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New Tales Told – Original Short Stories
A Chance of Death–an Original Short Story by Don McDonald
Season 1, Ep. 1
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This is the inaugural story for the New Tales Told podcast available on this service.
While this story is purely fictional, it unfolds in the shadow of a real disaster—one that affected communities close to my own family in Asheville, where my mother, sister, and niece live. I want to express my sincere concern and empathy for those who were impacted. That said, this is not a story about the tragedy itself. It’s a tale of personal escape, buried secrets, and a woman who may have used chaos as cover for something darker—or perhaps something justified. The events are imagined, but the setting was chosen for its emotional weight, and I’ve tried to treat that weight with care.
Author's Note
Publishing this story has been one of the scarier things I’ve done in my life. Reading the works of others is far different than narrating a creation of my own. Honestly, I haven’t written fiction since high school—but I’ve always wanted to. I first published this on my Litreading podcast, but as I have now written more stories, I decided to give these stories their own stage, New Tales Told.
If you’re enjoying New Tales Told, take a second to tap that five-star rating on Apple Podcasts (or "Rate the Show" five-stars on Spotify). It helps other listeners find the show—and keeps me from taking that two-star rating too personally. ThanksMore episodes
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10. The Eternal Code – An Original Sci-Fi Story by Don McDonald
36:09||Season 1, Ep. 10No one remembers the first human thought.But it remembers us.We tell ourselves that memory lives in bones, in blood, in history books and hard drives. But memory is older than all of that. Memory is the original technology. And once it learned how to survive us, it never stopped evolving.The Eternal Code is a story about inheritance that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with continuity. About the quiet arrogance of believing we are the end of the line. About a signal so deeply embedded in humanity that we mistake it for destiny.Looking for more? Short Storyverses is our home for stories that don’t rush you. Original fiction and carefully chosen classics—told with patience, silence, and respect for the listener. Some are unsettling. Some are intimate. A few stay with you longer than you expect.No algorithms. No noise.Just stories worth leaning into.At shortstoryverses.comor visit the Short Storyverses Channel on Apple Podcasts.
New Tales Told–Original Short Stories
01:15||Season 1Before there were screens, there was a fire, a voice, and a story. Narrator and author, Don McDonald invites listeners back to humanity’s oldest tradition—listening. New Tales Told features original fiction inspired by the timeless tales that made us human—stories written for adults, but you won’t need to cover the kids’ ears. Gather by the fire—or more likely, on your walk or in your car—and rediscover the power of a story well told. You never outgrow good stories. New Tales Told is part of the "Short Storyverses" podcast network. If you love stories, check out our other shows: Season's Readings for holiday tales, Litreading for classic fiction, Readastorus for stories the whole family can enjoy, and FRIGHTLY! for when you want to lose a little sleep. Find them all at shortstoryverses.com.
9. The Star – An Original Christmas Story by Don McDonald
04:27||Season 1, Ep. 9Frank has reasons for not decorating anymore. Christmas is quieter now. Darker. Easier to ignore.Then a new neighbor moves in next door—six years old, endlessly curious. What starts as a simple conversation turns into a small act of defiance against grief, routine, and the belief that some lights, once turned off, should stay that way.The Star is a gentle story about unexpected persuasion, borrowed wonder, and how the smallest voices sometimes know exactly where the switch is.If you enjoy short stories, there are dozens more just waiting to be heard on the Short Storyverses channel or at shortstoryverses.com
8. The Santaverse – An Original Christmas Story by Don McDonald
25:52||Season 1, Ep. 8In Santaverse, a brilliant researcher completes a quantum experiment that opens a door she never meant to find. What begins as a scientific breakthrough quickly turns into something stranger—and far more personal. On the other side of the connection is a presence that shouldn’t exist, a figure woven from equal parts myth, memory, and physics. And once contact is made, nothing in her world—or any world—stays simple.
7. The Long Echo – An Original Short Story by Don McDonald
40:09||Season 1, Ep. 7“The Long Echo” follows a man sorting through his late father’s belongings when he discovers journals and letters from generations he never knew. As he reads, he begins to notice something startling—tiny inherited patterns that have traveled through his family for more than a century. A gesture. A habit. A way of thinking. The story becomes a meditation on continuance through lineage, showing how every life leaves traces that outlast the body. Nothing is permanent, but nothing is entirely lost. What we are does not vanish; it moves forward through the people who come after us.We fear endings because we imagine they’re absolute. But the truth is more complicated—and far more comforting. What we think, how we move, the quirks we never question… they keep traveling long after we’re gone, carried quietly from one life into the next. If you enjoyed this story, there are more like it at Short Storyverses dot com—where new tales, old tales, and everything in between continue their own echo forward.
6. Safety Matches – An Original Short Story by Don McDonald
10:06||Season 1, Ep. 6Drawn from a true incident and retold with a few reconstructed details, Safety Matches looks back at a 1962 summer when kids roamed free, parents were overwhelmed, and a box of matches seemed like a reasonable way to pass the time. It’s a story about curiosity, misjudgment, and the surprising weight of a moment you’re too young to understand. You’ll find more stories like this—true ones, tall ones, and the ones that live somewhere in-between—over at ShortStoryverses.com. It’s the home of New Tales Told, Litreading, Season’s Readings, FRIGHTLY! It's a multiverse of stories crafted for people who simply love a good tale well told.
5. Dead Air – An Original Short Story by Don McDonald
28:56||Season 1, Ep. 5A lonely late-night talk show host at a 50,000-watt "blow torch" station goes from no callers to every line lit up, with every caller sharing the same impossible story. These listeners are from across town, but much father away. Dead Air is an original New Tales Told story about connection, loneliness, and the signals that resonate out into the void.Authors Note:Dead Air is a very loosely autobiographical story. In the mid-1980s, I worked the overnight talk-show shift on the 50,000-watt clear-channel “Voice of the Rockies,” 85 KOA in Denver. Some nights, I’d find myself talking into the void, waiting for a caller — and every now and then, a voice would drift in from halfway around the world. If you enjoyed this original New Tales Told story, please share it with a friend and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. (If you didn’t… maybe just forget you listened. I’m no O. Henry or Hemingway — just trying to entertain.)
4. The Borrowed Dog – an Original Short Story by Don McDonald
23:06||Season 1, Ep. 4In a neighborhood caught between old ghosts and new money, Mara just wants a good night’s sleep. But when she offers to walk her neighbor’s barking dog, she steps into the orbit of Iris Lopez—a fiercely independent woman facing the quiet end of her life. What begins as a simple favor becomes a profound exchange of grace, purpose, and belonging. The Borrowed Dog is a story about loneliness, legacy, and the unexpected ways we rescue each other.
3. Murderous Origins – an Original Short Story by Don McDonald
11:26||Season 1, Ep. 3Before laws, before guilt, before language fully formed—someone planned the first murder.Told in the voice of an ancient storyteller, this episode imagines that moment: when hunger, envy, and reason collided, and the first deliberate killing changed humanity forever.Murderous Origins explores the likely beginnings of premeditated violence among early Homo sapiens.Archaeological evidence suggests organized conflict and intentional killing appeared tens of thousands of years ago, around the same time as symbolic thought and complex tools.This story reimagines that shift—from instinctive survival to calculated intent—when planning death became part of being human.