My Top Story Index

When I got my first Top Story, I had a feeling of butterflies in my stomach. To this day, I feel elated when one of my stories gets this distinction, even though I believe some of them are not as worthy of this status as those of my stories that I really loved and poured my heart into but got left out. For example, I am still puzzled that none of my two Sisyphus stories got a TS. But I am content with the fact that my stories are selected by Vocal, for whatever reason they are.

Anyway, I am on the winter break and finally have time to put them all together into an index story. Here they all are, in the chronological order. If it feels unfinished it is because will expand this list when the new stories are awarded this status.

1. I was happy beyond words that my very first Top Story in March 2022 was the one I wrote about ethics in my field - media, communication, and entertainment. I continue writing a lot about ethics in my discipline.

2. The second TS of November 2022 (the gap is long, I know) was from The Swamp community. I like writing political satire and this particular story gives me a lot of fodder: I just added another haiku to it yesterday. It is also my 5th most read story, with over 180 reads.

3. The third TS from June 2023 was a whimsical conversation with a model in a famous piece of art. It still collects some reads and I go back and re-read it from time to time myself. My passion for art is definitely coming through there.

4. This TS was my version of a very popular Central Asian myth. I personally think that the second one -- The Origin Myth of the Issyk-Kul Lake -- was also deserving of the status, but I guess one can't get them all. They did mark the beginning of my series reinterpreting old myths, of which Sisyphus is a crown jewel.

5. My TS of August 2023 was the story of loss and grief. I still cry for Reggie when I reread it.

6. October 2023 brought me a badge for a story about my other life-time hobby - movies. There will be a couple more, I believe.

7. In the same month of October 2023, I received a TS for another political piece I published in The Swamp. It's also my second most read story (over 200 reads) that still collects them from places unknown to me.

8. In November 2023 I got a TS for one of the stories I'm really proud of as it does give a pretty good advice for writers.

9. In December 2023, the story on gender and sex definitions received the badge. This one came out of my teaching experience, one of the main sources of my inspiration.

10. Another TS in December 2023 year was an ode to buckwheat published in the Feast Community:

11. The January 2024 TS was about another piece of art. I loved this one because it is such a great story of humanity and adventures of a painting. I also re-wrote it as Masterpiece or Trash? for Raymond Taylor's Art-to-Novel Challenge and placed in it as a runner-up, receiving a generous tip.

12. February 2024 TS was another story that came out of my experience of teaching communication ethics. I wrote a couple of versions of it from different perspectives.

13. March 2024 gave me a TS for a fun short optical illusion story. I probably wouldn't have given TS for it to myself, but a lot of people played and commented. It also was one of the most discussed stories that week.

14. The April 2023 TS was another story discussing ethics in media, and specifically in book publishing. It was also based on my real experience of running debates in my ethics of communication class.

15. In May 2024, I wrote one of my best fictional stories -- The Clump in My Life -- for an official Vocal challenge that I didn't even place in. However, it resulted into a series of stories written from different perspectives. The full index of those stories got the TS, I guess for innovation of putting them all together for an easier reading experience.

16. June 2024 gave me a TS for one of my movie reviews. In that month, the Vocal gods were particularly generous, giving me three TS total.

17. The second TS from June 2024 was a recurring childhood dream story.

18. This story on a silly app was the third TS in that month. I guess it was the quirkiness of the app that attracted people's attention to it, and it still collects outside reads.

19. The Vending Machine was one of my best novellas in the speculative fiction genre. I was pleased to get a TS for its index story in July 2024.

20. In August 2024, I finally received a badge for my long-running political satire series of Putin-Trump phone calls. I wrote over 70 of them here on Vocal and after the 2024 elections started to get death threats for them again. So I am planning to take them all down to put them in a book, but this one will stay for its badge of honor.

21. In the same month of August, I got another TS for a charming little story about my Housey. Through it, you will also find some of my Restless Hands Projects stories connecting my handy experiments in knitting, furniture repairs, and painting.

22. September 2024 marked this story on how economics is taught to children with the TS star. It was also one of the most discussed stories that week.

23. October 2023 honored one of my best movie reviews.

24. In November, one of my many Drabbles based in Russian humor received a badge. The 100-word stories format became so popular here on Vocal that I believe it needs its own tag, just like "Microfiction," at least in the Fiction Community.

25. A story I re-wrote for WOA's Unofficial December Challenge also got a badge. I invented the word vicarishame several months ago for another Vocal challenge and wrote several stories with it. I continue writing other stories illustrating the word and hope you will help me spread and popularize it.

26. First January 2025 TS is a dark humor Drabble:

27. January 2025 - a review of the 2015 movie about David Foster Wallace, The End of The Tour.

28. February 2025 - 55, a story about my Birthday Blues.

29. March 2025 - a story about my failed attempt to smuggle eggs into the US from Canada.

30. March 20, 2025 - How to Write a Drabble.

31. April 20, 2025 - a story on Ted Lasso's authentic leadership, "Lead with Kindness."

32. June 3, 2025 - The Swamp community story about Ukrainian drone operation, with TACO's reaction.

33. June 28, 2025 - a reflection on Liz Nugent’s “Strange Sally Diamond” for the Book Club community.

34. July 28, 2025 - a dream interpretation story titled Mishka The Bear published in the Humans community.

35. August 14, 2025 - a fantasy story If Great Dead Writers Were on Facebook - 1.

36. August 29, 2025 - another installment of If Great Dead Writers Were on Facebook - 3, with an unofficial challenge.

37. September 13, 2025 - Ghosted, a story I wrote for the Shape of Thing challenge.

38. September 30, 2025 - PACO Calling TACO to vent his anger.

39. October 9, 2025 - a story about the Kakheti Wine Tour in Georgia that was full of culinary, historical and cultural experiences.

40. October 24, 2025 - a story about my favorite Nissan Juke car written for the Wheel Community.

41. November 7, 2025 - a story with the results of my unofficial “He Wants To Go Home” challenge.

42. November 22, 2025 - a playlist of Ukrainian anti-war songs in the Beat community.

43. December 3, 2025 - Love and Marriage with Pride, a story I wrote for the Pride Community.

44. December 23, 2025 - Stolen Bike, Not Valor for the Serve Community.

45. January 7, 2026 - A failed artist, a disillusioned poet, and an underpaid game show host, a story about mediocre creatives for the FYI community

TBC as they get the badge.