No. 1 Readers' Club
-
‘Growing Pains,’ a Bezzina’s Emporium Short Story by Francesca Astraea

Ernest Bezzina really just wants a cup of tea. Other Bezzina’s Emporium stories can be found here. Two short stories in one quarter? It is indeed. There’s invented Latin. Well, the Latin is real, I just smushed two words together. That’s how language works, right. I’m not saying that if you enjoy this, you should… Continue reading
Bezzina’s Emporium of Magical Artefacts and Antiquities, Ernest Bezzina, flash fiction, flash fiction on Patreon, Francesca Astraea, Francesca’s Words, magic plants, No. 1 Readers' Club, Patreon short story, short stories, short stories online, short story about magic, stories about magic, writers on Patreon -
Winter Sun, a Bezzina’s Story, by Francesca Astraea

I always name characters after members of the No. 1 Readers’ Club over on Patreon – this was Jackie’s turn! As is usually the case, this Bezzina’s story is a standalone. You don’t have to read them in order, but you can find them all here. One winter evening, a couple enter Bezzina’s Emporium of… Continue reading
-
Connection Error by Francesca Astraea (Ines’ Adventures in Paganism #1)
Ines’ magic specialises in helping people communicate. Getting them to listen, on the other hand… A few of weeks ago you guys voted for ‘poison’ to be my next topic, so here it is! (An aside which none of you give a shit about: I nicked [character spoiler] from the Philosophy Tube YouTube channel, and… Continue reading
-
It’s Always the Apocalypse Somewhere (The Sun, the Major Arcana Series) by Francesca Astraea
It’s always the apocalypse somewhere. Today, it was at fifty-three Milton Place. Catalyst? An unanswered text. No, not an unanswered text. The jolt of realisation, upon looking for an answer, that most likely none would come. If one did, the realisation continued reasonably, could it possibly improve the situation that culminated in the… Continue reading
-
Dredged (The Fool, Major Arcana Series) by Francesca Astraea
Please note this story contains themes of depression and suicide; please consume responsibly. Peridot was not expecting to pull a mermaid from the water. For starters, the water itself was a muddy estuary, a busy shipping lane filled with cargo boats and windsurfers and unexploded World War II detritus. Although there was plenty of… Continue reading
-
Changing Direction Part One (The High Priestess, Major Arcana Series) by Francesca Astraea
Freja didn’t mean to stop for ice cream. The plan was to walk until she could think of nothing but sore feet, walk a bit further, turn around and limp back to the hotel. She reckoned she could lose a good couple of hours, from the seafront at Las Ramblas all the way to—what… Continue reading
Francesca Astraea, Francesca’s Words, ice cream, Major Arcana series, No. 1 Readers' Club, Patreon short story, post-coronavirus fiction, story about magic, story about witches, story set in Barcelona, story set in Catalonia, story set in Spain, The High Priestess tarot card, writer Southend-on-Sea, writers on Patreon -
The Balanced Scales Agency by Francesca Astraea
The Balanced Scales Agency looked from the outside like every private investigator’s office in every film or TV show ever made about private investigators. Its shopfront was a faded green, tucked between two large, corporate, glassy buildings in London’s Square Mile. How it hadn’t been subsumed by developers yet, Bradley Henderson had no idea. Bradley’s… Continue reading
