
TRAILERS FOR RECENT SHORT STORIES
& PODCAST EPISODES
Welcome to Year 11 of Storyfeather
A brand new decade of stories begins! Every year’s short stories (mostly) follow a theme. For the eleventh year, every month’s stories share a genre or theme, a familiar anchor. But beyond that, we embark into worlds unknown, and unknown corners of our own world. We travel with body, with mind, with heart, and with soul…welcome to the Year of Frontiers.
November Theme:
🧠👁🗨 THE PARANORMAL 🏹🔮

Two investigators look into reports of a girl who has become weightless and might float away if not anchored down
FRONTIER PARAMETERS
Theme for Month: The Paranormal…it’s ParaNormvember
Genre: Mystery
For this tale, I brought back a couple of characters from a previous story. An agent and a contract field investigator are partnered and sent to look into the case of Aurora Sung, who’s been posting videos of the improbably feats she can perform, like walking on walls and leaping over entire flights of stairs in one go. Is it a hoax? If not, what is causing the phenomenon? And is Aurora the only one to experience it, or is she just the first?
Video description
Video Description: “The Rise of Aurora Sung” Trailer. Duration, 27 seconds. “Thoughtful” by Lee Rosevere. Digital drawing. Visible from top half, a deer whose antlers are shedding facing forward. A spider web hangs between the antlers, illuminated by a glowing light from above. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along antler at right. Copyright notice at bottom right reads, “Copyright © 2023 Nila L. Patel.” The words “Short Story” and “Genre: Mystery,” is displayed at center. Line from the story displayed. “The ability is not biological.” Text fades. Further lines from the story appear: “This is going to sound strange considering she’s in danger of floating away at any minute. But Aurora seemed…well, she seemed very grounded. She seemed present with us but also slightly distracted. Like she was balancing between two mental states…” Site URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades at end. The title appears and text at bottom that reads “Available to Read Now storyfeather.com.”
Their weapons fatally lodged within each other, the assassin and the archer can only dodge death for so long using the special talent that one of them possesses,
FRONTIER PARAMETERS
Theme for Month: The Paranormal…it’s ParaNormvember
Genre: Mystery
I’ve written many a story about paranormal abilities and phenomena before. So how I could stretch the old imagination just a tiny bit with this story? One way was to explore a paranormal ability in a past era. How would the ability have been perceived and received? What would powers like telekinesis and telepathy be called in a time centuries past? To focus the story further, I used one of the digital drawing I drew for an art challenge I participated in for the month of October 2023. An archer in a dress against a full moon. So this archer would need an adversary. Someone to use her archery skills on. An assassin. But why are they fighting? Who does the archer protect from the assassin? And why?
Video description
Video Description: “The Vaulted Arrow” Trailer. Duration, 27 seconds. “Dragon’s Lullabye” by Scott Buckley. Digital drawing. Against a bright moon-white circle of light, a black silhouette of a hooded figure in a dress or dress coat that reaches to the ground, which is covered in fog and mist. A quiver of arrows hangs from the figure’s back at right. A bow extends perpendicular to the figure at waist. The words “Short Story” and “Genre: Mystery,” is displayed at bottom. Copyright notice for image at bottom right reads: Copyright © 2023 Nila L. Patel. Line from the story displayed. “And I vaulted away from death. As I had been born to do.” Text fades. Further lines from the story appear: “My arrow is lodged in the assassin’s heart. But she is not dead. She will not die until I die. And despite her cold and bold words declaring that she did not fear death, I caught a stray thought whipping across her eyes. I don’t want to die, said that thought. ‘You don’t have to,’ said my voice.” Animation of snow falling throughout. Site URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades at end. The title appears and text at bottom that reads “Available to Read Now storyfeather.com.”
Maybe the next frontier of exploration is not for our bodies to travel farther, but for our minds to do so.
FRONTIER PARAMETERS
Theme for Month: The Occult…it’s Occultober
Genre: Paranormal
The Year of Frontiers begins! This story leads us into a brand new year and a brand new decade of stories. I like having a theme for the month, so I’ll continue on with that. What’s the frontier? Perception of what is right in front of us. Many worlds overlapping our own. Is this comforting? Or terrifying? I only begin to explore such questions in this tale about a rare and special moth.
Video description
Video Description: “Black Lipstick Chain Moth” Trailer. Duration, 27 seconds. “Cigar” by TRG Banks. Digital drawing. Seen from above, a moth with wings outstretched. The outline of the wings is much like that of a Black Witch Moth. But the design within the wings deviates. The edges are lined with links like rivets. A central design on the bottom wings resembles a belt buckle. A central design on the top wings resembles a pair of lips, pierced with a ring connected to a chain that leads to the moth’s body. Hatched fishnet and chain patterns are just visible. A blurred skull shape is seen at the outer top edge of the top wings. The words “Short Story” and “Genre: Mystery,” is displayed at top. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along bottom edges of upper wings. Copyright notice for image at bottom right reads: Copyright © 2022 Nila L. Patel. Line from the story displayed. “A god of mysteries. A guide to the afterlife.” Text fades. Further lines from the story appear: “…and this is what our ancestors knew. It’s a kind of silk moth. The adult, not the larva, produces a blacker than black silk so fine that you can create a mesh, and if you put that mesh over a lens that is focused just right, you can see into another world.” Site URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades at end. The title appears and text at bottom that reads “Available to Read Now storyfeather.com.”
Welcome to Year 10 of Storyfeather
Every year’s short stories (mostly) follow a theme. For Year Ten, every month’s stories share a genre or theme, some anchor point that the reader can rely on. But within that, there are strange concoctions brewing. The genre’s merge, archetypes collide, mythologies mash…welcome to the Year of Fusion.
October Base Element:
👻🦇 THE OCCULT 💀😈

Ah, the Boneses. They’re a little bit different. But then, aren’t all families? PSA: Don’t cook your siblings!
FUSION RECIPE
Base element for October: The Occult…it’s Occultober
Fusion element: Cheeses
I wanted to write a more lighthearted “horror” story for the last story of Year Ten. So I took inspiration from shows like “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” for this story about a spooky family. And of course, I have to have the “normal” character interact with them and show the differences. Enter the new best friend, who comes to spend the day hanging out with the oldest daughter, meets the rest of the family, and stays for a diabolical dinner. (Not really, they make pizza.)
Video description
Video Description: “Meeting the Boneses” Trailer. Duration, 27 seconds. “Lingering Evil” by Jonathan Shaw. Digital drawing. At center, a little girl standing behind a cauldron in which a younger girl is sitting. The older girl wears a pointy witch’s hat and holds a short broom by her left side. Her right hand is raised above her eye level, thumb and forefinger meeting, sprinkling light pink particles down into the cauldron. Her mouth is parted, one corner turned up, and her brows are pinched in the middle. Only the younger girl’s head and right fingertips, clutching the cauldron edge, are visible. She looks up at the older girl. Her mouth is parted in a toothy smile. Flames rise high up from below the cauldron. The words “Short Story” and “Genre: Horror,” is displayed at top. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along right sleeve of older girl. Copyright notice for image at bottom right reads: Copyright © 2022 Nila L. Patel. Line from the story displayed. “If you’re going to try cooking your sister, have her remove all her jewelry first.” Animation of flames frame the image and burst across the screen. Text fades. Further lines from the story appear: “…there was a body lying on the steps leading into the yard. ‘Oh no!’ Pallavi rushed over and jammed her fingers against the woman’s neck. ‘Bon, I think she’s dead.’ Bonita sauntered over. ‘Oh, that’s Auntie Morbid, my dad’s sister. Don’t worry, she’s not dead. She’s undead.’” Site URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades at end. The title appears and text at bottom that reads “Available to Read Now storyfeather.com.”
OLDER SHORT STORY TRAILERS
JUMP INTO THE PORTAL BELOW TO EXPLORE PREVIOUSLY POSTED STORIES
PODCAST SEASON 6
The Year of DEFINITIONS
In this season of the podcast, I’m recording the short stories I wrote back in 2018-2019, where the theme was Definitions, where I wrote stories centered on dictionary words that were uncommon, or at least unfamiliar to me.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, and most places where podcasts are found. Or listen directly from my Podcast page on storyfeather.com
Video description
Video description: Trailer for “The Shifting Night Anomaly.” 37 seconds. Title card with the words “Storyfeather Podcast” and “A Science Fiction Episode” is displayed at top. Text displayed at bottom: “A decision was made. With haste and finality.” The title card and text fade. Digital drawing. At left, front of a ship with a forward cabin, two thrusters protruding from the sides, and a central portion with glowing oval that may be part of an engine or a domed window. The ship is in a typical part of outer space and is facing to the right of frame. Right half of image is a shapeless mass of alternating glowing and shadowy folds. A watermark of the word “Storyfeather” appears along back of forward cabin. Subtitles appear in time with music and narration at the bottom: “Nineteen months before we were scheduled to plunge into the Shifting Night, an unexpected thing happened. A crewless vessel emerged from the anomaly. The vessel had been sent from the East Edge. It contained messages of peace and friendship. And by the onboard chronometer, it had been sent decades prior.” Website URL appears at bottom center right throughout and fades as story title appear at top. Text box appears at center displaying the words, “Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and so on. Or listen on my Podcast page at storyfeather.com.”
Video description
Video description: Trailer for “The Galvanic Ghost.” 36 seconds. Title card with the words “Storyfeather Podcast” and “A Science Fiction Episode” is displayed at top. Text displayed at bottom: “After all…this is an age of reason.” The title card and text fade. Digital drawing. A woman in a Victorian era dress sits on a bench, facing and looking forward, her legs bent slightly to the right. Her arms are outstretched and her hands rest on the metallic ends of the bench. A bronze panel is bolted to the bottom front of the bench at left. The panel bears four visible dials: a row of three dials at bottom, and one at top right corner of the panel. To the left of the single dial is written, “Electrical,” and below that “40 Amperes” and below that “No. 87.” Electric bolts spray out from a central point, the woman’s head and neck. A watermark of the word “Storyfeather” appears along bottom of dress. Subtitles appear in time with music and narration at the bottom: “I am only a student. That’s why she came to me, trusting that I would have a sufficient balance of knowledge and naiveté to serve her desperate need. And I am woman. That’s why she came to me, trusting that I would not mark her concerns as mere hysterics. What was this strange and destructive condition she bore?” Animation: Lightning bolts at end. Website URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades as story title appear at top. Text box appears at center displaying the words, “Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and so on. Or listen on my Podcast page at storyfeather.com.”
Video description
Video description: Trailer for “Lickspittle and Sobersides.” 47 seconds. Title card with the words “Storyfeather Podcast” and “A Fantastic Fable Episode” is displayed at top. Text displayed at bottom: “We must have one last hurrah before we die.” The title card and text fade. Digital drawing. Two caterpillars, their raised top sections and heads facing forward next to each other at center. The rest of their bodies extend and curve down and out to either side of the frame. The caterpillar at left wears a vest and is smiling. The caterpillar at right wears a scarf that blows out to the right, has many arms crossed and is frowning. Discs of glowing spirals float above and lie below them. A watermark of the word “Storyfeather” appears above the scarf. Subtitles appear in time with music and narration at the bottom: “‘Alas! We are doomed to die as caterpillars, never having become butterflies.’ Lickspittle shook his head. He gazed up and shook several fists at the sky. Sobersides sighed gravely. ‘Perhaps tomorrow morning.’ The two caterpillar fairies had woken that morning, and that meant that they were still caterpillars. And that would have been fine, save that they had both reached the age where most caterpillars had already formed cocoons and transformed into butterfly fairies.” Animation: Two butterflies appear at bottom and fly in a circle then recede and disappear. Website URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades as story title appear at top. Text box appears at center displaying the words, “Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and so on. Or listen on my Podcast page at storyfeather.com.”
OLDER PODCAST TRAILERS
JUMP INTO THE PORTAL BELOW TO EXPLORE PREVIOUSLY POSTED EPISODES