Fantasy

Married 80 Years, Ages 101 and 100. AI-Generated.
The bell above the door chimes at 7:15 a.m. sharp, every single Friday, and the whole restaurant pauses for just a moment. John Carroll, 101, leans heavily on his polished oak cane, his other hand curled tight around the elbow of his wife, Jerry, who turned 100 in June. They move slowly, their steps synced like they’ve been practising for eight decades because they have. This past April, the pair marked their 80th wedding anniversary , a milestone so rare it feels like something out of a fairy tale. But for John and Jerry, it’s just another chapter of a life built on small, steady rituals.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction
Retired After 41 Years: Her Biggest Fear for Today’s Students. AI-Generated.
For 41 years, Lisa Jorgenson arrived at her California classroom by 6:30 a.m., long before the first bell rang. She knelt to tie laces, dried tears scraped from playground knees, taped macaroni art to cinder blocks, and cheered when a child finally read their first full sentence out loud. She taught kindergarten for 15 years, second grade for 12 more, and spent her final decade coaching new teachers and helping students who felt like they’d fallen too far behind.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction
The Storm That Did Not Break Her. AI-Generated.
The darkest night of my life flashed before my eyes as the torrential rain lashed down, each drop striking me like a thousand needles. I lay helpless on the cracked asphalt, my right leg twisted at a sickening angle, warm blood seeping from the deep gash and mingling with the frigid rainwater that soaked through my clothes and stung my skin. But even in that blinding moment of agony, my only thought was to drag myself up and keep moving.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction
She Lost Her Grandparents’ Beloved Beach Home. AI-Generated.
The drive back from the Outer Banks that autumn felt like driving away from a piece of her own heart. Shannon McKinstrie stared out the car window as the dunes faded behind her, clutching a chipped ceramic seashell she’d pulled from the windowsill of her grandparents’ cottage, the last thing she’d packed before locking the door for what she thought would be forever.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction
The Chrome Legacy: The Last Campfire
Humanity finally did it. We left Earth for the stars. The oceans remained. The mountains endured. Cities of glass and steel became monuments buried beneath sand and ivy. Somewhere beneath a desert sun, Las Vegas surrendered itself to time while humanity chased distant suns across the galaxy.
By Alejandro Arango4 months ago in Fiction
Unthreading The Mind
Introduction I have not written any fiction or poetry for a while, but think this nightmarish image shared by the excellent Enchanted Booklet on Facebook would be good to fall into:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 months ago in Fiction
The Boy Who Saw the Scars. AI-Generated.
The music thumped so loud the walls seemed to hum, neon lights bleeding across crowded floors and glasses clinking in every corner. Ella stood near the edge of the living room, clutching a plastic cup of lemonade, feeling smaller than she had all night. Jenny had dragged her along to the party, chattering nonstop about Ren Mori, the quiet, brooding boy she’d liked for months, but ten minutes after they arrived, Jenny had gotten swept away by a group of friends and vanished into the crowd.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction
The Undulating Field. Top Story - September 2023. Content Warning.
This is for Mother Combs "Twisted Endings" Challenge that you can read about here The Undulating Field I had a restless night and kept getting up for some reason, but I don't know why. Eventually, I decided I might as well just get up, so went to the bathroom shaved, cleaned my teeth, took a shower, took drugs and got dressed. It was six in the morning, and I was on holiday, so there was no need for me to be up at this unearthly hour, but I was and went to the kitchen and made coffee, instant, with oat milk in the microwave.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 months ago in Fiction
Before Hell Had a Name: The Morning Star’s Bride
Before Hell had a name, Heaven had no shadow. There were depths beneath it, of course. There were outer darks where unfinished things moved without song. There were ancient hungers beyond the ordered light, things that hated form because form meant they were no longer free to be everything.
By Alejandro Arango4 months ago in Fiction
I am Bexley The Bloodletter’s Scourge
Chapter one: The Ultra-mutated zombie’s scattered memory —— The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. I knew it was that horrible witch who disfigured my reflection in such a distorted way. It was like a dream.
By Melissa Ingoldsby4 months ago in Fiction
Teens Call 911 to Report 18-Year-Old Woman Trapped in Abandoned Missile Silo; Rescue Operation Underway, Charges Still Under Review. AI-Generated.
An 18-year-old woman is recovering in a local hospital after a daring rescue from deep inside a long-abandoned missile silo in rural Colorado, following a late-night exploration that went dangerously wrong. The incident has once again highlighted the hidden risks of these forgotten Cold War-era structures, many of which sit empty but unstable across the American West.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction
High School Track Coach Hospitalized in Shot Put Accident Goes Home 2 Months After Suffering Brain Injury. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
Two months after suffering a severe brain injury in a shocking and unexpected accident, Ponder High School track and field coach Blake Crutsinger has been released from the hospital, a milestone that doctors, family, and friends once feared might never come.
By Mark Lim 4 months ago in Fiction