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A ritual meant to protect someone ends up putting them (or someone else!) in danger.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 3, 2025

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✍️ 19 stories

The Archivist's Adventures: 'The Turnip That Knew Too Much'

Submitted to Contest #323

ARCHIVE ENTRY #017 Title: “The Turnip That Knew Too Much” Filed by: Estella Wormwood, Apprentice of Orlin the Wise Date: 4th Bloomtide, Year 623 Location: Turnwell Village Security Level: Moderate— Sir. Rudius(Rudy) BagaThis record details the events involving a sentient root vegetable, a disgraced village, and an attempted sautéing by one Varric Skell. Filed for posterity and the next poor apprentice visiting Turnwell. Signed, E. Wormwood (Note: Bestiary has added "Cognitive Vegetables" as a new subsection.) – Turnwell was usuall...

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The Mirror Knock

Submitted to Contest #323

My grandmother believed the dead could climb through windows if you left them open even a millimeter. She nailed ours shut before the movers had even dropped off our furniture, sealing the sills with salt and beeswax for good measure. Most of my friends thought she was insane. I always shrugged and told them, “She’s survived this long. Might as well go along with it.” She glowered at me from my doorway: a small, ferocious silhouette wrapped in her green wool cardigan as if it were chain mail. “Aiden! Kitchen. Now.” Her accent sharpened every...

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The Safest Place

Submitted to Contest #323

Content Warning: mental health, discussion of violent crime, death. The sharp click of the fifth lock sliding into place with finality is like breaking the surface after holding my breath too long.I rest my forehead against the solid wood door, inhaling. In, hold for five seconds, out. Repeat. Five times. Always five.“I am fine. I am safe,” I whisper, four times. It feels wrong, so I add one more. Five.I have a thing about the number five—well I have a laundry list of things, but following a sequence of five is one of them.Today was brutal, ...

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No Need

Submitted to Contest #323

Going out to explore abandoned places wasn’t out of the norm for her. She had seen many things when she was out, old houses, manors! All frozen in time, beds waiting to be used, wallpaper still remaining up or some couldn’t hold on to the wall any longer as they peel. Toys and games may litter ‌the house. Perfumes and medications resting in bathrooms, some around the master bedroom. A calming eeriness of it all as she walks among what she felt was a still photo or a time capsule you can walk into. She often took pictures to remember the time...

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