Top in Fiction Week #10

Week of Sep 7 - Sep 13 | TiF Ambassador Edition | Vol. 1 Iss. 10

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POETRY

Ophelia - 9/8/24

Daniel W. Davison

of Lamp Post in the Marsh

The venal huts that cling to holy mounts
and line the worn steps of a sacred way
are not as jarring as the hurt expressed
in the face of a friend whom we betray.

From Silence to the Abyss - 9/10/24

Rolando Andrade

of Outside the therapy room

MICRO/FLASH FICTION

Wake Up, Dead Man - 9/9/24

Daniel O’Donnell

of Dan’s Deliberations

The Seven Deadly Sins - 9/9/24

Chris J. Franklin

of Tales of the Zeitgeist

Life After Death - 9/8/24

Michael Serrur

of The 60-Second Story

SHORT STORY

The Orphan and the Golden Trail - 9/7/24

Bridget Riley

of Naptime Novelist

Mother Knows Best - 9/8/24

Scoot

of Gibberish

“Two crows alighted upon powerlines above the streets, cawing ruefully at Charles’ passing figure. He turned a corner, putting the crows at his back. The street cut a desolate line across the city, revealing the fields beyond—where a massive grey dome stretched up, the number “03” painted in faded, weathered lettering on it’s side.”

Mirror, Mirror - 9/13/24

Cameron Scott

of VERSE

lemons - 9/12/24

Will Boucher

of Heavy is the Headset

“Anyway, this morning, one of those U-Hauls with a faded illustration of a salamander pulled in the old girl’s spot, so it looks like I’ll be getting some new neighbors 😫... Question: does this mean I’ll have to get the n00bs some “welcome to the neighborhood” gift? It’s been so long since I’ve had new neighbors...do people still do that? The whole welcome gift thing? or is that cringe now?”

Clean Up - 9/8/24

Phoebe

of Words, I live by

“One of the guys was pretty good at card tricks. Though he'd never admit to being into magic now that he was in the popular crowd. A memory of him wearing a cape and a top hat with a fake white bunny rabbit popped into my head.”

Walls - 9/13/24

Tiffany Chu

of Notes from the Town Hermit

“I smile. But the walls won’t let me see your beautiful hair and soft eyes. I picture them in my mind instead so I don’t forget. Black curls in the night but with streaks of purple in twilight, and those stray hairs near the part always sticking up.”

Experimental Error - 9/11/24

Karl Gallagher

of Karl K. Gallagher’s Stories

SERIAL

War and Butter [Episode 6] - 9/10/24

Bear Savo

of River Zombies

The Ghost Diaries [Episode 1] - 9/13/24

John Coon

of Strange New Worlds

The Hanahaki Club - 9/8/24

PJ

of Life at 23.5 Degrees

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Lord Der Arzte - Gentleman Detective [Chapter 16] - 9/7/24

V Kelly-Sibley

of Pandora’s Box of Infinite Stories [Serial]

Terns in Hong Kong Harbour - 9/7/24

Marian L Thorpe

of History and Imagination [Poetry]

Hobo Joe - 9/7/24

Fisherman Tales

of Fisherman Tales [Short Story]

Burble - A Good Boy - 9/8/24

Orin Might

of Stories by Orin [Short Story]

Sea and Land Have a Chat - 9/10/24

Logan Darrow

of Beyond the Emerald City [Short Story]

9.9.2024 - 9/9/24

X. P. Callahan

of Diary Poems [Poetry]

Read the comments section for even MORE stories we just couldn’t fit in this issue.

Thank you to Erica and the whole TiF community for letting me join in the fun this week! As an editor for my dayjob I do an awful lot of reading, so I don’t always get an excuse to sit down and enjoy all of the amazing stuff on Substack. This was a breath of fresh air! It was such a blast reading through all of the entries and some fiction from the wider Substack world, and I would have loved to highlight every single one. For my personal rubric as a reader, I picked pieces that hit a resonant spot for me, whether through creativity or humor or poetic vibrancy. But regardless, I hope that you ALL continue to share your work—it’s always worth putting yourself out there! You never know who will take notice!

As for me, over at Talebones I’m taking a hiatus to work on some behind-the-scenes projects, like finally bringing my first print anthology of short stories into the world. The very idea that I get to do something like that is a dream come true, and I’m thrilled to make it happen. Substack really is magic, huh? :)

Have a fantastic week, everyone. Keep writing, keep sharing, keep telling your stories. The world needs ‘em, now more than ever!

—

S.E. Reid

of Talebones 🔭

TiF EXTRAS

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TiF - Vol 1 Iss 10

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We’ll be back next Monday for another amazing list of fiction stories worth reading! And if you enjoyed any of these stories, please consider sharing this post everywhere: