Global story catalogue

Discover the worlds behind the stories.

Explore story elements their creators have chosen to share publicly.

WABF writer collections

Complete text and original images, with writing ideas, connected entries and explicit reuse terms.

A cook coordinates an after-hours food network and discovers that generosity needs boundaries, records and the right to say no.

Daniel Park

A cook coordinates an after-hours food network and discovers that generosity needs boundaries, records and the right to say no.

Not rated yet · Used in 1 manuscripts

A retired transit scheduler running a small bookshop remembers the city through journeys, and resents being treated as a source who cannot change her mind.

Evelyn Brooks

A retired transit scheduler running a small bookshop remembers the city through journeys, and resents being treated as a source who cannot change her mind.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A patient bay field technician notices changes others dismiss, yet hesitates to speak before he can account for every uncertainty.

Jonah Price

A patient bay field technician notices changes others dismiss, yet hesitates to speak before he can account for every uncertainty.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

An audio archivist can hear a splice everyone else misses, but struggles to accept that a faithful recording can still tell an unfair story.

Leila Haddad

An audio archivist can hear a splice everyone else misses, but struggles to accept that a faithful recording can still tell an unfair story.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A meticulous restoration carpenter tries to keep a shared workshop solvent without becoming the boss she never wanted.

Maya Chen

A meticulous restoration carpenter tries to keep a shared workshop solvent without becoming the boss she never wanted.

Not rated yet · Used in 1 manuscripts

A resourceful cargo-bike courier knows everyone’s back entrance but keeps postponing the conversation about his own future.

Rafael Ortega

A resourceful cargo-bike courier knows everyone’s back entrance but keeps postponing the conversation about his own future.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A retired harbour electrician shares decades of practical judgement while insisting that being useful must not become a lifetime obligation.

Ruth Alvarez

A retired harbour electrician shares decades of practical judgement while insisting that being useful must not become a lifetime obligation.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

An inventive designer wants repair to be accessible, but her elegant systems can overlook the person who must maintain them tomorrow.

Tessa Okafor

An inventive designer wants repair to be accessible, but her elegant systems can overlook the person who must maintain them tomorrow.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A fictional network’s scarce resources are receiving capacity, safe time windows and transport as much as donated food.

After-hours kitchen circuit

A fictional network’s scarce resources are receiving capacity, safe time windows and transport as much as donated food.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A fictional mixed cash-and-contribution system exposes how a small cooperative values skill, materials and unpaid coordination.

Fogline repair exchange

A fictional mixed cash-and-contribution system exposes how a small cooperative values skill, materials and unpaid coordination.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A small fictional sound archive preserves contributed recordings while learning that access, consent and accurate labels are separate responsibilities.

Bay Ear Archive

A small fictional sound archive preserves contributed recordings while learning that access, consent and accurate labels are separate responsibilities.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A six-member fictional repair cooperative shares space and overhead while negotiating who does the work that never appears on an invoice.

Fogline Repair Cooperative

A six-member fictional repair cooperative shares space and overhead while negotiating who does the work that never appears on an invoice.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A fictional twelve-person network coordinates small after-hours food handoffs and confronts the hidden costs of informal generosity.

Night Table Network

A fictional twelve-person network coordinates small after-hours food handoffs and confronts the hidden costs of informal generosity.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A California sea lion brings bulk, sound and social movement to a bay scene, with ear flaps and foreflippers distinguishing it from a true seal.

California sea lion

A California sea lion brings bulk, sound and social movement to a bay scene, with ear flaps and foreflippers distinguishing it from a true seal.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

An urban coyote can make a familiar park feel newly shared, without becoming a symbol of either menace or tameness.

Coyote

An urban coyote can make a familiar park feel newly shared, without becoming a symbol of either menace or tameness.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A western gull supplies a recognisable waterfront presence while rewarding attention to species details and ordinary opportunism.

Western gull

A western gull supplies a recognisable waterfront presence while rewarding attention to species details and ordinary opportunism.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

Orange cup-shaped flowers and finely divided blue-green foliage bring a small, changeable point of colour to a coastal scene.

California poppy

Orange cup-shaped flowers and finely divided blue-green foliage bring a small, changeable point of colour to a coastal scene.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

An evergreen coastal oak offers shade, rough texture and a living timescale larger than a character’s immediate problem.

Coast live oak

An evergreen coastal oak offers shade, rough texture and a living timescale larger than a character’s immediate problem.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A compact recorder preserves voices and background sound, while leaving consent, context and interpretation unresolved.

Bay Ear field recorder

A compact recorder preserves voices and background sound, while leaving consent, context and interpretation unresolved.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

Rafa’s blue cargo bicycle turns practical mobility into a running negotiation with weight, hills, weather and promises.

Blue cargo bicycle

Rafa’s blue cargo bicycle turns practical mobility into a running negotiation with weight, hills, weather and promises.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

Three worn brass keys embody trusted access to Fogline without conveying ownership of the workshop.

Brass workshop keyring

Three worn brass keys embody trusted access to Fogline without conveying ownership of the workshop.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

Ruth’s battered red thermos makes care visible through a small ritual of pouring a second cup.

Patched red thermos

Ruth’s battered red thermos makes care visible through a small ritual of pouring a second cup.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A repaired sage-green work lamp becomes a test of whether a useful object can be maintained by someone other than its designer.

Salvaged folding work lamp

A repaired sage-green work lamp becomes a test of whether a useful object can be maintained by someone other than its designer.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

Jonah’s water-marked notebook holds observations whose value depends on dates, context and the limits he wrote beside them.

Tide-stained notebook

Jonah’s water-marked notebook holds observations whose value depends on dates, context and the limits he wrote beside them.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A bay-facing promenade of piers, movement and exposed conversations, anchored by the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street.

Embarcadero waterfront

A bay-facing promenade of piers, movement and exposed conversations, anchored by the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A modest Dogpatch repair workshop where shared tools, unfinished jobs and a kettle make cooperation tangible and difficult.

Fogline Workshop

A modest Dogpatch repair workshop where shared tools, unfinished jobs and a kettle make cooperation tangible and difficult.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A layered neighbourhood setting of homes, shops, food and public art, where a shared room can carry several competing versions of local memory.

Mission District

A layered neighbourhood setting of homes, shops, food and public art, where a shared room can carry several competing versions of local memory.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A west-side residential setting of pastel houses, long street views and ocean air, suited to quiet routines interrupted by an unexpected arrival.

Outer Sunset

A west-side residential setting of pastel houses, long street views and ocean air, suited to quiet routines interrupted by an unexpected arrival.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A park landscape where woodland, coastal scrub, former military structures and living histories complicate the idea of untouched nature.

Presidio

A park landscape where woodland, coastal scrub, former military structures and living histories complicate the idea of untouched nature.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A hilly peninsula city where ocean weather, bay frontage and tightly connected neighbourhoods give short journeys sharply different textures.

San Francisco

A hilly peninsula city where ocean weather, bay frontage and tightly connected neighbourhoods give short journeys sharply different textures.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A moving underground cable and a manually controlled grip create a distinctive form of urban transport.

Cable-car traction

A moving underground cable and a manually controlled grip create a distinctive form of urban transport.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

Two roof-mounted trolley poles connect a rubber-tyred bus to overhead electrical supply.

Electric trolleybus power

Two roof-mounted trolley poles connect a rubber-tyred bus to overhead electrical supply.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A fictional dawn walk tests what a short recording can reveal about place, memory and the limits of observation.

The dawn sound survey

A fictional dawn walk tests what a short recording can reveal about place, memory and the limits of observation.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

A waterfront handoff runs late, exposing the difference between a flexible plan and a promise nobody has authority to change.

The fog-delayed delivery

A waterfront handoff runs late, exposing the difference between a flexible plan and a promise nobody has authority to change.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

At a fictional Bay Ear listening night, an apparently familiar recording raises a question about permission and attribution.

The misplaced recording

At a fictional Bay Ear listening night, an apparently familiar recording raises a question about permission and attribution.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts

An urgent workshop promise forces Fogline to decide how much unpaid labour cooperation can reasonably demand.

The overnight repair

An urgent workshop promise forces Fogline to decide how much unpaid labour cooperation can reasonably demand.

Not rated yet · Used in 0 manuscripts