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Find new, handpicked stories you’ll love, updated daily.
Keeping Company
I keep people company on train rides and bus rides or while they drive their cars to promotions or breakups to pick up some coffee
Sandra MatosPublished about 19 hours ago in PoetsVocal Weekly Leaderboard: 04/17/2024
Welcome to the weekly update of the Leaderboard! We're thrilled to showcase Vocal's most discussed stories, popular picks, and rising stars. Let's dive into this past week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
Vocal TeamPublished about 15 hours ago in Resources
Midnight
60 seconds… 59 seconds… Time was slipping through his fingers, though he clawed at the falling grains of sand, he could not stop the hourglass from flowing. Around him, the silence was deafening. He had taken over every screen in the command centre, putting the terrible seconds before the terrified eyes of his friends and comrades.
Alexander McEvoyPublished 3 days ago in FictionNight Time
In the spirit hour, Everything gets quiet, Or so it seems — Songbirds take refuge in the canopies of trees. A cat is howling, and there are faint barks in the distance,
Ute Luppertz ✨Published 2 days ago in PoetsSappho’s Daughter
Even the tulips yield to the sun— Collateral beauty admidst the sin of man Lust, among the seven deadly, I may Infused genetically, the capacity to love is irrevocable
Summer RobinsonPublished 3 days ago in PoetsThe “Time Slip” Club
“Come on! Stop learning for today and come with me!”. I knew that when Tom set his mind to something, especially when it came to weekend fun, hardly anything would stop him.
Sergej KlementinovskiPublished 4 days ago in FictionMen like us
Men like us trudge in mud under Russian fire while callow others load the missiles. [-] Men like us, those poor we hate
Housekeeping
Reading glasses swinging back and forth, dangling from a drug store string slung around my neck I said, to myself of course, I never want to wear this kind of thing. But now I do, sometimes. I like the idea of relaxing, being a comfortable woman of the home, swinging open the door in a batik housedress, casually welcoming someone in, pets or as the French say, animals for company, something like that. As if pets had no other reason to be. Years of watching women folding, unfolding, refolding socks, sheets, dinner napkins, a lot happens in those moments of freshly laundered piles heaped onto the sofa, better the dining room table as long as it’s clean of course. My grandparents hung it all out in the sun, flopping away without a care, ironing sheets was necessary. When my paternal grandmother died, the very night she passed over the clothesline, into the black heavens sprinkled with sequins of silver, she came to me in a dream. I stood at a table folding clothes, I became aware that there was someone next to me folding as well. I first recognized her hands, red and wrinklie, with age spots. “Nanny?” I didn’t look toward her; she said in her most comforting southern way, “Don’t be afraid.” Then I turned toward the left looking up, up, up, and there she was all in white, a long crisp gown, fresh and smiling. “I love you.” She’d spoke. Then she was gone.
Finding Inspiration During Change
Inspiration is all around us. Sometimes it comes in an email labeled 'TYWK' or 'For You'. Sometimes it's a meme posted on social media. Other times it's more subtle.
Judey KalchikPublished 16 days ago in MotivationLiqueur of the Heart
Consider the word consider. From the Latin "considaire", meaning "to observe the stars", the word can be broken up into con (with) and sidus (heavenly body) - but there's no need to break anything up to understand.
Marie WilsonPublished 4 days ago in Poets
Challenges
Enter themed storytelling contests to put your creativity to the test.
In Eclipse
Write an acrostic poem using this word: eclipse.
$500 Grand Prize7 days leftJust a Minute
Write a short fiction story that takes place within the course of 60 seconds.
$500 Grand Prize14 days leftWhispering Woods
Write a fantasy fiction story that takes places in a sentient forest.
$500 Grand PrizeClosed
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Resources
Discover tips, guides, updates, and spotlights from our team.
Vocal Weekly Leaderboard: 04/17/2024
Welcome to the weekly update of the Leaderboard! We're thrilled to showcase Vocal's most discussed stories, popular picks, and rising stars. Let's dive into this past week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
Vocal TeamPublished about 15 hours ago in ResourcesVocal Creator Chat: 04/16/2024
Have questions about creating stories, growing your audience, and getting rewarded on Vocal? The Vocal community and team are here to help answer your questions and feedback together.
Vocal Creator ChatPublished 2 days ago in ResourcesSnacktime Sonata Challenge Winners
Well, your Snacktime Sonatas made us hungry, and that’s about the highest compliment we have. Food — taste, smell, sensation — is a powerful conduit to the past, to memories pleasurable and painful and sometimes bittersweet, a mixture of comfort and challenge. Congratulations to Penny Fuller for Sativa — it’s a first win for Penny — a hymn to the “secret, unbounded/freedoms” of fresh peas in the pod. The narrative voice of the poem doesn’t really want to be outside, but finds joy in the green things of the earth; this is a lovely work of resilience.
Vocal TeamPublished 6 days ago in Resources📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 04/11/2024
Our “Raise Your Voice Threads” are hosted every other Thursday 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.
Raise Your Voice by VocalPublished 7 days ago in ResourcesVocal Weekly Leaderboard: 04/10/2024
Welcome to the weekly update of the Leaderboard! We're thrilled to showcase Vocal's most discussed stories, popular picks, and rising stars. Let's dive into this past week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
Vocal TeamPublished 8 days ago in ResourcesVocal Weekly Leaderboard: 04/03/2024
Welcome to the weekly update of the Leaderboard! We're thrilled to showcase Vocal's most discussed stories, popular picks, and rising stars. Let's dive into this past week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
Vocal TeamPublished 15 days ago in Resources
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