literature

Whether written centuries ago or just last year, literary couples show that love is timeless.

The Cottage at Avebury Corner
The beamed ceilings were low and the room sizes small, made smaller by patterned wallpaper, but it all felt very spacious compared to her one bedroom flat in cold, rainy Birmingham. The cottage was surprisingly larger inside than the grey, unassuming exterior would have you believe. The furniture was unquestionably old fashioned and not items she herself would have chosen but elegant in their own way and, to her, expensive looking, an eclectic mix of styles, some of which looked like antiques, almost as strange and as beautiful as some of the pieces in Heritage homes she had visited as a schoolgirl. She was struck by the sense of history and learning inside this home, the antique furniture being complemented by bookshelves, crammed with more books than she had seen in her entire life. She gasped at the sheer quantity and beauty of those books. All around there were comfortable, worn and sometimes shabby pieces of furniture, everything rather dusty, a feeling of faded luxury and a bygone era.
By Vita K. Jones5 years ago in Humans
Just What I Needed
I woke up with that knife-in-the heart feeling. “Dang it,” I thought to myself. “It wasn’t just a dream.” I’d been waking up with the same feeling for five mornings straight. I felt it before I went to sleep, too. And when I woke up 2 or 3 or 24 times every night. And then I felt it pretty much around the clock, as well. I kept expecting a slight dissipation each day to show that I was healing with the passing days. But it wasn’t happening this time. I needed a pattern interrupt. I just couldn’t keep feeling this heart broken another minute longer.
By Jennifer Lankford5 years ago in Humans
Little Black Book
Have you ever wished that some miracle would happen and you would all of a sudden be able to easily pay all of your bills and debts; that you would then still have plenty of money left for fun things? It’s definitely something I had wished for many times. Of course I worked jobs- sometimes two or three at a time- but they only ever paid just enough. Enough to pay my bills, eat, get a new outfit every now and then, and maybe save a few dollars. Two years ago, I was thinking about this very thing while I walked to the bus stop for work when some random person shoved a little black book at me. I grabbed it because it’s an automatic reaction to being handed something. By the time I even realized I’d been handed something, the person was already gone so I didn’t have a chance to tell them I didn’t want this little black book. Though, now I’m glad about that. I looked down at the little black book- it was leather, about the size of my hand, with a band around it that snapped in the front. There was nothing written on the outside- it was just plain, smooth leather. Then I opened it and there on the first page of lined paper it said, “Congratulations! You are the recipient of $20,000! There are only three things we want you to do: 1) Accept this money! 2) Invest it! 3) Pay it forward! Whenever you’re ready, put $20,000 in the book and pass it on to a random stranger. Let’s keep the good fortune moving! Thanks in advance for helping someone out!” I was shocked. In the middle of the book, tucked securely in the binding, was a check for $20,000.
By Lis E.5 years ago in Humans
The Day Private Parker Died
Hordes of shattered mortar shells ripped through the roof of Private Sullivan Parker’s hastily constructed burrow. The morning ambush had decimated Parker’s platoon. They had learned of it only an hour before. Parker had taken his combat shovel and a few precious belongings and stuffed them underneath the burrow for survivors to discover long after the war’s conclusion. He had stuffed sandbags on top of the precious hole to prevent anyone from stumbling upon it. He needn’t worry about that now. Everyone was dead.
By Tyler Philbrook5 years ago in Humans
Written
Written by Catherine Reyes Mysterious Little Black Notebook The subtle breeze numbed her fingers as she flipped through the pages of the little black notebook. Keira could still not fathom the depth of what she is reading. Where did these stories come from? How? All she knows is that they are here. They have happened.
By CATHY REYES5 years ago in Humans
Little Black Notebook
Chrissie closed the back end of her SUV and carried the last box to her quaint, renovated farmhouse. Her friend Henry had just thrown her a retirement party at his posh clubhouse in the subdivision he lived in. Technically, she had taken an early retirement without pay some ten plus years ago. Therefore, she was surprised at the turnout of friends and former colleagues at the party. But then again, Henry's parties always drew a crowd, plus he was a retired district employee as well, so that helped.
By Lisa Brasher5 years ago in Humans
Felix
Felix had never had the best of luck. He had never won anything, big or small, no matter how many contests he entered. No matter how many casinos or horse races he went to, all in hopes that he could turn his luck around. He owed a lot of people money. He knew what people said about him, they all thought that he put too much stock in his "lucky" name. Deep down, he knew they were right, and he should have quit while the quitting was good.
By Nicole Chovanec5 years ago in Humans
Throw me a bone
A satisfying clank sounded as Frank locked down his shop for the day. There weren’t many things that brought as much satisfaction to him as this. Ironically, locking down gave him a sense of freedom, breaking away from the invisible shackles of a nameless boss.
By Hector Perez5 years ago in Humans
Amy
“Amy?” Darryl bolted from his slumber, drenched in sweat, panting like a tuckered dog. For a moment, he thought he was seven years old again. But he wasn't, because he had memories of dropping out of college, getting married and hating his life. As his breathing normalized, he gazed out of his childhood bedroom window, across the moonlit shadowy backyard, towards the remnants of his old treehouse.
By Elaine Walton5 years ago in Humans
Beginner's Luck
Life as a burger flipper at the Pint and Pretzel, a popular chain of bars, was not the dream job that twenty-year-old Lorenzo’s parents had in mind. If anything, they wanted their naïve son to pursue a career as a lawyer or an engineer. Lorenzo would always tell his parents that he didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he knew that all they cared about was bragging to the family about their lawyer son. Instead Lorenzo graduated college with a Culinary Arts degree. He also wanted to become a pro-wrestler and had already begun training, much to the utter dismay of his conservative parents.
By William Diaz5 years ago in Humans
Benesogno
Layers of summer piled thick on the bay of Benesogno. Even the serenity upheld by the old and their riches felt strained, and Carlotta Siffredi was neither old nor rich.
By Emmett Lupton5 years ago in Humans
Paid Lunch Break
About Me: I am a private investigator. If you are conjuring images of a sexy lady bursting into my office begging for help, you will be disappointed. Hell, I don’t even have an office. Work is not steady, and monthly rent and bills are quite unforgiving. I spent most of the morning searching the seats of my car for loose change and scraped up enough for a gas station hotdog and soda.
By Travis Jones5 years ago in Humans