Top Stories
New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
Overcoming Boredom: When The Sparks Go Out
No different to how we often associate loneliness with being alone, even though there is a wide contrast between these two different states that a human being can endure. Therefore, boredom (and being really, really bored) is often associated with having "nothing to do" - where boredom is actually a disconnect between who we are and where we want to be at a particular point in time. There is a gap, a void, a yearning of sorts - yet you are in a garden with endless weeds to pull, instead of being in a garden with flowers to observe, water, and enjoy. That is boredom. Dullness. No spark.
By Justine Crowley3 months ago in Psyche
Globophobia
**I'm taking another writing course and one of the prompts that the teacher asked us to write about was using a random phobia from this website. He prompted us to write a story about said phobia that was picked at random. This is what I managed to come up with.**
By Chloe Rose Violet 🌹3 months ago in Fiction
FPS: Masks We Wear Challenge Winners
The Masks We Wear Challenge asked writers to explore what hides beneath the surface. The sides of ourselves we protect, the stories we tell without words, the versions we choose to share. What came back were poems full of contrast and emotion, where honesty and illusion moved together in surprising ways. Some lifted the mask to find courage, others found power in keeping it on, and all reminded us that what we hide can be just as revealing as what we show.
By Vocal Curation Team3 months ago in Resources
Everything Will Be Alright
It was difficult to go back into that room. My son had passed three Halloweens ago and I kept his room shut since then. But I had to. To put his things away for now at least. Thank goodness he has no pets in his room. No goldfish or other such animals that would require my rescue. That would have been…that wouldn’t have been easy.
By Raphael Fontenelle3 months ago in Fiction
Mercury rising
It doesn’t feel like the Mercury Music Prize deserves all that much praise for finally lifting its gaze beyond the M25. Yes, it’s nice that the music industry is apparently aware that there’s more to life than London. But it’s taken 33 years to reach that far-from-groundbreaking conclusion.
By Andy Potts3 months ago in Beat
Farewell to KJ
March 18, 2025. 2:20 AM. Text Message: "Kathy is now in the arms of Jesus." It's mid-October 2025, and I sit in my classroom across the hall from where Kathy used to sit every day. We used to wave to each other, and she would come over to my room for a brief chat, a cup of coffee, or both. She was hired to fill a teacher opening that had been unfilled for more than two years, and she took up her duties with great enthusiasm. We became friends quickly, but in late 2023, we had a dust-up that injured feelings and caused us to be estranged for several months. When I finally came to my senses and sought to make peace, she was more than ready to forgive, and I'm so glad we did.
By Mack D. Ames3 months ago in Humans
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977): A Hateful, Sensory Nightmare Masquerading as a Movie
Looking for Mr. Goodbar Directed by: Richard Brooks Written by: Richard Brooks (based on the novel by Judith Rossner) Starring: Diane Keaton, Richard Gere, Tom Berenger, William Atherton, Tuesday Weld
By Sean Patrick3 months ago in Geeks
Handprints in the Sand
A poem titled "Footprints in the sand" ends with the three words "I carried you." No one poet gets full credit for that famous poem so most of us who know the poem simply agree the byline goes to "Anonymous". As a longtime fan of the poem, it gave me hope and peace on harder days. Upon more current analysis of the poem, I wonder why "footprints" got into the title instead of "hands" if the poem's big bang ending is "I carried you." I suppose it was a group effort between feet and hands. I've always noticed my feet and hands. The shape, size, and the particular markings that may make them very different or unique. Hands seem to have more personality traits (or marks) than feet. Whether you are a gypsy mystic witch reading palms to guide a confused soul, or you're a police officer studying the fingerprints of criminals in data base files, you have seen that the hands of different humans have very distinct and unique markings. Like snowflakes, we all have hands but the designs are all unique. I learned how to read palms at a very early age and have kept my eyes on my personal "road map" for my entire life. Both of my palms show two major markings (Triangulum and the Letter M) which some mystics believe have significant meanings. However, my right hand and my left hand also have unique attributes and markings that show different routes as if looking at different maps. For example, I could say my right hand shows the map of my life in Florida, while the left hand shows the map of my spiritual life, not here on Earth.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman3 months ago in Humans
FPS: The Sonnet of Shadows Challenge Winners
Welcome to the winners announcement for the second challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Sonnet of Shadows was especially tough to judge, so many standout submissions made choosing just a few a real challenge.
By Vocal Curation Team3 months ago in Resources
