from year to year. One of my favourites was the Sack Race, where my dear old dog and I always placed third.
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If you thought about it, the process for selecting the first matter transference test pilot was archaic, although Mae considered it a lucky omen when she drew the Blue 15 raffle ticket. Blue, not pink, was her favourite colour as a girl, and at 15, Mae had decided she wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up.
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Writers often comment on the difficulty of naming characters. But I didn’t have that problem with one of my earliest stories, which featured four children, sibling pairs, John and Wendy and Jack and Jane. Not very imaginative, I know, but I was ten when I wrote Sand Island, inspired by Enid Blyton.
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I arrive late for Josh’s athletics carnival. His mum and I attend school events on alternate years. “Tell Josh I’ll be there,” I’d said when she called to remind me about it. “Don’t let him down again, please,” she’d replied. The last event in Josh’s age group, the 1500 metres, is about to start.
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"For Alex his the Adaptive Generation, AI was a logical step in human evolution. It enhanced life, leaving them feeling less stressed and anxious. AI also offered hope for mitigating and adapting to the existential effects of climate change."
By definition, brevity is the key to good microfiction. There is no time for plot and character development, so every word must count. ~ Robert Fairhead
I hope readers enjoy the short story journeys in Twelve More Furious Months and make it home in time for dinner. ~ Robert Fairhead
I look forward to the Writer's Centre's monthly Furious Fiction competitions because I've become addicted to the escapism of writing short stories! ~ Robert Fairhead
This slim book is hard to put down. And the only regret we may feel after reading it is that we reached the end too quickly! ~ Denise O'Hagan
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou
Share your untold story — fiction, nonfiction and reviews — on Tall And True, an online showcase and forum for writers, readers and publishers.
