"The air around her is honeysuckle, salt and soil, and if I step away I’m lost in the sizing, bleach and canned fragrance of soap flakes."
Flash Fiction
DELICATES
"She takes a drink of the sparkling concoction. They didn’t cover this in training."
Short Story
COLD CALL
"All organic, sustainable, fair trade ingredients and 5% of every purchase goes to something important in Africa ... I don’t smell anything."
Short Story
SCENT EASY
For your reading pleasure this week, discover three tales about getting help from strangers.
A tenuous relationship begins at a late-night laundromat in the flash fiction Delicates. An optimistic saleslady pays a call on a spectral customer in the short story Cold Call. And a visit to a new perfumery makes a girl lonely for her old life in the award-winning story ScentEasy. Or, explore the StoryCote library for other good reads.
Story Library
Discover fresh short fiction and modern fables.
About Us
a columbary of lovely and amazing tales
What is StoryCote?
At StoryCote half of our tales are fantastic. These fables span the adventures of selkies, saints, lycanthropes and superheroes. The other fables are domestic, spanning the adventures of mere humans, but still from a fabulist’s perspective. All are told in the only lyric and aching way we know how to tell them.
Discover restless characters, from fairies to farm wives to socialites, all searching for better lives. Unlock the secret to each escape: in the back room of a near-future perfumery, by an imposter at a posh country club, on a cruise ship boarded by hungry pirates, and in many more heart-breaking tales. From the domestic to the fantastic, each aching, lovely, and tender fable is complete in 2,500 words or less.
As daily life grows more hectic, flash fiction and fables become even more valuable. Join us for fresh fiction each week through the StoryCote website, mobile site and social media. Enjoy the satisfaction of a complete story experience during a quick coffee break. Sneak a secret story during your workday.
Thank you so much for reading.
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