Fable
The Krampus Pact
Snow fell in soft, soundless flurries outside the Anderson family’s house, but inside, the air crackled with tension. Christmas Eve should have been joyous, but years of resentment had turned it into an annual battlefield. The family had gathered reluctantly—mother Janice, father Greg, their teenage daughter Holly, and her younger brother Max—but the holiday spirit was nowhere to be found.
By V-Ink Stories22 days ago in Fiction
The Falcon and the Kite. Top Story - December 2025.
There was once a peregrine falcon who disliked listening to her elders. They would tell her that the cliffs on which they nested were safe and had stood for thousands of years, supporting generations of falcons within their rocks.
By ThatWriterWoman23 days ago in Fiction
The Cinder’s Weight
The hearth has stopped its singing.white-ribbed and glowing with a soft, pulsing ache. I am watching the last flame— a tiny, blue-tongued ghost licking the underside of a charred knot. It is fragile, a translucent ribbon fraying against the weight of the coming dark. There is a specific silence that lives here For hours, it was a roar of gold and defiance, consuming the dry cedar of our history, the splinters of every word we ever threw into the heat to keep the room alive. But the wood is spent now. The logs have collapsed into a skeletal geography,
By Awa Nyassi23 days ago in Fiction
THE ARCHITECTURE OF DARK: RITUAL WINTER
The world doe not die in winter, simply holds its breath. Where I live, the transition isn't a gradual slide, but a sharp snap. One morning, you wake up and the air has changed. It no longer smells of damp earth and rotting leaves; it smells of nothing at all. It is a clean, sterile cold that reaches into your lungs and reminds you that you are made of water and warmth—two things the frost wants to take back.
By Awa Nyassi25 days ago in Fiction
Garyorgy Effect
“Consciousness is a philosophical construct.” “Perhaps. Consciousness: There is debate about what qualifies as ‘true consciousness’. Some argue that higher reasoning and the ability to dream are key components of consciousness. Understanding the difference between right and wrong.”
By Leah Suzanne Dewey25 days ago in Fiction
Time Master
I supposed this was what I had wished for for a long time…. I had spent many hours letting my mind run wild on what I would do if I ever gained such magical powers. It felt like a dream, like all my problems would be solved if I could just have this one gift. But this was reality, not the fantasies I read about. Wishes were supposed to stay just wishes; they weren’t supposed to come true. Not that I complained when it happened… I just couldn’t get over the shock.
By Leah Suzanne Dewey25 days ago in Fiction
Auroras Beyond the Last Forest - Mysteries of the North Pole
The journey toward the North Pole did not begin with coordinates or maps, but with a forest older than memory itself. The Taiga Forest stretched endlessly beneath a sky that never fully darkened, its snow-laden trees standing like quiet witnesses to centuries of travelers who had come seeking answers rather than destinations. This was not a forest that resisted passage - it tested intention. Every step forward felt deliberate, as if the land itself required certainty before allowing anyone deeper. It was here that the travelers gathered - not heroes in the traditional sense, but beings shaped by curiosity, patience, and winter’s discipline. Among them walked humans wrapped in layered wool and belief, forest spirits whose footsteps left no imprint, and small luminous fair folk - fairies - whose wings refracted the pale light into soft prisms. Even the wind seemed aware of them, slowing its breath as they advanced northward.
By José Juan Gutierrez 26 days ago in Fiction
