The Waking of J

Storyfeather

A man keeps waking up in a sweat, breathless, and on the verge of tears, but he can’t remember his dreams. Then one day, he wakes to find something disturbing on his hands.

Genre: Mystery

Excerpt: And then he woke up.

He huffed out a breath and gasped. He was covered in sweat, even though the room was cool. His eyes were still shut, but he felt the wetness gathered at the rims of his eyelids. He squeezed and a tear rolled down from the corner of his eye and wet the outer rim of his ear.

Right away, he calmed. The intensity of whatever emotion he’d been feeling that brought him to tears just vanished.

What’s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?Write a story that ends with the line: “And then he woke up.”Source: A Writer’s Year: 365 Creative Writing Prompts. Text by Emma Bastow. Copyright © 2019 HarperCollins Publishers

COMING SOON…my book!Ever wonder how I’ve gotten all these hundreds of stories written? I have a method. I’ve put that method into my upcoming book called Fictioneer’s Field Guide. The book details how to write a short story from start to finish.

Want to get a t-shirt with my artwork on it? Or maybe get a mug, sticker, notebook, a baby onesie, and more?

To find out how to get my book or my merch please visit my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE

I’ve Got Issues For YouThe 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

CREDITSStory: “The Waking of J” 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)* “Monochromatic stain” “Cold case” “Experiment 3” “Dead files” “Profiler” “As it happenned” “Experiment 7” “FBI” “Genetic marker” “Complexe mind” “Unclassified”

*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 Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping to align with my narration.

Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.netFind more music by Nicholas Jeudy at gamedevmarket.netFind more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com

Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. View from perspective of a person sitting up in bed looking down at their hands, with their outstretched legs and bare feet beyond. The left hand is turned palm down. The right hand is loosely held palm up. The words “Don’t Try to Remember” are written in all capital letters on the palm. At upper left is the corner of the room with an open door. Against the far wall, from left to right is the bottom of a tripod, and a satchel leaning against a trunk or chest. Framing borders with a square ripple effect. Watermark of “Storyfeather” along left edge of left hand.