Hello and welcome to the Drabblecast, episode 505.

The Drabblecast is an audio fiction podcast magazine that brings strange stories by strange authors to strange listeners,

such as yourself. I'm your host, Norm Sherman. So sorry for the lateness in our episode this week,

folks. There's been a lot going on, and time's been passing so fast you'd think I was scarfing

clocks and chugging castor oil. I'm not, though, I assure you, and that's a statement, not a fact. But we're okay, no worries, especially now that we've got all those clocks cleared out of our digestive tract. Clock blocks, the gastrologist called them. And we're bringing you an awesome original story this week by author J.M. Brewer called No Real Creatures. J.M.J. Brewer is a staunch supporter of nature conservation. He teaches at Tarleton State

University. You can find more of his fiction at jmjbrewer.com. And then, we've got something

exciting for you after our story this week. The votes have been tallied and it's time to announce

the winners of the Strangies Awards, formerly the Drabblecast People's Choice Awards.

Hosted by fan, contributor, and spooky-voiced Ziovox

from the treblecast Discord.

You won't want to miss it.

But first, I hear him coming upstream and pearlfish.

Let's get into our story this week so you can see him for yourself.

Without further ado, we bring you No Real Creatures by J.M. Brewer.

Music Creatures by J.M. Brewer. From his lookout tower, Daniel watched the tourists gather for the pearlfish feeding.

They filed into the pit or the assigned seating or the VIP section.

Two few hats and not enough sunscreen. Lost popcorn kernels and shiny bits of trash in their wake.

On the other side of the enclosure was another tower, and in it sat Daniel's co-worker,

Glory, loading tellies into a rifle. You could tell the cartridges by their

mint-green shade, exactly that of 1950s-era appliances. Tellies had been used since the

park's inception, ten years ago, when the first pearlfish were discovered. The ammunition

had since become vogue in prisoner and animal rights circles. Daniel had no idea how the cartridges worked, but he didn't know how his TV worked either,

...