Top Stories

Stories in Fiction that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.

Another Life
Today they celebrate the third anniversary of their virtual vows. They have pixel cake and move into a Tiki house on an island Simulator in the cerulean Second South Pacific. She lives in Basingstoke, England, her partner less than a tenth of a second away on the north-east shore of Lake Michigan – the impossible distance made possible by the fibreglass tendrils that connect them.
By Ian Vince7 months ago in Fiction
Burning the Pages of the Book of Life. Honorable Mention in You Were Never Really Here Challenge. Content Warning.
Shortly after dark, early November, 2023. Al-Nasr Children's hospital, Northern Gaza. Explosions sound off in the distance. But the family in the delivery room is used to this sound. They are not comfortable with the sound, but sometimes they forget it is there. This sound has already killed five thousand of their people, over the last month. But this sound— this constant sound, this lethal sound— can slip into the peripheries despite its severity.
By Sam Spinelli7 months ago in Fiction
Lila and The Talisman of Ultimate Authority
When I was little, I thought that the past was in black and white. The world depicted in old movies seemed no less lively than the one I lived in, but was devoid of the vibrancy which I took for granted. Whenever the TV was tuned to some classic film or historical news footage, I’d wonder what it was like for people living in that drab place, and pity the incompleteness of their existence.
By J. Otis Haas7 months ago in Fiction
Letting Go
My head rests on my pillow, my heart rests in your eyes. You are so beautiful, I can’t believe you ever chose me. Your brown eyes glisten with a form of magic. I can’t explain it, but whenever you look at me, I feel seen. I feel safe, like I’ve finally found my home. You’re the first woman I’ve ever felt comfortable maintaining eye contact with. With you, it feels… right? That’s why it hurts.
By Simon George7 months ago in Fiction
Conversation with Nana
From our kitchen window I watch my best friend Tommy waiting for the school bus. I know it is wrong, but seeing his mouth grin wider than his face and doubling over, probably from a stupid joke Clayton told him, makes me angry. I should be there laughing, but the moment I spy Billy Krudd, the class bully, my feet refuse to move.
By JBaz7 months ago in Fiction
New Amusement at the State Fair
“Did you hear that there is a new amusement show at the state fair?” “A brand new attraction at the state fair!” “What is it?”
By Amos Glade7 months ago in Fiction
The 6:17 to Somewhere New. Winner in The Second First Time Challenge.
Marc hadn’t taken the 6:17 PM train in nearly two years. Not since he left the job he thought he’d die in, not since Elise had walked out with the last of their shared plants and all the warmth from the apartment. Not since he stopped believing in rhythms - that predictable cadence of departure and return that used to structure his weeks like a heartbeat.
By Alain SUPPINI7 months ago in Fiction
The House that We Build
He comes home from work. He walks through the door, happy but exhausted. Thinking of what’s for dinner, the video game he is going to play. But he is tired. The dogs greet him, the cats meow. Me, his wife before him, tense my shoulders and I told him how he didn’t empty the dishwasher this morning. That delayed me making dinner because the saucepan and all the other cookware were still in there.
By Amy7 months ago in Fiction
The Room for Eliza. Runner-Up in You Were Never Really Here Challenge. Content Warning.
At the end of the hall, there’s a room we don’t talk about. Mother calls it the “Sewing Room”. She says it in the same tone she uses when talking about frozen casseroles or tax deadlines; blunt, flat, leaving no room for a second opinion. The “Sewing Room” hasn’t seen a spool of thread in, at least, thirteen years; a blatant lie, so we don’t talk about it long.
By Luna Jordan7 months ago in Fiction
Long Nose the Liar
There was an old liar who lived in our village. I’m sure of it. No one else seems to remember him, but then again no one else seemed to like him either. Back then the other children called him “Long Nose the Liar” because he looked like Pinocchio, and all his stories sounded like lies.
By Judah LoVato7 months ago in Fiction
Coming up for Air
It can’t be me she’s yelling at. There must be a mistake. Nobody calls me Tor. Not anymore. Not in years. She shouts louder this time, and darts across the street, zigzagging between beeping cars, giggling and waving an apology. She stumbles onto the pavement, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and holds out her arms. I shuffle backwards and lower my eyes, picking at my thumbnail. It’s strange. But even after all this time, there’s something achingly familiar about seeing your mum again.
By Caroline Craven7 months ago in Fiction
The Rite of the First Meal
The first time I cooked in a kitchen that was mine, I cried over a box of prepackaged rice. Not because it tasted good, it really didn’t, but because I could make it, eat it, and no one would take it from me. No footsteps thudding down the hall. No shouting. No disposal switch flipping like a guillotine. Just me, the steam rising from the pot, and a silence that finally felt soft instead of sharp. There was something about standing there, watching it simmer, the scent beginning to fill the air that made me remember the first time I tried to make it. I was eleven. I hadn’t eaten in days.
By M.R. Cameo7 months ago in Fiction