June 2025 Issue 1

In this issue: Short stories and podcast episodes from the second half of May, and lamentations about the punishing heat of summer.

HERE COMES SUMMER 🫠

I am not a fan of hot weather. Summer is my least favorite season. Humbug, I say! It's as if the gentle spring sun gets mad and glares down at us for a bit. I'm just grateful I don't live in a high humidity region. So, I'll soon be hunkering down behind heat-blocking curtains (hoping I don't need AC). I'll spend my time off by sitting in a cool dim room enjoying the fictional creations of others. But hey, if you love soaking up the sun, have at it. Just please take the appropriate precautions (SPF protection, etc.) Safety first! Then have fun!

Speaking of fun...
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✒️ 🪶 🎙

Greetings! I'm Nila. Every week, I release a new short story and a new podcast episode spanning the genres of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, mythology, fairy tale, fable, and horror.
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Whether you're in the mood to read or listen, I've got stories to tell you.

Here we go...

Maythology 🪽

✒️ My chosen theme for the May stories this year was mythology. Below, I offer a story of a town being stalked by a monster, and the consequences of a plumbing issue in the heavens.

🫧 🔧 🐮

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🎙 The podcast episodes feature stories about mortals uniting to build devices that can perceive the heavens, mythical flying horses, and a giant with a strange and special power.
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Titles and taglines below. Enjoy!

Short Stories

We're in Year 12, the Year of Praxis. The word essentially means "practice." Through the stories, I'm exploring elements of my writing practice.
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Each link below leads directly to the story post.
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​THE MACE OF MEMORY​
When a monster stalks their people, two women set out to beseech the god of the lake that lies outside their town, who is only interested in their offerings. 🌊
Genre: Mythology

​WATER-PLUMBER OF THE GODS​
Something strange begins to fall from the sky, bright bubbles from the celestial realm that have wondrous effects when they burst. 🫧
Genre: Mythology

Podcast Episodes

We're in season 8, the Year of Revisitation. Each episode is a standalone story, but it's inspired by an earlier story.

The text links below go to the Explore page on Storyfeather, where you can listen to the episode, find the links to the episode(s) that inspired it, and more.

Pressing on the Spotify embed image leads to the episode's Spotify page.

​THE UNION OF THE SPYGLASS​

A group of curious and ingenious humans build a spyglass to peer into the realm of the gods, to find out why the gods are not governing the world as they were expected to.
​Genre: Mythology

The Union of the Spyglass May 16 · Storyfeather 42:42   ​

​NOCTEMFAERE​

Mythical flying horses couldn't possibly be real; but there is one that we all may meet in our most vulnerable hours.
​Genre: Mythology, Fantasy, Fairy Tale

Noctemfaere May 23 · Storyfeather 25:02   ​

​THE ONCE-GOD RAMPION​

A god loses half her powers and is cast out of the heavens for the crime of sharing those power with mortals.
​Genre: Mythology

The Once-God Rampion May 30 · Storyfeather 28:50   ​

🐷

“Careful!” the pig cried. “Don't drop me!”
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The girl with the purple arm gently set down the board, and bowed to the pig.
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“Again!” cried the crowd.
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“Let her lift you then!” said the pig, vexed but laughing. “My hooves belong on solid ground.”

–From “Water-Plumber of the Gods"

Parting words🪶

Have any of these stories left you vexed but laughing? I'd love to hear about it. You can reply to this email to let me know. Likewise, if you've got any questions.

Next time, we head out to space, where something weird is going on. Meanwhile, back on Earth, things are...just as odd.
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Until then, happy reading and listening! 📚
—Nila

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