Night Shift
September 30, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as Dianna Sinovic, flash Fiction, short story, transformation
A crab shell on the riverbank marked the end of day. No crab inside, just the empty carapace and claws, bright objects against the darker sandy grit along the water. Jyr laid thin branches of hemlock around the shell, then watched the river current flickering where the setting sun touched the ripples.
She had gathered bare sticks and limbs to make a fire, but that was for after night dropped its curtain over the landscape. For now, she sat cross-legged on the bank, next to the shell, and waited.
Soon, the heron had told her. The change was approaching. Was she ready?
She’d asked, “Will I like it?” The heron had preened, offering nothing else.
With a weathered branch, Jyr drew shape after shape in the damp sand. Maybe the runic symbols Belna had taught her as a child would help hurry along whatever lay ahead.
Six mallards swam past, their soft quacks of conversation weaving with the low rush of water over stones. A breeze from the northeast ruffled Jyr’s hair and brought the sharp scent of pine sap. Small rocks mixed with the finer sand pressed into Jyr’s bottom, forcing her to shift.
As the sun sank below the horizon, the river darkened. Instead of a fiery glint, the running water now reflected the spangle of stars emerging overhead.
And still Jyr waited, her stomach rumbling in a low growl. When?
As hard as she stared, nothing and no one appeared out of the night. Finally, a crab moved at the edge of the water, and with a quick stab she had it in her beak. Beak? Now standing, she lifted one leg and then the other, her knees bending backward, then she shook, feeling her feathers move and rearrange themselves.
Another crab, another swallow. Jyr resumed her slow stalk along the bank, the memory of what she had been already fading, like the shapes and symbols drawn in the wet sand.
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Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author
July 29, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Dianna Sinovic, Featured author, new release, Scream of the Silent Sun
Author of the Month: Dianna Sinovic
Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and has just released a full-length novel, Scream of the Silent Sun.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, The American Medical Writers Association, and The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
Dianna is a contributing author in the last four anthologies from The Bethlehem Writers Group, Season’s Readings: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales, An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny and Strange Tales of Intrigue, Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Sweet, Funny Animal Tales and Untethered, Sweet, Funny & Strange Tales of the Paranormal. She has also contributed stories for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine, including “In the Delivery.”
Dianna also has a regular column here on A Slice of Orange, titled Quill and Moss, in which she frequently includes short fiction.
Other books by Dianna Sinovic
Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author
July 14, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Dianna Sinovic, Featured author, new release, Scream of the Silent Sun
Author of the Month: Dianna Sinovic
Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and has just released a full-length novel, Scream of the Silent Sun.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, The American Medical Writers Association, and The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
Dianna is a contributing author in the last four anthologies from The Bethlehem Writers Group, Season’s Readings: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales, An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny and Strange Tales of Intrigue, Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Sweet, Funny Animal Tales and Untethered, Sweet, Funny & Strange Tales of the Paranormal. She has also contributed stories for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine, including “In the Delivery.”
Dianna also has a regular column here on A Slice of Orange, titled Quill and Moss, in which she frequently includes short fiction.
Other books by Dianna Sinovic
Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author
July 1, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author of the Month, Quill and Moss, Scream of the Silent Sun, Short Stories
Author of the Month: Dianna Sinovic
Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and has just released a full-length novel, Scream of the Silent Sun.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, The American Medical Writers Association, and The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
Dianna is a contributing author in the last four anthologies from The Bethlehem Writers Group, Season’s Readings: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales, An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny and Strange Tales of Intrigue, Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Sweet, Funny Animal Tales and Untethered, Sweet, Funny & Strange Tales of the Paranormal. She has also contributed stories for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine, including “In the Delivery.”
Dianna also has a regular column here on A Slice of Orange, titled Quill and Moss, in which she frequently includes short fiction.
Other books by Dianna Sinovic
Financial Fore-cast
April 30, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic tagged as Dianna Sinovic, flash Fiction, magic, Spells
The accountant opened the folder and skimmed the stack of documents it contained. A W-2, 1099s, receipts, investment summaries, it was all there, Annie hoped. Matt always left it up to her to compile the papers needed before they sat down with Tom, their CPA. Her business was laden with supply orders, customer invoices, and back-end pay-outs. Matt worked in analytical statistics for a pharma company: salary, health insurance, 401(K), easy-peasy.
“This expense here.” Tom tapped his finger on a receipt. “Shadow essence. For your shop?”
“Yes. I go through three boxes a week, minimum.” Annie had opened her store, A Spell on You, three years ago and had yet to turn a profit—a sore point with Matt, who was used to assessing revenues in the hundreds of thousands.
“How much longer are you going to play at this?” he’d groused several days ago as she was assembling the folder for Tom. “Give it up. Get a real job.”
“I’m not playing. This is my dream and I’ll make it work.”
“Yeah. Conning people into thinking you can ‘cast spells.’” Matt didn’t believe in magic; he believed in numbers. “Numbers don’t lie.” His favorite three words to live by.
Annie knew in her bones she was the real thing. Her testimonials were glowing. Her repeat customers came with a list for her to work through. If only there were a few more customers. Still, imposter syndrome ate at her, and Matt’s griping made it worse. She didn’t want anyone to know she was uncredentialed, a seat-of-the-skirt kind of gal, when it came to spelling. But books on spell craft filled three full shelves in her shop’s back room, and she’d memorized most of them.
Tom coughed politely, and Annie pulled herself back to the present.
“Sorry,” she said, her face hot. “Did you have a question?”
Matt sighed in annoyance. “Come back from la-la land, bae. Tom doesn’t have all day for you to daydream your way to financial success.”
Putting his readers on, Tom smiled kindly at her. “I’m in no hurry.” He turned back to the folder and held up another sheet. “Now this one for spider milk.”
And on they went, with Tom asking questions, to which she supplied explanations, while Matt rolled his eyes.
At the session’s end, after shaking hands with Tom, they stood at the elevator. The doors swished open, and Matt strode into the empty car, his anger obvious in the set of his jaw.
“Next year, we file separately,” he said. “I’m tired of this hocus pocus shit.”
“Let’s try something,” Annie said, as the car descended, with a clunk, from eighth to the lobby. “You don’t believe in magic, so we’ll put it to a test. See who’s right.”
Chuckling, Matt shook his head. “Can’t you see how ridiculous you are?”
She cocked her head, moved her feet in a patterned sequence, and spoke in a monotone. “Five, twenty-three, fourteen, thirty-nine …” She continued on with a handful of additional digits. It was a spell she’d been waiting to use, patiently watching for the perfect moment.
A low groan filled the elevator, and Matt sagged against the rear wall. His eyes held panic—understandably, since he could no longer move or speak.
The car settled on the ground floor, and the doors swished open.
Annie smiled sweetly at her husband. “Matt, dear, I agree with you. Numbers don’t lie.” She walked out of the elevator, leaving him where he was.
More of Dianna’s Stories
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