friendship
C.S Lewis got it right: friendship is born when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"
Male Depression And Emotional Affairs Often Hide In Routine
Male depression is one of the most overlooked mental health challenges, often overshadowed by assumptions about strength, stability, and silence. Nevertheless, while many men appear composed on the surface, emotional battles frequently unfold beneath the routine of everyday life. Often, emotional affairs become an escape, silently intertwined with the symptoms of depression. These two issues—male depression and emotional affairs—can become hidden patterns shaping relationships, identities, and daily behaviors.
By Bloom Boldly2 months ago in Humans
“A dress for poor people!” my daughter said. But at the party, when I walked in, she fainted...
I spent the entire night sewing my daughter's wedding gown, stitch by painful stitch, without even stopping to rest my eyes. Each needle pass was a memory. Every thread, a promise. The
By Umar Farooq2 months ago in Humans
The Path from Destruction. Top Story - November 2025.
So I'm "here," parked in Joe Pye Weed Field on a warm October night, with Kenny, Nate, and Mark, three friends I've known since childhood. We're all in our early twenties. It's 1988. There's plenty of Budweiser and cheap vodka going around.
By John R. Godwin2 months ago in Humans
a small bit of twine. Runner-Up in Maps of the Self Challenge. Top Story - November 2025.
~ A small bit of twine twisted around my wrist, embedding in my skin. I think the year was 1982. I didn't notice it at first until I felt the first tug pulling my small body in a direction I didn't want to go.
By Heather Hubler2 months ago in Humans
I Owe It All to the Slender Man
(If you'll look to your right, you'll see a corkboard on the wall. It's suspiciously empty, for a corkboard. Don't worry; it's gonna fill up fast. At the right edge of the board, which we'll call Point B, I'll pin a photograph of the present. My apartment, my partner, my cat, my job -- my life as it is now. At the left, Point A, I'll pin an illustration of the infamous Slender Man. Yes, that one. Please don't laugh; I wasted a lot of printer ink on this drawing.)
By Rebekah Conard2 months ago in Humans
The Garden of Honest Hearts
In the quiet town of Riverfield, there was a small patch of unused land near the old library. It had been empty for as long as anyone could remember—covered in dry soil, scattered stones, and wild weeds. Most people passed by it without paying attention, but to Amaan, it looked like a place waiting for a new beginning.
By Muhammad Saad 2 months ago in Humans
The Path to Sand. Runner-Up in Maps of the Self Challenge.
Through the screen door and past the red wooden one that is, to your memory, always open, go straight for three paces and twist right. Stand at the top of the stairs. The banisters mark an indent of a large living room, but you aren’t bothering with the living space just ahead, the hallway of bedrooms behind you, or the kitchen over to your right. You’re at the top of the stairs. A large mirror hangs on the orange-red wall behind you. (Go nearly eighteen years ago when you tried to see the back of your head as you turned in all directions.) It’s a foyer that belongs to a ranch-style home, or more specifically, a front hall; nothing about it distances you. That’s who you were when you were with this family: utterly embraced.
By Mackenzie Davis2 months ago in Humans
