Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Fiction.

For Adalynn
Hadrian grinned as he watched Adalynn twirl. The humidity might've been oppressive, but the whispering breeze and tree-induced shade surrounding them made it tolerable. Pleasurable, even.
By Brittany5 years ago in Fiction
Book Of Ancestors
Today would have been my grandmother's birthday. It has been a year since she passed away and a year since this journey began. I always remember her on her birthday. I remember how frail she was, and how strongly she loved me. I also remember the stories she used to tell me. Grandma would always start her stories by saying “This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper” she claimed these were famous words by a man named T.S Eliot but I never understood how she knew these words. After saying these words she would start to tell me stories of the world being overpopulated, cities booming and packed with life and how slowly and quietly the world lost all of its knowledge. She would talk about buying food in large market buildings. This is how I knew she was getting senile, I had been down to those markets and there was never food there only death waiting in the shadows of those tall buildings. The world she talked about only lived in her imagination or at least I thought so until today.
By Jason Dilan5 years ago in Fiction
The Reminiscent
“Another day, another dollar.” That’s what we used to say back when the dollar still meant something. All we have now is just another day, and everyday is as gloomy as the last. I get up when the sun rises and lay down when the sun falls. It’s ironic how we used to complain about the 9-5 workday when jobs, mortgages, car payments all mattered, but now I find myself living in the past that I only heard about in the books of our history classes. They told us something like this would happen. They said it would happen eventually and that we were “overdue” for one. Well—our faithful star, that ball of glowing, pulsating plasma finally did it. The scientists called it a “Type J” solar flare and the article I was reading at the bus station thirteen years ago, right before the lights went out, said such an event would send us back to the Stone Age. It’s funny to me how we can be so cynical about a world shattering event that “might” happen, but once it does all hell breaks loose.
By Jonathan Payne5 years ago in Fiction
Paywall
The metal of the pendant is cool in the palm of his hand. Jamal runs his thumb across its surface absently, helping to dull the faded edges of engraved work even further. A simple golden locket with a rose engraved on its surface; tiny lines, meant to resemble vines, he supposes, emanating from the flower are etched into the heart-shaped trinket in a somewhat intricate pattern. He knows that it had once belonged to his mother, although he was not sure where she had gotten it herself, before giving it to him once he was old enough that he was no longer allowed to live at home.
By Averie Clifton5 years ago in Fiction
Crow's Flight
The final battle narrative was demonstrably false. It was heavily dramatized, created to appeal to masses of adventure-seeking readers and excitable children. In truth, every battle seems like the final one. Every clash of swords feels like the one to break you, every parried thrust feels like the last one you could ever take, and either your faith in your cause forces you to push past the aching muscles and despair, or it doesn’t. Or it’s too weak, and you crumble like paper in the palm of your hand.
By Raphael Schultz5 years ago in Fiction
The Undesirables
Willy looked around and it finally dawned on him. All these years he had guessed it. He had felt it deep within his bones. The words his family had always told him meant the opposite, but his gut feelings had always laid it plain and simple. People don't love you for you. They only love what you can do for them.
By Gal Mux5 years ago in Fiction
Mr. Tucker and the Priest
I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how they wish they could have gotten the chance to grow old. Do you ever wonder if you’ll grow old, when your hair will start to turn gray, or maybe even when your body will start to ache from old age? All of these have already happened to me, but it happens quicker when you’re a dog.
By Hanna Taylor5 years ago in Fiction
The Scout
Today was the day for Blake. Routines had been established for the survival of the Roberts Clan. What used to be parklike beauty in the mountains of The former state of North Carolina, in the former United States of America, were now ugly growths of weeds interspersed with great stretches' of barren rock. Grim reminders of the Final American Conflict were everywhere. The Roberts Clan had managed to find a small valley that was hard to find and easy to defend. Still, vigilance had to be maintained.
By Joseph C Thornsbury5 years ago in Fiction
One Season
I only read about a time when something called seasons existed. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. That's what they called them. Now, it was always just Winter. It was always just cold. The type of cold that gets into your bones. This cold, we were used to. The ground always hard. and covered with snow. The sky, infinitely gray. Smoke from fires to keep warm filled our noses. Our bodies weighed down with layers and layers of cloth to protect us out in The Elements.
By EJ Flynn5 years ago in Fiction
Amethyst
The village was quiet while the dry desert wind blanketed everything in a layer of coarse red dust. No lights were visible anywhere for fear of drawing the attention of the ruler’s henchmen. Everyone knew this night the prophecy was to be fulfilled, but no one knew where or by whom and that had everyone on edge. In the last week the ruler supreme had been rounding up all pregnant women and killing them in front of their families. The cries mixed with blood ran rampant through the land. It didn’t used to be this way in Calla. The land was once rich and fertile with verdant fields and amethyst mines that powered the entire country. Visitors would come from distant lands to trade and experience the utopia that only Calla could provide. That was until the ruler supreme came to power. Once a visitor in the land, he vowed to destroy the peaceful country and replace it with a kingdom of terror unlike the world had ever seen. With his army of evil knights and sorcerers, the supreme ruler overthrew the country and killed the Aura of Calla. He then set out to destroy all of the Amethyst mines and enslaved the people, making them solely dependent on him for everything. He even tried to destroy the Aura’s locket that contained the lifeblood of Calla, but the enchantment was too strong for even his vilest sorcerer’s to break. So, he had the locket encased in a protected display that sat in his throne room as a reminder to all that he was indeed the supreme ruler.
By Shelie Collins5 years ago in Fiction
Heart-Shaped Locket
At the time Shea started watching the sky, it was orange and swirled with pinks and yellows, piled atop pillows of purple. How slow time moved in these moments of the day that were perfect for kisses and foot massage but horrible if spent waiting, especially to pee. He rushed to his window and jumped onto the bed, bouncing to the side Indian style and facing the sunset, imagining what Kira might wear today when he saw her from around her father’s shed. She made her way to the gate taking the path through her Mom’s garden outside her bedroom. She craned her neck, ear near the glass. The tv was still on. She pushed off the wall and walked through the gate at a hurried pace to the Sutton’s grazing field. He darted out of the room and down the hall, through the kitchen and out the door. He trotted up to the large group who hurried to pick their side in today’s game. smiled to himself, happily noting that Ian was able to walk again despite his near death to COVID-19 which had not dimmed his eyes to Shea’s affect on the world-- however filled with nightmares. He took note of every clue in Ian’s expression when his view became obscured by the burst of action that closed in around him on the quarterback’s command,
By Chandee Ramirez5 years ago in Fiction
The Tiniest Hinge
The intake employee with the red-striped top pointed down the hallway and said, “Just go right through those doors, and you won’t have to worry about a thing for the rest of your life!”
By Enni Omena5 years ago in Fiction