Young Adult
The Sound of Rain. AI-Generated.
It had been raining for three days straight in Lusaka, and the sound had become a kind of background music to Naomi’s thoughts. She sat by the window of her late father’s house, watching water run down the glass, tracing the same paths over and over again — like memories replaying themselves.
By shakir hamid3 months ago in Fiction
The Last Train to Miray. AI-Generated.
The train station of Miray hadn’t seen a real crowd in years. The walls were cracked, the benches splintered, and the ticket window covered in dust. Once, this place had been the heart of a small but thriving mining town. Now, it was only the heart of one old man who refused to let it die.
By shakir hamid3 months ago in Fiction
His Freckle Too, Stayed Until Morning
I did not notice it before. That small freckle just beneath his left eye, the one the light always seems to find before I do. How many times have I seen his face and never really seen it? The mark itself is nothing special, really, a speck, a shadow of pigment the sun decided to keep for itself, yet tonight it feels like a secret I have finally been allowed to see.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast3 months ago in Fiction
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Letter. AI-Generated.
The wind howled along the cliffs of Cape Town, tearing at the edges of the lighthouse like it wanted to knock it into the ocean. Inside, an old man sat hunched over a wooden desk, pen in hand, paper worn and yellowed.
By shakir hamid3 months ago in Fiction
The Moving Experience
Gold speckles lined the blue carpet. The house in Wilmington, Delaware showed a bed, a basin, and a chair and desk set with a place for a candle in the room. The bed featured a wooden frame and a single mattress with colorful blankets of blue and gold draped on it; the basin had a crack in the outer rim but looked like ivory; the desk showed scratches and lines that covered its surface. A single flame burned and cast a glow over the whole place. In over a hundred and sixty years, the room had not been touched. The door creaked. The musty smell of old paper struck at the nose of Taylor David. He wore jeans and a uniform that spelled out his reason for being there. “We Move Rooms” emblazoned on his gray shirt in crimson. That remained his task. He received a paycheck to collect the items of rooms and relocate them to storage facilities, homes, and incinerators. Now, he ensured the items wound up in a museum.
By Skyler Saunders3 months ago in Fiction
The Light Switch
The door slammed shut behind me, and the darkness swallowed everything whole. I hadn't meant to come inside. The old Caldwell house had been abandoned for thirty years, its windows like hollow eyes watching the neighborhood. But my phone had died mid-walk, and when the October rain started sheeting down, the partially open front door seemed like an invitation rather than a warning.
By Parsley Rose 3 months ago in Fiction
The Café That Waited for Love
The rain had been falling since morning, soft and unhurried, like the city itself had decided to move in slow motion. Inside Café Loraine, the windows fogged from the warmth of espresso and conversation, turning the world outside into a watercolor blur.
By Atif khurshaid3 months ago in Fiction
Homegoing
8:00 p.m. Saturday night, October 11th, Greensboro, North Carolina. Destiny is waiting for her friends Trevon and Giselle to come pick her up for the homecoming party at North Carolina’s A&T university, her alma matter. “So how long are y’all gonna be out?” Destiny’s mother Vera asked. “Ma you know homecoming is all day, all night” Destiny replied. “Yeah, but we ain’t hardly seen you all or all night since you been home.” Destiny’s father Charles added as he walked in on the conversation. “Daddy you know I’ve been tryna catch up with everybody since I got back Thursday. I’ve missed everyone since I moved after I graduated 2 years ago”
By Joe Patterson3 months ago in Fiction
