Episode 85 (22 December 2023): I’m taking a short break from podcasting over the festive season because I’m going on a long road trip with my son from Sydney to Western Australia to spend Xmas and New Year with our WA family. But as I did during a break for Xmas 2022, I’ve put together a Kris Kringle collection featuring three episodes from the Tall And True Short Reads archive.

Too Late, Lenny (Episode 3, released 1 October 2020): Between you and me, Lenny, there are more mourners at your funeral with the COVID restrictions than would have been graveside had you died before the pandemic. Streaming it over Zoom helps boost your numbers. Mind you, most of the faces on my computer screen are strangers, or I haven’t seen for ages.

Stuck in Time (Episode 54, released 22 June 2022): It’s 1997. I’m fifteen, and Dad’s delivering another lecture on my poor prospects: “If you carry on like this, son, you’ll end up in prison.” I won’t admit it, but he may have a point. Because today, on the drive home after catching me shoplifting again, the local cop issued a “last warning”.

Family Reflections (Episode 73, released 9 May 2023): Mum’s up first, though she doesn’t like looking at her reflection nowadays. She splashes her face and turns away from me with a towel. Over her shoulder, I watch Mum gaze out the bathroom window. And when she turns back, Mum’s wearing her pained expression again, like she’s failed to solve the riddle of life.

At the end of each Kringle episode, I explain when, why and how I wrote the story.

Short Stories, Blog Posts and Other Writings

I hope you enjoy this year’s “reflective” Kris Kringle collection. You can listen to the episode on Acast (above), the Tall And True Short Reads website, or find it and four seasons of other podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all popular podcasting apps. 

You can read all my short stories, blog posts and other writings on Tall And True. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest Tall And True Microfiction anthology, from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be released in the new year. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website, TallAndTrueShortReads.com, for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps me share my storytelling. 

Share Your Writing on Tall And True

Happy and Safe Festive Season

I hope you have a happy and safe festive season.

Please share this Kris Kringle collection with your family and friends, and tell them about the Tall And True Short Reads storytelling podcast and the Tall And True writers’ website.

© 2023 Robert Fairhead

N.B. You might like to read my blog post introducing Tall And True Short Reads – Season Four.

Note: This post originally appeared on Tall And True.