🎙️ The Hearthlight Chronicles – Day 20: Shelter from the Storm (and the Smell of Wet Dog)

* Today’s prompt: “You come across a small shelter during a storm, but someone is already inside, hesitant to share. What happens next?”

* Today’s music: The Wolven Storm, by Jogging Kangaroo. 🎧 Listen on SoundCloud.

A torrential downpour. A ruined shirt. A lean-to that might collapse if you look at it too hard. Welcome to Day 20, where our narrator gets caught in a magical monsoon and discovers Sam and Maxwell already holed up in Hearthlight’s shabbiest shelter.

What follows is a wet, wind-blown tale of shared space, soggy dogs, and one kid who may have bent the truth just a little to get some field time with his best friend. Sometimes, the smallest shelters hold the biggest moments of connection... if you’re willing to get your hands muddy and make room.

Expect:Improvised renovation with hay balesEmotional resilience disguised as dad jokesPossibly the best use of “I don’t want you to drown” in a fantasy journal

So throw on your imaginary raincoat and join us for a tale that’s damp on the outside and quietly warm at its core.

🎙️ The Hearthlight Chronicles – Day 19: A Fork in the Path

🐾 Where the cat prints end… and dragon-sized footprints begin.

* Today’s Prompt: “You come across a fork in the road: one path is clearly worn, and the other overgrown. Which one do you take?”

* Today’s music: Azure Dragon by Lofi Fruits Music. Listen on SoundCloud.

Today’s walk through the woods leads to something unexpected: a fork in the path, one worn and safe, the other overgrown and silent. Naturally, I take the weird one. What follows includes muddy footprints, a glade that shouldn’t exist, and a dragon with a suspiciously familiar set of paws.

Join me as I stumble into a conversation with Hearthlight’s most unexpected resident, ponder the emotional risks of ignoring the strange and magical, and confront what it means to see the unbelievable (and still believe it).

🛤️ Want more unexpected magic and cozy twists?

📬 Subscribe → rollfornarrative.parrydox.com

☕ Support the show → ko-fi.com/parrydox

* Today’s prompt: “You come across a child sitting and crying over their pet that has passed away. What do you say to them?”

* Today’s music: Fallen Souls by Dosi. 🎧 Listen on SoundCloud.

Grief doesn’t care how old you are. In today’s episode, Richard finds himself face to face with the kind of pain no one is ever really prepared for... the loss of a beloved pet, and the quiet heartbreak of a child with no words to make it better.

This one’s a slower burn. A little raw. A reminder that sometimes the bravest thing we can do is just sit beside someone in the hurt, and offer the truth: You made their life better. They knew love. And that matters.

Expect soft words, gentle presence, and the hardest thing about Hearthlight so far: facing loss, and still finding meaning.

If you’ve ever said goodbye to a furry friend, this episode’s for you. Take a breath. Take your time.

🕯️ Dedicated to Socks... and every pet who left pawprints on our hearts.

🌬️ The Hearthlight Chronicles – Day 17: A Cookie That Broke Time

* Today’s prompt: “You breathe in a scent of something in the air. What does it remind you of, and how does it make you feel?”

* Today’s music: Autumn Leaves by Lofi Fruits Music. 🎧 Listen on SoundCloud.

Smell is a powerful thing. One waft of cookies baking somewhere in the village and suddenly I was chasing a memory I couldn’t catch. It wasn't from Trudy’s kitchen, nor the pub. Something deeper.

In this quieter reflection, I wander Hearthlight chasing the scent of a childhood that feels just out of reach. It doesn’t take me back… not all the way. But it does remind me that the past isn’t meant to be recaptured. It’s meant to be honoured. And sometimes, the best you can do is rake a pile of leaves and dive in, feet first.

If you’ve ever been ambushed by a smell and left standing still in your own past, this one’s for you.

Subscribe right from the tap: https://rollfornarrative.parrydox.com

🌌 The Hearthlight Chronicles – Day 16: The Ghost Who Played Piano

* Today’s prompt: “A glowfox leads you to a secluded grove and you can hear music coming from the surroundings. How do you react?”

* Today’s music: Moonlit Glade, by Lo-Fi OldBoy. Listen on SoundCloud.

Tonight, Hearthlight takes a turn toward the ethereal. A curious light leads our narrator beyond the hamlet’s borders and into a forest pulsing with memory, melody, and perhaps… mourning. Is the glowing fox real? Is the ghost pianist tied to Hollis’s mysterious past? What happens when we bear witness to someone else’s sorrow... and choose not to interrupt it?

This episode is about empathy without intrusion, grief as legacy, and the music we play when words can no longer hold the weight. If you’ve ever wondered what unspoken love sounds like, this is the chapter for you.

🔮 Subscribe to get the latest entries

☕ Support the show at https://ko-fi.com/parrydox

* Today’s prompt: “As dusk falls, lanterns light up the village in a soft glow. What do you feel as you walk through the village?”

* Today’s music: A Vow - As the Light Fades, by Infin3on. 🎧 Listen on SoundCloud.

Tonight, Hearthlight glows.

After a day of wandering and wondering, dusk falls... and with it, a quiet magic. Lanterns light the streets, not with heat or flame, but something softer. Deeper. Every doorstep, every window, every sign holds a small beacon of memory. And maybe, just maybe, something or someone behind the light.

In this episode, we learn about remembrance. About what it means to be seen. And about how sometimes, the village doesn’t need saving—its people do.

🕯️ Each lantern carries the memory of a soul. And if we do our job right, they burn so very bright.

📝 Transcript available on Substack: rollfornarrative.parrydox.com

* Today’s prompt: “A local invites you to share in their daily work or hobby. What do you do together?”

* Today’s music: Lag Train But It’s Lofi, by venvn. 🎧 Listen on SoundCloud.

Today, our narrator joins Hollis on a quiet countryside wagon ride… but the scenery isn’t the only thing stirring. As the horses clip-clop along the lane, a deeper conversation unfolds about age, sadness, magic, and whether it’s ever really time to let go.

Is Hollis preparing to pass the torch? Is our narrator ready to take it? And what happens when we’re not sure who’s fixing who?

Expect:Wizard retirement angstPhilosophical countryside banterApprentice denial (with a side of emotional growth)+1 to Interpersonal Resilience rolls

Pull up a bench, pour something warm, and join us in the slow lane for a moment of stillness, honesty, and maybe something like hope.

Why You Didn’t Like ... Plane: Bald Men, Bad Scripts, and Cinematic Turbulence

Gerard Butler. Mike Colter. A plane full of bald idiots making terrible choices. Welcome aboard Plane, the movie that proves you can take the stupid all the way to cruising altitude.

In this episode, I break down why Plane crashes harder than its opening act. From a script that feels like it was sourced from a flat-earth forum to villains so incompetent they make Uwe Boll look focused, this film is a masterclass in missed potential and airborne idiocy. You’ll hear about:

Why the supporting cast feels like an audition for Imbeciles: The Musical

How the “terrorist” plotline somehow manages to offend logic itself

And the surprisingly nostalgic shout-out to Uwe Boll (yes, that Uwe Boll)

So if you’re still wondering why you came out of Plane feeling like you’d just been hit with a beverage cart of disappointment, buckle up. We’re going in.

✈️ Subscribe to the show for more brutally honest takes on films that should’ve stayed in the hangar.

We’re joined by the incredible Cassie Hart — author, editor, mentor, and full-time human doing her best — for a candid conversation about surviving gestures broadly the world. We talk burnout, creativity, feminine rage, and the practical tools Cassie uses to keep making art in a pressure cooker life.

Also: ADHD hacks, writing as therapy, journaling as life-editing, why it’s okay to be angry, and the healing power of a hot cross bun.

⏱️ Run notes:

• Bakery smackdown: Wellington’s bun-based battle begins

• How Guild Wars 2 made us mates

• Writing with ADHD (and the truth about handwriting vs. typing)

• Feminine rage and writing dark joy

• Cassie’s Burnout Survival Kit™

• Journaling as introspection (and self-editing your own life)

• The emotional truth behind “I’m fine”

• On parenting, truth-telling, and how to stop lying to yourself

• Final thoughts: hope through small steps

🔧 Cassie’s Burnout Survival Kit

• Walks (without earbuds – just vibes)

• Audiobooks + mobile games

• Knitting and tactile fidgeting

• Playlists for different creative moods

• Writing projects with zero expectations

📚 Mentioned in This Episode

• Cassie’s Substack: Chronically Burnt Out (But Hopeful)

• Her book: In the Spirit (Kotahi Bay)

• Past interviews: takahē interview | early video chat

• Writing tool: ForTheWords

💬 Subscribe & Support

Like what you heard? Subscribe to the show and get future episodes, author interviews, and writing insights beamed directly to your brain. Share it with someone who needs a boost (or at least a reminder that you’re allowed to be not fine).

And if you want to support the show, just mash that like button on Substack like it cut you off in traffic.

🎙️ The Hearthlight Chronicles – Day 13: Reflections, Not JudgmentsOkay, So the Magic Lake Has Notes

Today’s prompt: “At the Lake of Reflections, the water shifts unexpectedly, revealing a scene. What do you see, and how does it make you feel?”

Today’s rolls: 2 (Creativity) and 6 (+1) = 7. Full success! “Is it magical? Is it a metaphor? What happens next?”

Today’s music: Lake, by Black Lions Beatz. 🎧 Listen on SoundCloud.

What happens when a quiet morning turns into a soul-audit from a magical lake?

In today’s episode, we follow a hand-drawn map out of Hearthlight and toward the Lake of Reflections. The water doesn’t just shimmer; it remembers. From childhood ice creams and buried bugs to the kind of choices that quietly shape our lives, today’s prompt hits deep.

The lake doesn’t judge, but it does take notes. And if you’re brave enough to look, it just might offer grace in return.

✨ This one’s for anyone who’s ever wondered if they’re the sum of their worst moments, or if they can choose to be something more.

🪞 Featuring a much-needed reminder: your story isn’t done yet.