Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober Season 3. This is episode 1, for Thursday the first of October 2026.
Refuge
by Elizabeth Guilt
I never liked the snow globe, it always seemed creepy. Tiny figures, trapped in their glass shell.
Some days there were just a few kids playing in the snow. Sometimes a dozen. I tried not to count them.
The snow globe had stood on Nan's mantelpiece - then Mum's - forever. But Bren didn't want it; Alice said take it to the charity shop.
I couldn't. Reluctantly, I put it on my bookshelf.
It's crowded in there, tonight. Little people huddled together, sharing blankets, passing cocoa. Tomorrow, most of them will be gone.
I dust the glass, carefully, and whisper.
"Take care."
In a writing workshop earlier this year, most of the class agreed that snow globes were inherently creepy. But then, many things are creepy if you don't quite understand what they're doing.