Top Stories
New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
Two Secrets & A Sunset
Ingrid spent fourteen straight days holding it under until the grief took her out. She was in the bus shelter on Forest and Elm, the pre-dawn light filtering down through the sky with the infinitesimal flecks of rain that tapped their way over the roof. On the wall beside her, an advertisement for someone's tutoring services, three contact tabs torn roughly off at different points; the same humidity-crinkled missing poster that's been haunting the news all year. Some missing heiress: Beautiful, of course, done up in pearl earrings and necklace. White, of course, or they would've stopped offering rewards long ago.
By Raistlin Allen5 months ago in Fiction
If Great Dead Writers Were on Facebook - 3
I have started these series with the Russian writers and then thought why should I have all the fun alone (thanks to Raymond G. Taylor for the idea to turn this into an unofficial challenge!). So I'm opening it up for others who would like to see if they can bring dead writers into the modernity through their imagined Facebook or other social media posts.
By Lana V Lynx5 months ago in Critique
Perfect From Afar. Runner-Up in Everything Looks Better From Far Away Challenge.
“Let’s just try it,” Mark said, looking again at the old car up ahead. ‘Old’ and ‘car’ didn’t quite capture the wreck of it. A 1940’s Chevy 2 door, the kind of hotrod you saw in surf movies twenty years after and sixty years ago. This one even had 2 surfboards on the roof, fins up, like a fancy haircut. Time and the sun, salt and humidity, had not been kind. Technically a car was for moving; this one had served as a billboard for the Crayfish Diner until it closed.
By Bernard Bleske5 months ago in Fiction
Night Thing. Honorable Mention in The Shape of the Thing Challenge.
Chasing the light; ventured too far into the night. Thump-thump, each foot landing heavy. Thump-thump, each heart beat tight in my chest. Keep running, go faster; ravenous teeth right behind, taloned shadows reaching closer to slice and shred. Screaming wind and choking dark: eager, awaiting to pull me apart. Right foot, left foot, one more, one more! Can’t see, keep going, don’t fall down….” “Mommy!”
By Jessica McGlaughlin5 months ago in Fiction
This Needs to Stop
With friendships, how do we really know what the other person is thinking? I might believe someone is my best friend, and later find out from others they were simply tolerating me, perhaps disliking pretty much everything about me. Sometimes, I had that suspicion about Gary, especially after he suddenly ditched me in high school.
By Scott Christenson🌴6 months ago in Fiction
the tree of me
Last night, my dreams were encased in a cloak of darkness, and I could not make them out. Yet when I awoke this morning, the sun gleamed beyond my window just the same, and the vicious pounding of my heart was eased by the familiarity of its glow.
By angela hepworth5 months ago in Writers
An Old Soul
I've been told I'm an old soul. "In fact, this line, do you see this line right here? In the place where this little fat pad curves in and cuts off a little?" the psychic had a strange not-southern-drawl to her speech. She chewed gum through a bright white smile.
By Amos Glade5 months ago in Psyche
📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 08/28/2025
Our “Raise Your Voice Threads” are hosted most alternating Thursdays at 12PM ET to offer creators more avenues to uncover exceptional stories on Vocal. As we are continuously searching for fresh creators and inspiring stories, this thread provides an opportunity to exchange and discuss the stories that have moved and motivated us on Vocal.
By Raise Your Voice by Vocal5 months ago in Resources
Born Again
What could possibly be more pleasant for eternity than nonexistence? No harm; no fouls. No problem. I figure I didn’t exist for 13.8 billion years and don’t recall one moment of it being ever being an issue—that is, since moments actually began way back then.
By Gerard DiLeo5 months ago in Psyche
Tommy Boy (1995) Cherishes a Legacy, Comedy, and Heart
We’re going to make this sale no matter what we do. Tommy Boy is a 1995 film. After the death of his father, the underachieving man-child Tommy teams up with Richard, a snide accountant, to save the auto-parts business. Slipping up on several blunders on the road, Tommy and Richard learn more about themselves in their adventures.
By Marielle Sabbag5 months ago in Geeks
Rachel Reviews: Truth and Transformation (Taking Wonderland) by Martin Baynton
To take Lewis Carroll's timeless "Alice" books and a selection of their uniquely bizarre and unsettling elements and craft them into something which has the same rich taste but a new author's seasoning is the move of a bold writer, I think.
By Rachel Deeming5 months ago in BookClub
