Storyfeather Nila Patel: Fictioneer

A mouse narrowly escapes a cat, and is later haunted by the ghost of the cat, who believes the mouse plays a part in the “unfinished business” of the cat’s life.
Genre: Fable
 
Excerpt:
Two eyes, yellow with a green glow, hovered in the darkness. A shaft of soft light from a crack in the wall fell between Rini and those eyes, those eyes that loomed. Those eyes that floated closer.
A smiling snout appeared in the shaft of light, and wicked whispers, and sharp, pointed ears, and those eyes whose hungry gaze fell upon Rini.
 
What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
While search through writing prompts, I saw the term “spirit animal.” I didn’t want to use whatever the prompt was, but it did inspire me to think of my own prompt: What if a mouse was being haunted by the ghost of the cat who tried to kill her, but ended up dying instead?
 
Faster Fictioneer
Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method.  You can learn more about it right here: FASTER FICTIONEER
 
I’ve Got Issues For You
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more that I send by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE
 
Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE
 
CREDITS
Story: “The Cat That Haunted the Mouse” Copyright © 2020 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel

Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by ANDREW SITKOV (MuzStation Game Music)*
“Evil is Near”
“Mystical House”
“Scary Theme #3”
“Scary Theme #1”
“Hidden Fear”
“Story at Night”
“Secrets of Kingdom”
“Journey into Fog”
“Magic Within”
 
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.

Music by Andrew Sitkov licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Changes made to the musical tracks?  Just cropping to align with my narration.
 
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
 
Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. A cat seen from the left side sitting down with tail curled in front. The cat’s head is facing forehead and resting on the forepaws. The cat is looking at a mouse, standing on the hind legs in front of the cat. The mouse is turned to the right, holding forepaws together, with tail stretched out to the right. A hazy glow surrounds both animals. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along top of mouse’s tail.

A girl accidentally passes before a warlock who is laying a curse on someone, and wakes the next morning to find that the curse has fallen upon her instead.
Genre: Fairy Tale 

Excerpt:
I didn’t earn what happened to me. The curse that fell on me was meant for another. That’s what happens when petty warlocks are reckless with their magic.
 
What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
You wake to find that your appearance has altered completely.  How do you make those around you believe you are still you?
Source: A Writer’s Year: 365 Creative Writing Prompts. Text by Emma Bastow. Copyright © 2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Faster Fictioneer
Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method.  You can learn more about it right here: FASTER FICTIONEER
 
I’ve Got Issues For You
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more that I send by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE
 
Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE
 
CREDITS
Story: “Auroramorphosis” Copyright © 2020 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel

Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)*
“In the shadows”
“The village”
“Emblem”
“Infinite land”
“Fallen leaves”
“Home”
“A band in the inn”
“City of magic”
“Signs of desolation”
“Playing in water”
“Back in the village”
“Treasure”
“Dark fields”
 
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
 
Music by Nicholas Jeudy licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Changes made to the musical tracks?  Just cropping to align with my narration.
 
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
 
Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At center, a girl seen from knees up and from the back, wearing a hooded robe or dress, and holding the right hand behind her back. The head of a pink carnation is held in the right hand. Different sections of the girl’s hair are of different colors and textures. In front of her at waist level, soft rays of light beam out at symmetrical angles. Watermark of “Storyfeather” at center right.

A desperate people once made a monstrous bargain with a demon, and monsters they became.
Genre: Fairy Tale

Alert: This episode contains mention of harm to human babies, comparable to what can be found in classic fairy tales such as “Hansel and Gretel.”
 
Excerpt:
Legend says that the draugamunninn were once human. They were a practical but severe people who after suffering one terrible winter too many, and after failing to feed themselves with their own hands and their own labor, began to pray to their old gods for relief. But their prayer was not answered by a god.
It was answered by a demon.

What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
The title of the story is the slightly modified version of the word that resulted when I picked English to Icelandic in Google translate, and punched in the words “ghost mouth.”
Another resource I read almost all the way through, about Icelandic names.
https://www.icelandtravel.is/blog/icelandic-names-what-makes-them-unique/
 
Faster Fictioneer
Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method.  You can learn more about it right here: FASTER FICTIONEER
  
I’ve Got Issues For You
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more that I send by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE
 
Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE
 
CREDITS
Story: “Draugamunninn” Copyright © 2020 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel

Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)
 
Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)*
“Incantation”
“Ancient gods”
“The ritual”
“Hidden in the dark”
“Devasted”
“The forest”
“Fallen leaves”
“A place where evil lives”
 
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
 
Music by Nicholas Jeudy licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Vocal effects created with Audacity
Changes made to the musical tracks?  Just cropping to align with my narration.
 
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
 
Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. An illuminated letter “D.” Contained within the letter is a bearded man, facing forward, standing beside the curve, in stylized rays of sunlight, holding a baby in his left arm against his chest, and a dagger in his outstretched right arm. His dagger is plunged through the neck of a humanoid creature lying in right profile along the bottom curve of the letter. The creature is completely white. Its long tongue extends out of the mouth. Its tail curls out of the bounds of the letter, ending in a tip that points up. The right leg is bent up so that the long toes of the foot are seen resting along the edge of the letter. The man’s cloak also extends in front of the letter, its fur hem lying out of bounds. Watermark of the word “Storyfeather” along left edge of the square box containing the main part of the letter.

A restless fairy creates a restless trinket with the power to grant its bearer three wishes, but as each wish is grant, the last wish fades away.

Genre: Fairy Tale
 
Excerpt:
A restless fairy grew bored one day and created a restless trinket, imbuing it with all of the fairy’s magic. The magic was all bent toward one purpose, to grant the bearer of the trinket three wishes. The form the trinket first took was as a pendant, which the fairy gave to a human acquaintance with only three instructions…or warnings.
 
What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
You are granted three wishes. Each wish can only be used once and not at the same time as another wish.  What do you wish for?
Source: A Writer’s Year: 365 Creative Writing Prompts. Text by Emma Bastow. Copyright © 2019 HarperCollins Publishers
 
Faster Fictioneer
Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method.  You can learn more about it right here: FASTER FICTIONEER
 
I’ve Got Issues For You
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more that I send by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE
 
Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE
 
 
CREDITS
Story: “Nine Wishes in Three Tales” Copyright © 2020 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel
 
Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)*
“Compass”
“Emblem”
“Elder wisdom”
“Written in stones”
“Here we go”
“Playing in water”
“Winterheart”
“Immortals”
“Stars Above”
“A story of gold”
“The village”
“What is hidden”
“You are a giant”
“Shadows and flames”
 
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.

Music by Nicholas Jeudy licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Changes made to the musical tracks?  Just cropping to align with my narration.
 
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
 
Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. A collage of nine images in a three by three grid. From top row to bottom row and left to right, the images are as follows. Closed eyes and mouth bearing heavy makeup. Outline of a human head from left profile, containing a glowing sphere where the brain would be. Black silhouette of a person on an outdoor stage, holding out their arms to their sides, with the silhouettes of spectators standing below. Stylized image of a woman from left profile, face devoid of features, holding up the left hand with bent arm, palm directed to the face. A symbolic image of a crown floating above royal robes. Stylized image of a woman in right profile, a mirror image of woman in left profile. A cave opening showing a pile of gold coins within and branches extending across the opening. Stylized figure in left profile, kneeling on one knee, and holding one hand under a window of a structure. A disc bearing the symbol of the open eye. The whole image is set in front of a blurred sepia-toned version of the image in square format. Watermark of “Storyfeather” at center right, vertically along box with the woman in right profile.

The youngest of three siblings makes a wish at a mall fountain, where unseen fish supposedly live, helping people’s wishes come true.
Genre: Fairy Tale
 
Excerpt:
I twisted my mouth to one side, and stared at the coin that I held in the middle of my palm.
“There’s a scientific explanation for it,” my sister said. 
"For what?” I said, glancing up at the fountain. We were standing three feet away from it.
"For the wishes coming true.”
 
What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
Rory’s Story Cubes. I rolled three cubes. They landed on “fish, magnifying glass, and fountain”
 
Faster Fictioneer
Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method.  You can learn more about it right here: FASTER FICTIONEER
  
I’ve Got Issues For You
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more that I send by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE
 
Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE
 
CREDITS
Story: “A Wish Upon the Fountain Fish” Copyright © 2019 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel

Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by JONATHAN SHAW*
“Checking Inventory”
“Afternoon Chat”
“In Tranquil Spring”
“Market on the Sea”
“Thoughts”
“A Tale of Water”

*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
 
Music by Jonathan Shaw licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Changes made to the musical tracks?  Just cropping to align with my narration.
 
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Jonathan Shaw at gamedevmarket.net
Find more music by Jonathan Shaw at jshaw.co.uk
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
 
Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At left, a child seen from waist up and from the back, wearing a bright hoodie and a flower pin in short bobbed hair, with right arm bent at the side, and right hand holding a coin. The child stands in front of a fountain with a central goblet-shaped piece spouting water over the edge. A smaller goblet-shaped piece sits above the first, spouting water, and another piece that extends beyond frame spouts water down.  Small translucent fish swim in schools and clusters in the air around the fountain. Watermark of “Storyfeather” around bottom curve of fountain.

Alert: This episode contains heartbeat sound effects.
Long ago, the human heart experienced an extraordinary change, all because one god wanted to find a quiet place to sleep.
Genre: Mythology
 
Excerpt:
A tale was once told among the ancestors of the people who live at the base of the great mountain to the north, from which a waterfall plummets into a river that winds across the land. The people who now live in that rich and lovely place still remember the tale of how and why their ancestors’ hearts once grew still and frigid. And they still remember what part the everyday gods played in the tale.
 
 
What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
Finish the sentence, “I wish I could…”
Source: A Writer’s Year: 365 Creative Writing Prompts. Text by Emma Bastow. Copyright © 2019 HarperCollins Publishers
 
Faster Fictioneer
Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written?  I have a method.  You can learn more about it right here: FASTER FICTIONEER
 
I’ve Got Issues For You
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more that I send by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE
 
Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE
 

CREDITS
Story: “The Everyday God Who Wished to Sleep” Copyright © 2020 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel

Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)
 
Music by BENJAMIN CARR (Scythuz)*
"Crystal Caves”
“Flying Fortress”
“Ice Cavern”
“Underwater Temple”
“Ancient Ruins”
“Fire Dungeon”
“Mystical Forest”
 
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
 
Music by Benjamin Carr licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Changes made to the musical tracks?  Just cropping to align with my narration.
 
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Benjamin Carr at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
 
Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. A human torso. The entire expanse of the chest contains the image of a heart symbol split into four chambers. The borders of the heart are composed of tiles like a mosaic. Kneeling on left knee in front of the heart, and seen in left profile, is a humanoid figure in a costume reminiscent of a court jester, with a headdress shaped like feathers, and long straight hair. The left arm, held bent and slightly extended, is covered in flower and circle tattoos. The left hand is held palm up and a flame rises up from the palm. Border at top and bottom with square textures matching the colors of the main image. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along edge of bottom right chamber.