@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

When Cecelia went to sit down, she found a parcel on her seat. It was unassuming, wrapped in brown paper.
"What's this?"
"It arrived in the post for you today," Kasseh said.
Cecelia looked at it and, recognizing the handwriting, had a sudden visceral reaction. It was from her mother. (2/5) #wss366.

Cecelia entered and found Kasseh's workshop already dark. She climbed the stairs to their tiny apartment and found Kasseh setting the table.
"Did you fix dinner?" Cecelia asked. "That's a surprise."
"I finished the piece I was working on," Kasseh said, bringing out serving dishes. (1/5) #wss366

"It was the darkest of dark nights, filled with the black sounds of night creatures. Darkly they squeaked, roared, and howled according to their individual dark natures. Did I mention it was dark?"
"Well, at least I don't need to worry about toilet paper," the editor thought darkly. (3/3) #wss366

"Oh, no," he groaned. "No, no, no! Not this guy again. Does he have no #regard for propriety?"
He reached back in desperately and felt around again, but there was nothing else. Finally, heaving a huge sigh, he read the first line of the manuscript. (2/3) #wss366

The managing editor went into the bathroom, lowered his trousers, and took a seat. He reached into the shelves next to the toilet, feeling around for a magazine or catalog. Nothing. But his hand encountered something unexpected. He pulled it out. It was a nicely formatted manuscript. (1/3) #wss366

"Photographers, like other undesirables, keep very late hours." —From *The Grief of Stones*

I've been getting a lot of new sign-ups for the January 7 Straw Dog Writes Zoom writing session: https://strawdogwriters.org/event/straw-dog-writes/2026-01-07
A lot of people are making New Year's resolutions to do more #writing. If you're one of them, you're also welcome to join us!

Wandering Shop Stories turns three! We made a modest change to #wss366 this year. https://stevendbrewer.com/wandering-shop-stories-for-2026/ Thanks to all of our participants and curators. Here's to another great year!

A delightful little essay about snails (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/magazine/moving-abroad-snails.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BFA.vmzs.uR9NX3GIA0wQ&smid=url-share

"What'cha writin'?"
"I'm writing my first Wandering Shop Story for 2026."
"But where's the hashtag?"
"What?"
"The hashtag! You tagged #champagne, the word for today. But you didn't tag #wss366. If you don't tag that, it's not a Wandering Shop Story, it's just sparkling #microfiction!"