fresh flash
fiction &
modern fables
“It is never less magical, never grows tiresome, never could compare to any dance far back home. ”
Flash Fiction
SILVER KINGDOMS“Fall into a hole or out a window or through a cupboard to be taken to a realm of magic. But, it has to be the right doorway.”
Short Story
THE FALSE KEYHOLE“ Fairies, selkies and djinns, princesses who danced their shoes to destruction each night, magical resolutions for unfortunate girls.”
Short Story
TEMPORARY CHARMS
For your reading pleasure, three short stories about the stroke of midnight.
Discover modern fables with fates tied to the ticking of the clock. In Silver Kingdoms, twelve secretive seniors at a Southern retirement home disappear each night, only to reappear the next morning with holes in their slippers. In The False Keyhole, a boy climbs inside a grandfather clock on New Year’s Eve, seeking a portal to a fantastical world, and is unable to escape it. And, in Temporary Charms, a young woman is able to dance with a prince, thanks to the intercession of her fairy godmother, but all of the charms are repossessed at midnight.
Explore more good reads in our libraries of stories fantastic and domestic or listen along at The Story Coterie podcast.Stories Fantastic
Discover modern fables of beauties, beasties and unearthly wonders.
Read more...Among the many residents of the Green Gardens Living Center, there are twelve silver-haired ladies, each one older and more apple-faced than the next. Their rooms are all in a row. They do not go in for water aerobics or bus outings to the casino. They keep among themselves, playing bridge or...Read more...Perhaps it would open to the clean-combed green of the Queen’s croquet ground, rife with jolly flamingos and hedgehogs. Perhaps it would open to the Sugar Pyramids near the Kingdom of Dreams outside Oz. Or, perhaps instead the door would open from the never-tree, which grows and is then cut down...Read more...Everything is temporary. Through the layers of silk organza, she could feel the warmth of his hand on the small of her back. He was as handsome as she’d imagined, and his hands were even stronger and more capable. There was something golden about him under the skin. Her wish had been a simple...More PostsStories Domestic
Discover fresh short fiction about everyday heartbreak and other crimes.
Read more...Once, she was compassionate, loving and kind. Once we found a speckled mouse in the bulk foods section of the Co-op. Tuesday scooped it in the palm of her hand and deposited it safely in the green median of the parking lot. By the time we’d finished shopping, it had only made it about two feet...Read more...Bisbee’s bottom itched hot with carpet burns, and her shoulder was scratched pink, courtesy of the keyboard tray. She was happily rife with bruises and bites and, in fact, dressed more conservatively now than before the misadventures began, lest she spike the curiosity of Human Resources. But her...Read more...I live economically. It’s why I often choose to holiday in Cortina d’Ampezzo. There, it’s enough for me to be seen entering Hotel Cristallo from the heli-pad. I don’t need a helicopter of my own — just the reputation that I do. The one extravagance I allow myself is my man Golding: bodyguard,...
- The Story Coterie Podcast
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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 even superheroes. The other fables are domestic, spanning the adventures of mere humans, but still from a fabulist’s perspective. All are told in the lyric, lovely and aching way only 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 tender fable is complete in 2,500 words or less.
StoryCote was founded by writer Candace Leigh Coulombe to share the incredible value of flash fiction and fables in an ever-hectic daily life. Join us for fresh fiction each week through the StoryCote website, podcast and social media. Enjoy the satisfaction of a complete story experience during a quick coffee break. Sneak a secret story during your workday.
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All contents copyright © 2006 - 2026 Candace L. Coulombe. All rights reserved. For reprints and permissions, contact StoryCote.