fresh flash
fiction &
modern fables
“Bodies are sweaty, smelly, selfish and impatient. They are always a little closer to death than they know. ”
Flash Fiction
DROPPING A DIME“I knew every calibration of light in that space. And she, where nature and science prescribed otherwise, she cast no shadow.”
Short Story
GHOSTLIGHT
"The same pneumatic fists. The same corner pep-talks. The same dream of getting up and out of Brownsville."
Short Story
BAD CALL
A warren of ghosts for your reading pleasure.
This spooky season, discover stories of bittersweet hauntings. In Dropping a Dime, a restless spirit must use a telephone hotline to report on living humans’ frailties and infractions. In Ghostlight, a lonely theatre electrician finds fleeting romance with a charming spectre. And in Bad Call, an earnest young boxer prepares to make his debut, but his fate may hang on an unseen force in the ring.
Explore more good reads in our library of stories fantastic and domestic or listen to The Story Coterie podcast.Stories Fantastic
Discover modern fables of beauties, beasties and unearthly wonders.
Read more...I’m not a snitch. Even when I was a Body, serving my time – which, funnily enough, seemed like an eternity – I never dropped a dime on another Body. Never reduced my sentence or improved my comfort by betraying my cellmate or one of the punk Bodies still dealing on the outside. I’m free now…...Read more...I don't cotton much to superstition. The world is so complex as it is, so full of marvels, I can't see adding any other conditions to what nature's already given. Most others here, though, seem to make things as complicated as possible. So many imaginary rules about what one must always and never...Read more...Kid Callahan had been hitting the heavy bags since he was six. He’d started out coming to the gym twice a week with his pop. Ten years later, the Kid was training six days a week. He had become ropy and lean, faster than most of the the muscle-bound pugs he fought, but still looked very much a...Stories 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...I take 24 in the corner. But I won’t tell you what I keep in it yet. You really don’t need to bring anything here. In the atrium, there is always hot tea and yerba maté, fresh fruit and a crisp stack of magazines. The girls provide a warm robe and slippers and a little brass key that matches a...Read more...Fidelia, he thought as he paid his dime. Fidelia, he thought for seven miles as the Southern Pacific jostled its way. Fidelia, he thought as the streetcar deposited him and a horde of reveling youth at the oceanside park. The swimmers ran with mad folly toward the Baths. Below the labyrinthine...
- The Story Coterie Podcast
A new audio home for modern fables and fresh flash fiction is waiting for you.
Learn more and listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, PocketCasts or RadioPublic.
Get a sneak peek.
Listen to one of our favorite episodes.
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.
Thank you so much for reading.
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All contents copyright © 2006 - 2026 Candace L. Coulombe. All rights reserved. For reprints and permissions, contact StoryCote.