Pick of the day
Fall Back (4)
Posted by SoulFire77 on Mon, 19 Oct 2026
She woke on the couch with the afghan pulled up over her mouth and the sun lying across her legs.
Read moreStory of the week
MUSSELS
Posted by TOMCRA on Wed, 14 Oct 2026
MUSSELSMiran worked the pocket knife like a lever, sliding it up and under the mussels until they came free of their moorings. She held each clump briefly, as though they might contain some small pulse. The shells were scarred and dark as oil, with streaks of blue-green where the light found them.
She dropped the cluster in the pail and moved on.
Morning came slow and cold.Read more
Poem of the week
bonfire night
Posted by celticman on Wed, 14 Oct 2026
This is now
That was when
Big boots and brown-shirted men
Splashed through ash and falling rain
Lost faces, crinkled eyes and loud cries
Token loads and lost meaning
Flash mobs and flames lick life away
It’s never too late—hate, hate, hate.
Heil, Heil, Heil.
Read moreFeatures
Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point
Posted by marandina:
It’s been another busy week on site with lots of longer works posted.
I have enjoyed following multi-part pieces from Jane Hyphen, hudsonmoon, SoulFire77, Eric Marsh and Ivan the OK-ish, in particular.
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Story and Poem of the Month
Our Story and Poem for September, very kindly chosen by hudsonmoon:
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New Writing Challenge By SoulFire77 - Win Us Some Money!
Soulfire77 has very generously offered us a donation for each scary story posted between now and October 30th, so please fire up your laptops and follow his instructions below.
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Want to join ABCTales?
We've had to suspend the automatic joining facility for a while so if you would like to join us please email
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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.
Read moreBee's Journey
Picks of the Month
White Noise
Posted by skinner_jennifer on Mon, 14 Sep 2026
Now I'm in the system riding on ocean
waves of chemotherapy and medication
deeper than anything I've known before,
needles bruise; feeding Pembrolizumab –
Aprepitant – Ondansetron.
Restore this malfunctioning body, let me
be pure...crush the enemy. I imagine good
cells as they glow in bright white light that
shimmers as I anticipate autumn's energy
Read more
For Present Company
Posted by sean mcnulty on Sat, 19 Sep 2026
These streets and their cigarette butts. They lie dead in the puddles like forgotten men. They’ll be gone soon in the coming slush. Winter’s assignment is to give us all a good wash, person and paving alike.
Read more