ABCtales | Creative Writing Online

Pick of the day

The Way We Heard - Killing in the Name

Posted by Turlough on Fri, 24 Jul 2026

In December 2009 the number one record in the UK singles chart was Killing in the Name, by the Californian band, Rage Against the Machine. It was a protest song about police brutality, systemic racism, and state abuse of power, though this story is about buying chocolate at a London tube station. It also became my favourite Christmas song.

The Way We Heard: Three Coins In The Fountain (1954) (Pt.1)

Posted by airyfairy on Tue, 21 Jul 2026

A family in the aftermath of events.Read more

Poem of the week

The Drove

Posted by Angusfolklore on Wed, 22 Jul 2026

Over the hard mountain,

we, the herd, pitifully bellow,

but those that drive us

have no pity.

The only thing they say,

as a sop to our understanding,

is to laughingly remark,

'This is the old drove road

our father's grandfather made.

There is no other path for you, or us.'

Story and Poem of the Week, with Inspiration Point

This week’s picks have been chosen by marandina:

It’s been another scorching week on the weather front so reading everyone’s stories and poems in the cool shade has been something of a guilty pleasure. As ever, thank you to everyone who posted.

Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem of the Month for June has very kindly been chosen by Drew Gummerson:

'For All We Know We Don't' by Sean McNulty. Out Now! Review by Drew Gummerson

I am very pleased to announce the publication of 'For All We Know We Don't' - a collection of short stories by our very own Sean McNulty. It's available to order from Amazon here:

“The Way We Heard”: A New Fiction Challenge for ABCtales

“The Way We Heard”: A New Fiction Challenge for ABCtales

This new fiction challenge is sponsored by Cerasus who will donate £100 to ABCtales if all the criteria are met.

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Posting From Your Android Phone - Fixed!

Some of you have been having issues with posting your work using an android phone. Ewan and John our techie have been working really hard to fix this.

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