Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Humans.
Dressed To Impress
Pulling her pale blue dress further up, Clare awaited the arrival of her friend, nervously checking herself. She adjusted her feet in her heels, crouching down to ensure they filled the black shoes. Standing up, she pulled her dress again, unaccustomed to its lack of shoulder straps.
By Barry Allen8 years ago in Humans
The Mock Life – Chapter Two
I'm home. I haven't even been out of the house that long and I feel like I've vanquished a great demon. I find my bed, I find my nook, and my head rests gently on the pillow and I feel comfortable. I sense her. Before she even says my name, before her stench wafts in, before she breaks in like the shittest cat robber ever. There she is, the overwhelming figure of matronliness (or lacking of) lurking at the end of my bed for the second time today. Two times more than I would have preferred. She tells me that Janet her therapist has told her that maybe that I need to hear she loves me more. The Thug began seeing a psych a couple of years ago when she self-diagnosed that she was having a midlife crisis, obviously only me, my father and Janet knew this. I'm aware I sound cold, but she's just really fucking annoying. Like if you don't know someone like her you just won't understand. So then she sits. She sits on the end of the bed, she asks me how my day way, feigns some general interest and then she blindsides me. We are not an open family, we don't have family meetings or discuss our feelings the closest we've ever got is when my great aunt Marie died and my dad gave me a quick hug and a pat on the back. We're not emotionless, we are just not like this. She asks me if I'm a virgin. I feel my jaw literally drop a little and my irises widen three centimetres. This is not what we talk about. This is not who we are. Even the Thug can recognise my disbelief and slight nausea.
By Ellen Brooking8 years ago in Humans
Dear Mr. Half Smile
This is to you, the person I never really thought I’d be writing this to at 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s a regular Los Angeles morning in November. A little brisk, but lovely without the rain. Today, our oldest child asked me if I still loved you. I smiled at her, gave her a hug and said, “of course, I do. He gave me you.” Which was the truth but also lead to me sitting in my pajamas in that brisk cool air out on the patio, writing this, coffee in hand.
By An Ex-Wife8 years ago in Humans
Is Cousin Marriage Really All That Bad?
Oh, this is going to be a fun one – I can see some of you squirming in your seats already! And that's the thing, isn't it? Cousin marriages are a bit icky, a thing to be mocked or pitied, in Western culture at least. You might wonder why we even need to explore this topic, I mean, it's just a bit gross, yeah? Who'd ever want to marry their cousin? Unless they live in a trailer park, amirite? Well, I grew up in a place where those sorts of jokes were common, so maybe I'm the right person to break this one down. Let's begin by looking at the legal situation.
By Katy Preen8 years ago in Humans
Nightmare Online Dates
When I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me with a fifty year old actress from the Big Bang Theory, I packed his things and started dating again because ain't nobody got time for that. I found myself overwhelmed by the plethora of dating apps at my disposal, it felt like when I'm at the grocery store and I'm in front the hundreds of thousands of pressed juices and I'm having a micro anxiety attack over what vitamins and minerals I need. I ended up downloading the most popular apps and began my search for the guy I could wear matching shirts with and take cute Instagram pics.
By Rose vasquez8 years ago in Humans
Hey, Love
It is early January and the rain has passed. The air is crisp and faintly moist, giving my cheeks a slight flush. I stand outside my house waiting patiently, but nervously. I had not seen my best friend since summer. I missed his child-like spirit and joyful mannerisms. I missed his smile and curious exuberance. Finally, he was home and he could not have arrived at a better time. My life seemed to be falling apart and I craved that unchanging optimism he carried. For some time, he had been my inspiration. He lived life in the moment and cherished every second as if it was his last. He could care less about what tomorrow had to bring; all that mattered to him was the present and the embracement of opportunity. I, for one, did not carry the same optimism. I teetered on the edge of pessimism and cynicism and held onto resentment like no other. I was either stuck in the past or panicking about the future. “Typical cancer,” he would always tell me sarcastically. As I waited for him to pick me up, I thought over our past and wondered what I meant to him. There was an unmistakable attraction, anyone who saw us together could feel it, but nothing was ever acted upon. Maybe I needed him as a friend and so did he. Maybe we were too polite to overstep boundaries.
By Blue Dream8 years ago in Humans
Toxicity
You exhaled. Your face is sunburned and freckled. I watch as the wind whirls your blue hair around, hitting your face like microfine whips. You smile at me, ripping grass out of the earth and watching it fly away. We are family, more like sisters than my own flesh and blood. Laying on my chest feeling roaring heat resonate on our skin, I have never felt more alive than when our hearts beat to the same rhythm.
By Alastor Kommer8 years ago in Humans
What My Heart Tells Me
I’m quite a private person, ironically. “ironic” because I’m a Youtuber, artist, and actor and I am in the business of public disclosure, and I’m part of the generation that shares everything! Literally everything! From what you do in the morning, to what you ate the other day. Aside from my daily social posts that allow glimpses into my life, I tend to keep to my thoughts, and words to myself-relatively speaking. I am getting better at voicing or sharing my opinions, but for the most part- I keep to myself. Now, if you get me around the few people I trust, and the few people I know, I’ll say just about anything that comes to mind. Anything! And that is not an understatement! I mean- just the other day I asked some friends: “if a frozen watermelon is still a watermelon? Or is it an ice melon?” So, don’t try me, lol. I’ll let my mind spill its contents like a cup with no lid, whether it makes sense or applicable to the moment or not. I’ll dish it all out.
By Liam Trefry8 years ago in Humans
If the Black Man Is a Dog... the Black Woman Is a Bitch
Every day I see posts calling black men dogs, deadbeats, liars, ignorant, fakes, phonies, swindlers, and more. They are degraded like no other, and to make matters worse, it comes from black women. The same women, that claim to be the backbone of the community, yet they snap that bone in half, cripple their men with words and still expect him to walk upright. We raise our children on this premise, we go to the media with this rhetoric, we salute, support, and praise movies and shows that make this their theme. Yet we turn right around and want the love, respect, adoration, praise, and honor because we are women, because we bear their children, because we are black.
By Tee Crawley8 years ago in Humans
Reckless
Astrid sat cross legged on cement so cold it almost felt wet through her dark jeans. She tucked a strand of short, greasy black hair behind her ear as she sucked on a clove cigar, blowing out the smoke as slowly as her lungs would let her. The setting sun blurred the barren trees and brick buildings surrounding her, the textured walls seeming to stretch into the sky forever. She wondered what it would be like to climb them as she watched the smoke curl upward from her fingertips, slow and smooth as caramel, before the wind crept along and spread the wisps into nothingness.
By Kye Earley8 years ago in Humans
