As someone who typically likes to tell my stories long, I have been challenging myself to write microfiction — stories that are super short, often less than 200 words! This short fiction based on Appalachian folklore was published by the microfiction publication, 101 Words, and is viewable on their website here.

“Never tell nobody your God-given name,” Della’s grandma always said. It was lore as old as mountains – magic sewn into rock. “There’s power in names.”

But as mourners flooded the holler to honor the matriarch, Della wasn’t paying mind to wives’ tales. When the man in the too-clean suit asked who was kin, she presented herself. Amidst the ruckus, she hardly noticed his black eyes gleam as he turned heel and left.

There’s power in names. Della should’ve remembered. But that night, when her dead grandmother’s voice cracked the quiet, calling her from the tree line, Della followed into the dark.