Please join Synkroniciti in welcoming back writer Julie Dron, currently based in Taiwan, with “A Walk in the Snow,” an uncanny short story about Deb, a young woman out for a hike despite the winter weather forecast.
“The hike had been exhilarating, and now she had arrived at her destination, the ancient stone circle. Locals told many tales about spirits living within the stones, but such stories didn’t disturb her. She also wasn’t afraid of the dark clouds descending, so low that she wondered if they would swallow her up. But when she felt the first snowflakes on her bare face, she knew it was time to hurry back to the town.”
Deb meets Keiron at the circle and he offers her a lift back into town. She accepts, but his car breaks down on the road and Keiron has a tantrum, making her question her decision. On the walk to Keiron’s bread and breakfast cottage from the car, the reality behind the situation becomes apparent.
Julie handles the story with skill, swapping point of view halfway through the story, delighting us with the unexpected. Sometimes hauntings are warnings for the living.
Read “A Walk in the Snow” in Synkroniciti’s “Haunting” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Julie Dron is originally from Liverpool, UK, but currently lives in Taiwan. She gained a first class degree in Literature, Life and Thought from Liverpool John Moores University as a mature student in her early forties. She began writing fiction in her sixties, after being shortlisted with commendation for Scottish Arts Trust flash fiction awards and has since been published in a variety of online journals and printed anthologies, most recent being Syncopation Literary Journal, Synkroniciti, Dark Moon Rising Publishers, West Avenue Press, and Pesto Comics (Big Smoke Pulp). She was twice nominated for Pushcart prize 2024. Living in Taiwan has given her a different perspective on life and she enjoys delving into Taiwanese history and learning simple Mandarin Chinese.