Stories from the countryside, presented by Derek Nacre.
A woman tells Derek about the vanishing ghost castle near the German border.
Derek’s stories from rural locals — Ghost Castle
D
Love is the voice over the shady company’s intercom
L
Tiffany starts her new job at a shady company and meets the Artificial Intelligence in charge of the office. Not finding a connection with her human coworkers, she forms a bond with the AI instead.
Outstandingly Fine
O
Someone is following Yvonne. It's only when she hides in a library that she learns why.
From behind her came the light whoosh of the door opening. She turned, breath catching. She hadn’t gotten a good look before, but this had to be her, her stalker. Tall, heavy and with straight black hair slicked back from her face, she stood like a sentry before the door. “Yvonne,” she said, “you have fifteen years worth of library fines. Time to pay up.”
What.
Agustin’s Winter
A
When the Drowned Oracle confirmed the death of Captain Agustin, the winter ended.
Warehouse Worker – a fathers day story
W
Behind you, the workers shuffled, rubber soles shifting on rough concrete. You pressed your lips together. “What am I supposed to be helping with?” you asked, glancing behind you.
“Manpower,” a burly worker said, joining you at the front. “We need more people.”
You eyed the big shelves of metal, parts moving automatically, pushing crates around, carrying them where they needed to be. “In a place where everything runs by itself?”
“Yes."
Something rumbled in the distance. Wheels, maybe, or gears. A loud whistle from the same direction. The workers jumped, and three sprinted there with nervous, even fearful expressions. Their steps echoed on the cement floor long after they vanished from view.
The 13th Hour
T
The sun was at it’s peak, so high above her she nearly cast no shadow at all. And when the clock-tower struck the 13th hour, even that little shadow fell away.
Fake Portal
F
In the following weeks, the fridge demon didn’t go away. He was almost seventy percent sure it was real. Albion avoided the fridge like the plague, and the things he kicked under there really did seem to vanish.
Then again, he couldn’t be certain.
Demons and monsters were not exactly rare, but they weren’t common either. By comparison, Teague’s hallucinations were much more common.
Mushrooms outside the Mycelium
M
Excerpt from 'Mushrooms outside the Mycelium' a journal (found in an outshoot of the Wonderland Mycelium crossing from Overijssel into Groningen) detailing the fungi in the Netherlands suspected to have separated themselves from the Wonderland Mycelium. Author unknown.
12 — Leash Cap
Highly dangerous. Mobile.
“Drink this,” the witch said.
“
There were rumours that a witch lived here. Where the tree-lined path merged with the forest. Rumour had it that this witch would help you out if you asked nicely. Well- her co-workers had said it with a bit more scorn in their voices, but ever since she overheard she hadn’t been able to put it out of her mind.
Fabian Pauwel
F
This was it, this was the moment Fabian’s life would change forever. He’d worked towards this moment for years, and finally it was here. He slowly lifted his envelope to the application box, savouring every second of this momentous occasion. The moment he applied for an actual space mission. The moment his dream of seeing extra-terrestrial plants would become reality.