Short Story
Sinister Normal Things
"There is a reason this place is called murder mansion," Tommy whispered to Hannah, his eyes on the ashen pink bricks that dotted between twisted iron bars. Only the front of the house was ever visible from the street, and no one lingered very long to get more than a passing glance. But there they stood, in strict defiance, two faces peeking in and out of the overgrown shrubs like windowed curtains, hoping to catch a glimpse of something worthwhile. Each house on this street was aging and solitary like a tomb. A graveyard, a mausoleum of lives passed, hoping the next would be better than the last—and so on, and so forth, until you arrived here, standing in front of 1521 Sycamore Street , where lives were cut shorter and shorter with each passing decade.
By K.H. Obergfollabout 7 hours ago in Fiction
The Stuffed Cat
One fine spring morning, a stuffed cat standing upright on an old vinyl record player suddenly blinked, shook her head, stretched lazily, and then, after a languid yawn, climbed down from her perch, sniffing around and snooping through the hall of the Arci social club “La Bandiga”, behind Scandellara Park in Bologna. The event, took place in front of two witnesses who at first, not seeing the remains in their place, thought of a theft, or some act of spite.
By Federico Bertiabout 8 hours ago in Fiction
It's Apple Picking Time
You Are Here challenge: Prompt - Write a story entirely in second person that puts the reader somewhere they aren't supposed to be. Second person puts the reader inside the story. You don't watch someone else cross a line. You do. Write a story entirely in second person that puts "you" somewhere you aren't supposed to be. Maybe you've wandered into the wrong room, shown up where you weren't invited, crossed a boundary you didn't know was there, or found yourself in a situation you have no business being part of. Wherever you end up, make the second-person perspective matter. Use "you" to close the distance between the reader and the story, and make that feeling of being somewhere you shouldn't be impossible to shake.
By Denise E Lindquistabout 12 hours ago in Fiction
Broken: An Abuse Survivor's Tale💜Part 2. Content Warning.
Ch 2: Then Came Control and Obsession The night of our wedding still lingered in my mind to this day. For him to have treated me so harshly for something so innocuous was beyond me. Nothing up to that point led me to believe he would be so... possessive and jealous.
By Rain Dayzeabout 13 hours ago in Fiction
His Fortress of Fornication
This story is Filthy. Standing outside the door to your desire, you are keenly aware of your body. Your rapid heartbeat is putting a frantic pressure on your overtaxed lungs. You feel light-headed from a hyperawareness of your Take a Chance eau de parfum.
By Lightning Bolt ⚡about 19 hours ago in Fiction
Time In between Time
It was never something that Terrance had wanted to do, not really. All his life he had wanted to be a civil servant, to aid, protect people because he genuinely craved connection and to feel as if he truly belonged somewhere. Only after he had spent years struggling to find himself and his meaning in life did he agree to join the scientific research team travelling to the north pole. It was stupid, he thought. Not the research team as a whole, but him being there. It didn't help that he was dealing with a terrible case of imposter syndrome in his daily life, but he knew he was only joining the crew because of his uncle browbeating him into being a part of the expedition. Even though Terrance was having a lot of internal doubts, he valued and respected the other members on the research team. Howard Menelaus, while not what one would call sociable was an incredibly intelligent man, and one hell of a cook. Terrance never knew how you could make simple canned foods taste so good. Elena Harding was incredibly funny, which helped make the expedition more palatable for everyone involved. Terrance only wished that he could return the favour and help her laugh the way she did for others. She also had a keen eye, and would make casual connections that the rest of the team missed. Last but not least were the siblings, Lenny and Georgia Sloan. Lenny and Georgia were the type of siblings that butted heads often, but always managed to be professional when it came down to what mattered most. It was nice that they could co-operate at least some of the time, because Terrance was getting sick of hearing them bicker about which movie in the Star Wars saga so many times before he completely snapped. Despite his annoyance at them, he couldn't deny their brilliance in the slightest, and whenever the team worked together, they always performed excellently.
By Noah Feannyabout 19 hours ago in Fiction
