This is Drabbletober, the podcast of tiny fiction.

Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 27, season 2, for Monday the twenty-seventh of October 2025. I'm Elizabeth Guilt.

Your one-hundred word story for the day is:

All Medical Staff Should Be Briefed In Local Legends

by Elizabeth Guilt

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Helen had her coat on when the junior tapped on her door.

"Doctor? Sorry. The little girl... Her broken legs... They're..."

"They're what?"

"They're... Mending. In huge solid lumps."

"Where was she found?"

"Romsdal somewhere, her injuries..."

"Where exactly?"

"I don't know, maybe Trolldalen?"

Helen ran to the ward. 

"Stop treatment immediately!" 

She brushed aside colleagues, and held out a shaking hand. 

"I'll take you home."

The patient slid out of bed, knees making grinding noises as she limped.

Helen coaxed her into the car and, later, watched her swarm straight up the rocks, back to her father's stoney court.

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Trolldalen is a real place in Norway - it means "the troll valley" (please excuse my pronunciation). I visited this summer, and it's beautiful. As far as I'm aware, though, baby trolls being mistaken for human children there is just something I made up.

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Take care, everyone, and I'll see you tomorrow for episode 28.

https://www.elizabethguilt.com/drabbletober/s2episode27