Despite publishing another picture prompt earlier this month, I couldn’t resist highlighting another image from DeviantArt. The first image on this page is Swamp Cottage by Zanariya, a hauntingly beautiful scene soaking in atmosphere and gravitas. As I stared at it, dozens of stories clamored for attention. But I needed a single thread to follow. So, I grabbed my story cubes and gave them a toss. There’s nothing wrong with layering prompts. From the tumble, I selected three elements: the sleeping figure, the bridge, and the sheep. At first, the combination disoriented me. But soon enough, a story emerged, one that perfectly complemented the image’s quiet tension...

After finishing The Clawed Path, I put my next piece of microfiction on hold. I simply had too many other projects to work on, including my psychological thriller. Fortunately, I’m determined to break the recent pattern where my creative momentum stalls. As the release date for the second story approached, I began thinking about what kind of story I wanted to tell. The only thing I’d already settled was that it would involve my shifters, and I love pitting the predatory tribes against the more peaceful ones...

Last month when I sat down to work on my picture prompt, I used ChatGPT to generate a laundry list of prompts from the picture. As a result, I selected the next prompt from the list that I wanted to explore. A scholar enters the forest in search of a long-lost magical archive said to record the memories of every creature who’s ever walked the earth. The deeper they go, the more they begin to remember things they never lived. Is the forest showing them a forgotten past—or creating false memories? While the premise intrigued me, there were elements I didn’t particularly like. But that’s the beauty of prompts. The real magic lies in how the story takes shape in your mind...

There’s something meaningful about the final stretch of any journey. Those last few moments often feel the most vivid, not because they outshine the rest, but because we know the experience is drawing to a close. As the end nears, our attention sharpens, and we start to notice details we might have otherwise overlooked. On a drive, those final miles seem to unfold more slowly, as if the world outside the window is giving us one last chance to enjoy the scenery. Be it a curve in the shoreline, the shimmer of water under fading light, or a splash of color tucked between the trees. These quiet elements speak volumes without saying a word...

In Preparations, the colonists of a distant world continue their struggle against the strange new inhabitants of Morven. Their survival hangs by a thread as the world’s foot soldiers gather in overwhelming numbers. With each passing moment, creatures pulled from the colonists’ myth and nightmare swell the enemy ranks. When faced with impossible odds, Tarian is forced to make a choice, not for victory, but for survival. Sometimes the only way forward begins with weighing the options available and choosing one. There are those who call it an act of desperate, while others recognize its necessity.

This is not a story about triumph. There aren’t any grand speeches or heroic charges, only the steady weight of forced choices. It’s a story about resolve. It’s about the quiet, often unseen strength it takes to act when hope is thin and the outcome uncertain...

After pulling the results of the genre poll, I was pleased to discover a comedy in the results. With this genre topping my list, I immediately rolled my story cubes to determine the story for my comedic duo, Sebastian & Jimmy. After the roll, I poked through the dice and selected the watch, a glove, and a birdcage. With the seed set, it didn’t take me long to come up with the location. Just because these ordinary objects are commonplace doesn’t mean they’re incapable of being a wonderful backdrop for Jimmy. There’s something special about a quiet room, especially when this duo gets started. While exploring a house for things they’d like to buy, they peek inside a small room, allowing them to slip into a familiar rhythm of curiosity and chaos...

Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most rewarding. I know it’s a cliché, but that just means it holds a fundamental truth. It’s also the reason I’ve always enjoyed sitting quietly and watching nature. Every season brings its own beauty, but there’s something especially meaningful about observing the landscape in transition, when one season begins to give way to another. Whether it’s fall to winter, winter to spring, or any shift in between, these in-between moments reveal subtle patterns and unexpected details. On this particular trip, I was lucky enough to catch the lingering traces of summer as autumn began to lay its claim on the landscape. From the vantage point of a moving vehicle, the world unfolds in soft layers, offering brief but beautiful glimpses into the rhythm of change...

In Allies, the colonists of a distant world continue their desperate search for the missing. Survival in the alien wilderness has become a daily battle, with threats pulled from nightmares and myths. Every step into the mysterious forest risks new horrors, predators lurking behind every tree, and unseen watchers in the dark.

Tarian refuses to abandon the lost...

With my desire to focus on my psychological thriller, I almost forgot about my micro-fiction. However, when I woke up this morning and checked out my writing schedule, I realized the story was due. So I went to my journal and checked what I’d lined up for May’s first micro-tale. Up first, I needed to write a brief narrative revolving around my monster hunter, Solomon. Yet I needed something to ground the story. As a result, I hurried over to ChatGPT and asked for it to provide me a story limited to 250 words that features a ‘brief fight with something that bumps in the middle of the night.’ I took that initial concept and shaped it into a story that I wanted to tell...

After a conversation with Gilras about the mysterious shifters, Jarvis sends dispatches a small unit of his people along with a contingent of highly skilled dwarven warriors to explore the ruins of the original settlement to search for the tonic that will allow them to face such a foe. Once they arrive at the ruins, they split up into pairs, with each pair striving to locate the formula. Among the ancient wreckage of a once-mighty colonization ship, Fenton and the gruff warrior Ferrek uncover more than just data...

There’s something special about being the passenger on a drive. When you’re behind the wheel, your attention is locked on the road and the cars around you. But as a passenger, you’re free to let your eyes wander, to watch the world unfold through the window. While individual details often slip by in a blur, the overall landscape reveals itself gradually over the course of the journey. Every curve in the road offers a new perspective. Sometimes its a subtle shift, other times its a dramatic transformation. Yet the familiar terrain is constantly shifting into something new. These fleeting moments invite a quieter kind of observation, not a search for grandeur, but an appreciation for gentle details and the evolving relationship between the natural world and human presence...

In Assault on the Walls, Tarian and his people were promised a peaceful world, one that wouldn’t require defenses. The scans said the planet was empty of dangers. It was safe. But Morven had other plans. As colonists begin to vanish and monstrous creatures rise from the wilderness, Tarian pushes for a wall, a last line of defense against the unknown. Half-built and surrounded, the colony faces more than a battle, because this assault isn’t about territory. It’s a message from the planet itself...

The moment I wrapped Okay and Reunion, I turned my focus to the final Patreon tale of the month—science fiction. As soon as I saw the genre top the poll, I knew the next story had to pick up where Fraught Wait left off. Rather than bog the pacing down with negotiations, I dropped us into the middle of the mission, where the stakes, and suspicions, are already rising. With news of Tia’s recovery fresh in hand, Charles agrees to a simple job. He and his healthy crew are to transport a nervous client and a mysterious woman to another station. The client promises no trouble once they depart—just a quiet run through space...

As I looked over my list of genres for my patrons, I was once again disappointed not to see comedy among them, strange I know. I must be a masochist. Though I was also staring down a publication deadline without a post in sight. With both of those factors rattling around my brain, I repeated what I did last month with Unlucky Voyager, I turned to Sebastian and Jimmy. This time, I didn’t have my trusty story cubes on hand, but I did have access to ChatGPT. So I turned to the AI and asked, can you give me a random story prompt with three objects/ideas? As I waited, I wondered what kind of nonsense it might toss my way...

There’s a quiet kind of magic that reveals itself when we slow down and truly examine the world around us. When we stop chasing after dramatic views and simply pause to appreciate the subtleties that nature offers, beauty takes on forms we weren’t searching for. Often it emerges from an absence rather than abundance, through restraint in lieu of spectacle. Whether it’s the simplicity of a tree’s skeletal outline or the careful placement of outdoor furniture, the natural world can find harmony in unexpected ways. While artificial elements can sometimes clash with nature, there are moments when the two align to create a unique visual that amplifies beauty rather than disrupting it...