Microfiction
"Am I Not Immortal?"
Author's note: On June 30, 2026, Vladimir Putin of Russia attended the funeral ceremony for Sergei Ivanov, Russian ex-Defense Minister and one of Putin's closest friends and allies. Putin spent about half an hour near the coffin. He was observed laying a cross on himself and moving his lips, as if in a prayer. As an experienced lip reader and occasional supernatural voice registrar, I have transcribed this conversation for you:
By Lana V Lynx4 months ago in Fiction
Relax, Ex-Lax. Honorable Mention in You Had to Be There.
My dad, when he was a kid, was a prankster and full of mischief. He got into gobs of trouble, and no doubt he was the reason for most of the gray hairs on my great-grandmother’s head. He was raised by her, poor woman.
By Alexandra Grant4 months ago in Fiction
Loser's Proposal
Note: I wrote about the events of last Monday, but I think that I am still processing what this city and myself have been through. We have had the funerals, the protests against incel culture (whatever they might think it is), discussions on gun culture and violence, and the possible causes of these events...
By Kendall Defoe 4 months ago in Fiction
You Must Remember . Content Warning.
Do you remember that time? You must remember. It was the time you were looking in the mirror and stroking your fingers over your bald scalp, gently dragging your short nails across the spongy skin. Then you dig your nails in deeper, transfixed by what you see through the mirror as the skin peels away from your scalp and, in strips like smoked rashers of bacon, you lay out the top layer of skin from your head and smirk at your worried expression. You try to reason it out, excuse it, but it happens and you have to live with it. Live with the warning you ignored. Do you remember what you do next? When you take a serrated blade and draw pretty pictures across your chest of former glories and future challenges? Do you remember when you stop allowing the status quo? Not just blindly, but completely. When you stand in that line and refuse to wait your turn? When the fog clears and your frayed ends of sanity snap? Do you remember the colour across the tiled floor as you knock down someone's milk and then tear through the three people in front of you with your bare hands? You don't stop there, do you? No. You make a point. Do you remember when you strip them all bare? First of their clothes and dignity, and then of their skin and humanity. Do you remember when we were young, before life played back in sepia?
By Paul Stewart4 months ago in Fiction
The Librarian Who Guarded Forbidden Magic
The Library That Never Appeared on Any Map No traveler ever found the library by accident. It stood hidden beyond a winding stone path deep within an ancient forest, a place so old that even the oldest maps refused to acknowledge its existence. Those who searched for it with greed or ambition always lost their way, wandering in circles until the trees returned them to the ordinary world. Only those carrying unanswered questions found the path waiting for them. Amelia had spent her childhood hearing whispers about the forgotten library from her grandfather, who claimed it contained books that were never meant to be read by ordinary people. After his death, she discovered a weathered compass among his belongings. Instead of pointing north, its needle turned toward the forest. Three days later, after following it through thick woods and abandoned trails, Amelia stood before a towering stone building whose shelves were said to hold the most dangerous knowledge ever written.
By Robert Redford4 months ago in Fiction
Reach for the sky
Swooping low over the runway, the Spitfire throttled back to a roar of highly-tuned Merlin engine, making a perfect landing on the grass strip at Kenley. Flight Sergeant McKinley nodded his approval as the pilot taxied neatly into position by the fuel bowser.
By Raymond G Taylor4 months ago in Fiction
