Microfiction

Leaden Power
Bulging eyes sorely staring through my reflection. Bare body, bloated belly. As primal as if just escaped the womb. With an age far greater than that lived, settling in between the creases and cracks of my skin. My mind, it does not operate as theirs do. Cogs turn with great effort, while theirs churn thoughtlessly. With utter ease. An ability to be human without care. I care so much that it could kill me. Each word that leaves my breath is calculated and considered. My force is my own caretaker. Travelling my steps away from the edge and forward, forward. Towards another day. Into life. It is nights like this where my daily exhaustion of exertion overwhelms me and I drown in its burnt energy. Being alive should not be this hard.
By Katerina Petrouabout a year ago in Fiction
The Cost of Duty
It was a cloudy day. Young Kenrick Kemp clung to his father’s leg. "Daddy, where are you going?" he asked. "To work. I’m going to help your grandfather," Reginald Kemp replied, ruffling Kenrick’s hair before setting him down on a chair. Kenrick stood up, meeting his father eye to eye. At just eight, he sensed the danger. He had a knack for eavesdropping.
By Karina Thyraabout a year ago in Fiction
Time. Content Warning.
"It's time." I looked around and couldn't be sad about leaving. Shit-hole. They reckon your life flashes in front of your eyes before you die; I thought that happened in like a car crash or something.
By Rachel Deemingabout a year ago in Fiction
The Language of Flowers
Flowers have long been associated with various meanings and emotions. From the romantic red rose symbolizing love to the cheerful sunflower representing adoration, each bloom carries its own unique message. If flowers could talk, they would likely express their feelings about the world around them.
By Shonaabout a year ago in Fiction
The Devourer
Devon had always wanted to save humanity. He dreamed of being a superhero, but never found a meteor or suffered an industrial accident. So, he chose science. With dogged brilliance, he developed technology to recycle all non-organic materials, so that even the mountains of detritus outside every city might be turned into limitless factories. Refashioning plastic was easy and making other precious metals, the kind you might find in a computer or smartphone, wasn’t so hard either. If he could scale up, without having to hand the reins over to greedy investors, he might save the world. Which meant he must be stopped.
By Sean A.about a year ago in Fiction
The Room
In roaming around the room, one notices how the bricks are laid out, as if they are a puzzle. Over one the right side laying on the brick floor one notices the yellow caution tape and one begins to wonder why it was here. Is or was the floor unsafe or something else more precarious? You walk as if on eggshells over each brick just to make sure for safety purposes for you have plans for the room coming soon. You start to look at the walls and in particular the one with peeling wallpaper. What is the next step?
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Fiction
The Great Tugto
Benny Bannock pulled his black hoodie down over his face a little further. The torrential rains had long since soaked through his clothes. His shoes squished as he walked, sending sprouts of water through the breather holes over his toes.
By Lauraabout a year ago in Fiction
Smarter, Not Harder
Emma walked out of her Economics class, and her friend Bryony did a double-take, frowning. "Hey... weren't you just over there? How did you...?"
By L.C. Schäferabout a year ago in Fiction
The Quibbler
He couldn't keep up with the grading. The papers multiplied like hamsters. So many were generated by ChatGPT and its ilk, he could tell after reading a single sentence that the remainder of the paper would be synthetic swill. Most citations were fictional. Title pages abounded, though the holy edict of The MLA Style Guide forbade them.
By D. J. Reddallabout a year ago in Fiction
Monstrosity. Content Warning.
People call me a monster, they saw what I did, what I became … what I literally became. They screamed, grabbed hold of their children and ran screaming from me, and they should.
By Savannah K. Wilsonabout a year ago in Fiction
Spacewalker
A spacewalk, that's what they named it when space was first ventured to and explored. People now lived on spaceships, but the name spacewalk had still stuck whenever someone went out.
By Liam Stormabout a year ago in Fiction
Captain Whiskers and the Treasure of the Seven Seas
In the bustling port town of Whisker Bay, tales of a legendary pirate cat named Captain Whiskers were whispered among sailors and townsfolk alike. Captain Whiskers was no ordinary feline; he was a fearless adventurer with a heart as vast as the ocean and a crew of loyal animals who followed him to the ends of the earth.
By Henryabout a year ago in Fiction