A medical doctor, a supernaturalist, and a philosopher investigate mysterious tracks that appear in the snow. Cloven hoof prints.
On this page, you’ll find the podcast episode trailer and the full episode.
And of course, a link to the source, the short story.
[Video description: 48 seconds. Digital drawing. Foreground, at right a woman seen from waist-up from the back, slightly angled left. She points out with her left hand. Mid- and background, a Victorian-era house seen from one corner. A man in hat, scarf, and glasses stands before the house, scratching his forehead. Cloven hoof prints in the snow lead away from where he’s standing to left of frame. Snow-laden pine trees are visible behind and around the house. Smoke rises from the other side of the house. The sky is bright but overcast. Watermark of the word “storyfeather” lays over the image. Title card with the words “Podcast Episode” and “Genre: Mystery” and story title are displayed over the image. The title and title card fades. Subtitles appear in time with music and narration at the bottom: “The medical doctor, leaned toward the mayor. ‘Have your doctors considered that it might be a parasite?’ ‘I wonder,’ Dietrich said, before the mayor could answer. ‘I can’t recall the name off the top of my head, but there is a rare creature I’ve heard of that has such qualities. It’s like the parasites that drain one’s life from within, only this creature, like a leech, attaches to the outside of the body. It’s nocturnal. It lives within the walls of a dwelling and comes out at night to slowly drain the blood of mammals.’ He pointed to his neck. ‘From the large artery that runs along our necks.” Website URL appears at bottom right throughout and fades as text box appears over image displaying the words, “Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, and so on. Or listen on my Podcast page at storyfeather.com.” Title reappears at top.]
Mysterious Tracks in the Snow – Storyfeather
EXCERPT:
The three special investigators arrived a few weeks after the tracks were first seen. They each hailed from a different part of the country. Each had a different expertise. The supernaturalist. The medical doctor. And the philosopher. And each had been briefed on the happenings in the town.
But as was their practice, according to the root training that they shared, all three investigators sat in the mayor’s office, and entreated him to tell them in his own words what was happening in his town.
BEHIND THE “SCENES”
I got the idea for this story’s premise from an episode of the “Stuff You Missed in History Class” podcast, in which they discussed an actual event that occurred in England in the 1850s. Cloven hoof prints inexplicably appeared in the snow. (For more info, search “Devil’s Footprints.”) Among the explanations discussed on the episode is one I didn’t mention in the story, that some pranksters had put hoofprint-shaped booties on cats and let them run around.
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CREDITS
Story: “Mysterious Tracks in the Snow” Copyright © 2018 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production: Nila L. Patel
Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)
Music by Benjamin Carr (Scythuz)*
“Crystal Caves”
“Ice Cavern”
Music by Andrew Sitkov (MuzStation Game Music)*
“Medieval Theme 5 (Looped)”
“Ice and Fire”
Music by Lee Rosevere
“Thoughtful”
“Decompress”
“Puzzle Pieces”
Music by Rafael Archangel
“So Cold”
Music by Kai Engel
“Snowmen”
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
Music by Benjamin Carr and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev Market
Music by Lee Rosevere and Kai Engel is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Music by Rafael Archangel is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal License
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Benjamin Carr and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net
Find more music by Lee Rosevere, Rafael Archangel, and Kai Engel at freemusicarchive.org and bandcamp.com
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
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FROM SEASON 5 (AKA YEAR 5)
THIS SEASON’S THEME IS S.T.E.A.M.
(SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, MATHEMATICS)
Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction
Tags: CRYPTID, DIETRICH, FLAICHERTH, MEDICAL DOCTOR, PHILOSOPHER, SANONG, SMITHON, SUPERNATURALIST, TAU, TRACKS, TRAP, VICTORIAN
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For more podcast episodes, visit the Storyfeather Podcast page.