On a dare, a little girl kicks a gravestone and then must deal with the consequences. Truth or fiction? You decide.

For more about this haunting, listen to "The Cost of Seeing Ghosts" at Midnight Balloon.com

Thank you for listening to The Hidden Gems Podcast, which is dedicated to bringing you the best short stories you've never heard. If you liked this story, you can find more of C. Mack Lewis's writing at https://cmacklewis.com

John Bell is our was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/ John is also now doing a new weekly show for the Mutual Audio Network called "Tales from the Mutual Basement". It's a different story each Sunday and it can be found at the Mutual Audio Network podcast.

Thank you for listening!

Most of us live rather small and quiet lives, which has its own special charm. But what happens if you are Oppenheimer, the builder of the atomic bomb, knowing that you are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people? Is it possible to go back in time and make other choices? Perhaps, but there are always consequences.

Bill Adler is an American writer living in Japan. He writes speculative fiction: science fiction, magical realism, horror, and fantasy, though he dabbles in literary fiction now and then. You can read his stories on Substack at billadler.substack.com

John Bell is our was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

Check out Writing on a Train, written by Bob Wallass and Nathan Douglas Hansen on Amazon.com

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

We've all had our hearts broken, just as we are all guilty of breaking someone else's heart. Think back and examine your own history. Agnes Keith-Wessington pursued Jack in her rickshaw, but who would be haunting you and in what type of vehicle would they be pursuing you?

For more information, check out this article by David Barber:

Who Was Kipling? A sampling of writing from The Atlantic's past offers a range of views on the many contradictions of Rudyard Kipling.https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/12/who-was-kipling/306588/

John Bell is our was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

Lions, and Tigers, and...Otters? 

Hector Hugh Monru (1870-1916) chose his pseudonym "Saki" after a fictional character who was a cupbearer who was on a "joyous errand" to serve wine to guests in Omar Khayyám's Rubáiyát. 

For more information about Saki, check out these articles:

Untameable Saki - One hundred years after Saki's death in the Great War, his stories are still wickedly funny. Written by Fatema Ahmed, Nov 16, 2016  https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/43602/untameable-saki

Saki: My Hero, written by Naomi Alderman.  September 14, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/14/saki-my-hero-naomi-alderman

Saki. By Elizabeth Drew. The Atlantic, July 1940 Issue. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1940/07/saki/654050/

John Bell is our  was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

The Hidden Gems Podcast is deeply honored to be featuring a short story written by the internationally acclaimed artist, Rick Levinson!   

Rick Levinson's Artist Statment:

At the basis of all of my art there are stories. They combine my actual life experiences, voluntarily imagined ones, and sometimes simply my unfiltered dreams.
I have never believed that a person can and must do only one thing in life.
I have led parallel careers.
The first is pulmonary/critical care medicine. Formally trained, totally truth-based, tangible, and real.
The second: making art. Totally imaginary, made up, but most self-revealing when it combines with what has been real in my life and what has escaped from my subconscious.
Although often asked, I never felt the need to prioritize or even separate these lives.

You can find more information about Rick Levinson's art at https://ricklevinsonart.com/

John Bell is our  was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at:
[http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/]

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to:
cathydpm@gmail.com

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis and my books can be found at:
[https://cmacklewis.com/]

Thank you for listening!

Anton Chekhov was a physician, playwright, and master of the art of the short story. For more information, check out this wonderful article on Anton Chekhov: https://newrepublic.com/article/170133/vast-humanity-anton-chekhov-blaisdell-biography-review

John Bell is our  was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at:
[http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/]

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to:
cathydpm@gmail.com

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis and my books can be found at:
[https://cmacklewis.com/]

Thank you for listening!

When their gender-questioning granddaughter comes home from college spouting all sorts of new words and terms, Sally Rae and her loving husband of 56 years have a talk that just might change their lives. 

Thank you for listening to The Hidden Gems Podcast, which is dedicated to bringing you the best short stories that you've never heard. For more short stories on The Hidden Gems Podcast, please go to: https://www.thehiddengemspodcast.com/podcast 

If you liked this story, you can find more of C. Mack Lewis's writing at https://cmacklewis.com/

Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you would request that your local library order my books, The Fallen Angels trilogy, written by C. Mack Lewis. Many thanks!!

John Bell is our  was our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to cathy@widowmakerindustries.com

Thank you for listening!

If you could peer inside the souls of all your loved ones and learn their hidden mysteries, would you choose to do so? If the answer is yes, this story is for you! 

Born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne was best known for his novels 'The Scarlet Letter' in 1850 and 'The House of Seven Gables' in 1851. Talk about a writer with family drama! He changed his name from Hathorne to Hawthorne to try to distance  himself from his great-great-grandfather's guilt and involvement in the infamous Salem Witch Trial persecutions. Find out more at https://electricliterature.com/move-over-poe-the-real-godfather-of-gothic-horror-was-nathaniel-hawthorne/

John Bell is our narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on the award-winning "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to cathy@widowmakerindustries.com

My name is Cathy McCarthy and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can request my books from your local library and I would greatly appreciate your opinion in an honest online review of The Fallen Angels Detective Series, written by C. Mack Lewis. For more information about me, go to https://cmacklewis.com/

You can read the Kirkus Review of my latest book, The Angel Wore Black at  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/c-mack-lewis/the-angel-wore-black/

If you enjoy our podcast, we would love it if you would rate, review, and share our podcast with other lovers of short fiction. 

Thank you for listening!