Fantasy

To My First Born I’m Sorry: A Mother’s Honest Apology for Being the "Guinea Pig"
There is a unique, often unspoken dynamic in families with multiple children: the firstborn bears the brunt of their parents’ learning curve. In a poignant essay titled "To My Firstborn I’m Sorry," writer Hillary Cole offers a raw and humorous apology to her eldest daughter, acknowledging that she will always receive the "worst version" of her as a mother—not out of lack of love, but out of an abundance of fear, inexperience, and perfectionism.
By Mark Lim 3 months ago in Fiction
It Has Changed Me Into Something I Never Meant to Be
I once heard it said that time is a circus, always packing up and moving away. But I never understood what that meant until I looked in the mirror one morning and didn't recognize the face staring back.
By Mark Lim 3 months ago in Fiction
A Drunkard's Tale
The man stares at the fire. There weren't always dragons in the valley. The Voice of Death had swamped the moon mountains and killed thousands of livestock. It crossed the Co'bak rivers and spread like a disease until all that was left were dead animals, yoleans (insect dragons with many legs that fed on dead bodies), and migrating fire-breathing dragons.
By Nighttime Storyteller3 months ago in Fiction
Time is a Circus, Always Packing Up and Moving Away
The Tents Go Up. The Tents Come Down. I once heard it said that time is a circus, always packing up and moving away. The image has never left me. There is something profoundly apt about it, the gaudy, fleeting spectacle of it all. The bright colors. The music that swells and fades. The performers who appear from nowhere, dazzle you with their impossible grace, and then vanish into the night like they were never there at all.
By Mark Lim 3 months ago in Fiction
Clarke's 3rd Law. Top Story - July 2026.
“What a cool rock!” Petey’s father exclaimed. Petey beamed with pride. He was wearing his new jeans that had its many pockets. He had insisted on them so that they could hold the rocks he collected, including his newest one.
By Gerard DiLeo3 months ago in Fiction
Mind the Reality Gap
I can’t remember why I signed up for the study but the advert had been simple enough: Paid Research Opportunity. Must be over sixty.
By Rejoice Denhere3 months ago in Fiction
Comic Con: Day of the Stars
Man I’m so glad the semester is almost over. In just a few months I’ll be walking down that stage as a college graduate accepting my degree. School is much, but it’s a much well worth it. Let me take a seat at this free computer so I can make a few printouts and check my socials. So as I’m briefly scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I see an advertisement for Greensboro Comic Con tickets. Wow, I didn’t even know we had Comic Con in Greensboro. I’ve always wanted to go, maybe this is a sign that I should go, let me do some homework.
By Joe Patterson3 months ago in Fiction
The Day My Life Began to Change Forever
The day my life began to change forever started like any other: with weird noises in the hallway and a creeping sense of dread.
By Mark Lim 3 months ago in Fiction
Chapter 3: Angehlah and the First People
Not caught up yet? Check out Chapter 2: The Creation Gods , here on Vocal! Listen along here! A phrase and story as old as the Sentience of The First People- life is yours for the taking - still echoes in the minds of the people of Rhyonis. Were it not for those few simple words, there would be no written history, no memory, nor would there be anything of The First People at all. Every humanoid lineage knows the story; the tale being an innate part of their consciousness from the moment of their first thought. This being, of course, Angehlah's sacrifice and Gift of Sentience.
By Austin Rose3 months ago in Fiction
The Price of Certainty
That was his first mistake. Confidence, when it ossifies into certainty, becomes blindness. Veer had spent decades building his empire on the assumption that the world was predictable, that human behaviour could be reduced to incentives and consequences. He had risen to the top of his world by understanding what people wanted and what they feared. He had learned to read the invisible ledger that governed every relationship, every negotiation, every decision. And he had convinced himself that the ledger was complete.
By Mark Lim 3 months ago in Fiction
Before The Silence
Chapter Four A Hum in the Walls Jesse Jesse woke to the sound of Mara’s truck leaving the driveway. She reached for her glasses and looked at the clock beside her bed.
By Ronna Curtis3 months ago in Fiction
Before the Silence
A Note on Viewpoint This story is told through the alternating viewpoints of Mara Bennett and her daughter, Jesse. Each chapter identifies whose perspective the reader is following. Their separate experiences reveal different parts of the unfolding mystery until their discoveries begin to come together.
By Ronna Curtis3 months ago in Fiction