Saving Spellbound

Short fiction about a bookstore

Photo by Ashley Byrd on Unsplash

If things didn’t turn around soon, Spellbound, the tiny bookstore in town, would close in two months.

“Not if we can do something about it,” seventh grader Penny said to her two best friends when she heard the news. The three girls spent all night on FaceTime coordinating a plan. The following morning, they began a fundraiser in their school building to “Save Spellbound” from closing its doors.

The fundraiser spread to the elementary and high school buildings two days later, and by day five, the local library was involved, too.

Local papers and news stations, always hungry for a story, brought the three girls and their mission into the limelight even more.

“What’s so important about this bookstore, for you, personally?” a reporter asked Penny one evening after school.

“It’s kind of like my second home,” Penny replied. “I can’t tell you how many hours – days – I’ve spent there reading. It’s just…I love to read…and I love Mrs. Dobbs, the owner, too. I’d hate to see Spellbound go away.”

By month’s end, the fight was over: over nine thousand dollars had been raised to save the store. The money helped to keep the lights on, pay the taxes, and replenish some stock. Mrs. Dobbs allocated some of the funds to invest in more advertising, too.

“Thank you, children,” Mrs. Dobbs said to Penny and her friends the next time she saw them. Tears were in her eyes. Never in her life had she felt such gratitude; never in her life had she seen or believed in magic.

But there it was, before her, clear as the afternoon sky.

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Thank you for reading “Saving Spellbound” — I hope you enjoyed it.

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Exciting news!

Fifties by the Fire will kick off on Friday, September 30th. I’ll create the thread and post it at the usual time, 7:00 AM EST. (Is it ever too early to start a fire?) Thank you to everyone who voted on the name and took the time to offer suggestions. Ultimately I decided to go with the majority vote.

Once the thread is posted, feel free to share your fifty-word fiction, poem, or creative nonfiction — and read what everyone else came up with! It should be a fun way to continue building the fiction writing community here on Substack. If you happen to post early, check back in later to see what you may have missed.

Prompt for Friday, September 30th: Integrate the word “season” or “seasons” into a fifty-word story. For an extra challenge, try to begin or end your piece with the prompt word. Happy writing!

Here are some very basic guidelines:

• Make sure your piece is exactly fifty words. Feel free to use Word Counter or whatever word processor you use.

• Write a title with the genre in the first line. (Example: Saving Spellbound, Fiction)

• The title does not factor into the word count.

• That’s it!

Take care, everyone. Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great weekend, and thanks for being here!