The Shifting Night Anomaly

Storyfeather

A spaceship built for short-range research is re-tasked with the mission of traversing a vast and mysterious anomaly.

Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction

Excerpt: The Shifting Night Anomaly was so called at first be-cause its margins seemed to change every so often, making it difficult, if not impossible, to map. We had sent probe after probe inside for three generations. Out of the near thousand probes that were deployed, only forty-seven were recovered. The more we learned about the anomaly, the more we realized how fitting the name was. There were no systems and no stars within, only remnants of dead worlds. Only strange and exotic gases. Only nebulas haunted by the ghosts of stars that flickered and faded before they could burst into life.

What’s the Word (that inspired the story)?Don’t know. My drafts and notes provide no clue. Maybe it’s… Anomaly: a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form. (source: dictionary.com)

Faster FictioneerI held my first free writing workshop over Zoom to teach my method of writing short stories (an abbreviated version) on 11/8/2023. The workshop is based on my course, called “Faster Fictioneer: A Doable Method to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish in Five Weeks.”

You can watch a replay of the workshop here: FASTER FICTIONEER

(You can also buy the course there. It’s on sale until 11/30/2023.)

Follow my Fictioneering MischiefThe Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more sent by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE

Storyfeather-themed merchandiseT-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE

As mentioned in the episode: Angry Gingerbread Man Mug

CREDITSStory: “The Shifting Night Anomaly” 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 NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)* “Dark web” “Haunted spaceship” “Compass” “Genetic marker” “Dark wonders” “Ghost of Phobos” “Wide place”

Music by TAO AND SOUND* “U Never Had To Exist” “Hacker Duels – INTRO” “I Never Gave Up – INTRO” “I Never Gave Up – (B) MELODY LOOP” “I Never Gave Up – (A) MELODY LOOP” “80s Synth Ambient 02 E” “80s Synth Ambient 01 C” “U Never Had To Exist - INTRO”

*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 and Tao And Sound licensed from GameDev Market Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket

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

Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At left, front of a ship with a forward cabin, two thrusters protruding from the sides, and a central portion with glowing oval that may be part of an engine or a domed window. The ship is in a typical part of outer space and is facing to the right of frame. Right half of image is a shapeless mass of alternating glowing and shadowy folds.