Prologue

The Man, The Mountain, and The Climb
". . .He keeps climbing because stopping would mean surrendering everything he has built, every promise he swore to keep. The air thins as he ascends, and though he’s given everything—strength, time, conviction—the mountain gives little back. Once, it felt sacred to climb.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast4 months ago in Chapters
ABondThroughTheFire
A Bond Through The Fire: Prelude Detective Jared Kinard had always lived by a simple, unwavering code: protect and serve, no matter the cost. It was the bedrock of his career, a clean, immutable line that kept the chaos of the city at bay and his own heart strictly behind a professional wall. That wall had served him well, right up until the moment he was assigned to safeguard Savannah Cole.
By BeeSparrow5 months ago in Chapters
Uncontainable
As modernity emerged, rich families might be funding new neighborhoods outside the old city walls of Jerusalem with paper money from far away lands, but inside, in the twisted alleys where ways of knowing pressed against each other like old neighbors sharing walls, people traded their pasts.
By Jacob Isaac Abraham5 months ago in Chapters
The Land Where Men Fight and Kill. Content Warning.
In the land where men fight and kill, there is little room for a woman. She is a symbol. Be it a prize or child bearer. She is something the men want and keep.
By Morgan Wright5 months ago in Chapters
Amnity and the Forgotten Grove
Amnity had always been different from the other witches in the Moonhaven Coven. While they brewed potions with precise measurements and cast spells by ancient formulas, Amnity worked by feeling—letting magic flow through her like water finding its course.
By Parsley Rose 6 months ago in Chapters
Vocal Bonus Leaderboard: August 21, 2025
The Vocal Bonus Leaderboard: Insights, Trends, and Predictions (08/21/2025) Introduction The Vocal Bonus Leaderboard has become one of the most anticipated weekly announcements for creators on the Vocal platform. More than just a ranking system, it’s a reflection of creativity, consistency, and the community’s engagement. While the official August 21, 2025 leaderboard has not yet been published at the time of writing, we can analyze recent patterns, highlight lessons from the August 13, 2025 edition, and make informed predictions about what creators might expect this week.
By Sajjad khan6 months ago in Chapters
Idiotopathic Idiot
My heart is jittery, hands sweaty as I hold the roughed-up green folder that’s barely holding it together and filled to the brim with my life story. My one in one-hundred-thousand in one-hundred-thousand story. Tears pool in my eyes, blurring my vision. Naturally, my head hurts. There’s pain in the back of it, behind my eyes, and my ears are ringing.
By Elizabeth Smith7 months ago in Chapters
🌌 Music for Spaces That Don’t Exist: Soundtracking Imaginary Worlds . AI-Generated.
There’s music for parties. Music for breakups. Music for long drives, chill Sundays, heartbreak recoveries. But what about music for worlds that aren’t real?
By The Yume Collective8 months ago in Chapters
Go home and love your family
Go home and love your family, For the world outside is cold Vampires in suits, With smiles that never reach their eyes,
By Tallgirl8 months ago in Chapters
Through the Distant Universe Chapter 0 - Where it all began. AI-Generated.
I stood in the middle of a room, alien as a dream, where every cell of my body screamed in pain—sharp, searing, as if my bones had been split apart. The blow that should have shattered my spine pulsed beneath my ribs, reverberating with a dull echo. I remembered the ship: the crack of metal, the blinding light, the cold steel piercing my flesh. I waited for the end. But it didn't come.
By Einor8 months ago in Chapters
The Secret Drawer
Growing up, there was one rule in our house I never dared to break: Don’t touch the drawer in Dad’s study. It was an ordinary drawer in an old wooden desk — scratched, dusty, the handle barely hanging on. But to me, it might as well have been a vault. Dad’s tone made it clear — that drawer was off-limits.
By Straylight8 months ago in Chapters
The Raging Sea
Note: Below is the foreword to a book of literary essays on Poe. What Waits Below Robert Walton looks out upon the raging sea, willing it to deliver him to its final bosom of truth: that a sea lane can be forged to the South Pole, to Antarctica, amid the deep and limitless fields of deathlike, slumbering ice.
By Tom Baker9 months ago in Chapters