A bit of steampunk, a bit of strange science, a bit of love, and a bit of loss.

It's a bittersweet cocktail, and the real magic is in the potency of the moments. The Nightingale of Atlantic City isn't a grandiose steampunk adventure; there are no explosions, no airships, no swashbuckling with pirates three miles above the ground, and I'd have to reread it to check but I heard nary a single mention of goggles.

And to those of you who actually agree with the above doodle, let me remind you that steampunk is supposed to be Victorian Era hard science fiction. Steampunk airships are all too heavy to ever get off the ground, not everyone and their pet dog needs to wear googles, vegans and environmentalists think steampunk is awful, and pirates suck almost as much as vampires.

Our story starts off with an old man drinking whiskey at a bar. Now, if you knew anything about whiskey and the 1800s, you'd immediately pick up that this isn't a happy story. Whiskey was basically a self-medicating tool back then. But we're introduced to a singing automaton, our titular Nightingale, and find out we have begun at the end.

The Nightingale's a short story, only nine Wattpad chapters. And it doesn't mince around. The scenes are cleverly chosen, the pacing is exactly right for the story, the theme is consistent and pronounced, the prose is impressively minimalist, and the results will tug on the heartstrings through all nine chapters. I won't get into the plot at all, because that would spoil pretty much the entire story. As it is, I've given a fair chunk of it away.

Oh, and yes, I meant what I wrote up there, it's nine chapters long. So you have no excuse for not having the time.

And for those of you working on writing, the Nightingale is also a superb case study of the importance of remembering the emotional significance of moments. Doubly so in a short story, because there isn't the length to accommodate an inefficiently told story.

Wattpad doesn't have enough in the way of good short stories out there, so go drop in on MegMerriet and thank her for bucking the trend.