Fiction
The Leftover Light
The morning after the funeral, I made tea for two. One cup went untouched, the steam rising alone. I don’t know why I did it. Muscle memory, maybe. Or some soft part of my brain that refused to update itself to reality. I set her mug — chipped blue rim and all — down on the table and sat across from it like I was waiting for her to walk in and scold me for oversteeping.
By Moments & Memoirs6 months ago in Chapters
Songs of the Silver Wizard
COMPENDIUM “The thing about dangerous friends is that they are dangerous, even if they are your friends.” Flames licked the air, dancing like tendrils of smoke that still carried the warmth of the fire. Thaddeus slammed his staff into the ground, and the courtyard shuddered as the wall of water met the unholy bonfire.
By Matthew J. Fromm6 months ago in Chapters
Potty Powers
I wake up and roll over with a grunt, reaching for my phone on the side table. I know you’re supposed to let your eyes adjust to daylight before shoving a screen in your face, but I can’t help it. I check for notifications… There aren’t any. I open the dating app: no matches. I try to swipe, but I’m locked out until I am granted new swipes in twelve hours. I check the time, it’s 11 a.m. I haven’t slept this much since my depression.
By Simon George6 months ago in Chapters
Businesswoman Chapter 204
Texans, especially Austinites, had a way about greeting people from Delaware. With tailored suits and no ties, flowery blouses, and cool demeanors, they shook hands with the Individualists. All with black faces of varying shades of black, CTO McCorey Gregor, white with freckles and dark brown hair, COO Karrie-Ann Weathers, petite but imposing with bright blonde hair, and the CEO Terrence Culver with jet black hair in locks shook all of their hands.
By Skyler Saunders6 months ago in Chapters
St. Ebrius
“Hi, Jordan.” It was early in the morning, so he knew that it could be a hallucination. It was all in his head as he turned in the dumpster and opened his eyes. Jordan Radasso had been living there for the last four years after losing his apartment, being banned from the shelters and kicked out of an abandoned restaurant (kicked out? Those kids chased him out for fun). The dumpster was in a fairly quiet alley. Garbage trucks rarely passed there after the restaurants shut down and the government put in another marijuana shop. The people who still wanted to walk on the main street were tourists and they always had a lot of spare change. The only difficulty was the food bank that was five blocks away (always crowded on weekends and after 1 pm) and the weather. The cold had come in and he felt the pinpricks in his feet first; the layers kept most of his blood flowing. And today would be another trip out to see if he could beat the crowds, and keep the heat in his body moving.
By Kendall Defoe 6 months ago in Chapters
Businesswoman Chapter 203
Lisa paced around Loreen’s spacious living room. Atkinson stood by the window. “This will mean so much. With regulations falling like chains to the ground, this will be an opportunity for us all to explore our ways of conducting business,” Loreen announced.
By Skyler Saunders6 months ago in Chapters
The War of the Americas - Rescue & Loss
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. While I do use some people from the real world as characters including the current president of the United States of America Donald Trump and the current president of Mexico Claudia Scheinbaum, what is said by them and/or about them is totally fictional and is in no way meant to suggest that is how they are in real life or what they believe in real life. The actions they do or do not take in the story are also of course totally made up. I have no idea how either would respond if this situation were to arise and my knowledge of the specifics of the politics of Mexico is very limited. My knowledge of the structure of their military, etc. is based on what is publicly available and may be less than accurate or completely wrong. I know exactly as much about the Mexican military as Wikipedia knows. Anything else I made up. I know nothing as to the existence or not of a Mexican intelligence apparatus let alone the level of sophistication if may or may not possess if it does in fact exist. Hopefully it is also obvious that I have no idea what the CIA’s assessment of the mental fitness of any world leader is, nor do I even know if they produce such an assessment. I also have no special knowledge of the CIA, its operations, policies, procedures, or history. In that way I am like 99.999% of all people on the planet. I also have no special knowledge of the Mexican cartels, their structure, leadership or political leanings outside of the little I have read in researching this story. Further, while the two main characters, Dominic and Sylvia Platt are (very) loosely based on my wife and myself there are more differences than similarities. To be clear my wife is not now, nor has she ever been an agent of the CIA or any other American or foreign intelligence agency. In fact, she has never been employed by any government agency, state or federal. While I have worked for the federal government very briefly (~1 year) as a fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention I am also not currently employed by any government agency, foreign or domestic.
By Everyday Junglist6 months ago in Chapters
Dead Man's Playlist: Chapter 5
The cabin creaked in the wind like it was remembering something. Junie woke up just before dawn, her dreams still clinging to her skin like mist off the lake. They hadn't been nightmares, just soft echoes. Her father's voice had threaded through them, but never fully spoke. She remember his hands, though. Always just out of reach.
By Aspen Noble6 months ago in Chapters
Old Enough; Endless Summer ~ part IX of series
Clara watched as her Aunt Pearl's taxicab pulled away from the curb and although she acted as if she was annoyed by her cousin Jolly being left home with her for the day, deep down she knew he might be needed. Truth is her bark is worse than her bite as they say. Clara remembers whispering to May, her best and only freckled faced white friend, "I ain't never bit nobody although I could give Jolly a good pinch now and then to calm his jumping bean bee-hind down."
By ROCK aka Andrea Polla (Simmons)6 months ago in Chapters
Worth The Wait . Content Warning.
“Damn, it’s dark out here,” Monica whispered to herself as she walked down the narrow street connecting to Washington. She was about 60 seconds away from the old church where Rami was supposed to meet her. But the closer she got, the worse her gut felt—this whole thing was starting to seem like a bad idea. Still, it was too late to turn back now.
By Crystal Cane6 months ago in Chapters
