Short Story
A New Leaf. Content Warning.
Jake was five the first time his father hit his mother. He didn’t actually witness the attack; he was sitting on the floor of his bedroom surrounded by multi-coloured bricks and a menagerie of plastic animals. It was a game he called The Animal Kingdom, and all the animals had names, and some had special titles like Lord Alligator and King Alfred, a lion with a missing leg.
By Matthew Batham6 months ago in Fiction
The Coin That Wouldn’t Leave
The man found the coin on the sidewalk after the St. Patrick’s Day parade ended. The street was still littered with green confetti, plastic beads, and crushed beer cans. Crowds were thinning out as people staggered toward bars or rides home.
By V-Ink Stories6 months ago in Fiction
The Parade That Never Ends
The woman had only meant to watch the parade for a few minutes. She was in the city for a short business trip, staying in a downtown hotel overlooking several busy streets. When she stepped outside that afternoon, the entire district had been transformed for St. Patrick’s Day.Green banners hung from every streetlight.
By V-Ink Stories6 months ago in Fiction
Waiting. Runner-Up in Something Is Beginning, I Think Challenge. Top Story - March 2026.
It could have been the perfect summer day. The hot July sun warmed the water in the backyard pool just enough to be comfortable and refreshing. The laughter of the five little girls echoed against the splashing water as they chased each other in a classic game of Marco Polo. The game distracted them enough that they failed to notice the dipping sun nearing the horizon. Their fingers and toes had long ago turned wrinkly like raisins, but none wondered why they had been left to play so long today.
By A. J. Schoenfeld6 months ago in Fiction
Above From Below: Part 2
Above From Below: Part 1 Part 2 From the window of his dark, barely powered, second-floor office, Rick Steele stared into the even more dismal outdoors, a cigarette hanging from beneath his unshaven lip. The humidity in the air was thick, and Rick felt beads of sweat running down from his temples. His shirt was shadowed by sweat, even in the dimly lit office space. As he blew the smoke out of the open window, watching the drops bounce off the several inches of flood waters covering the street below, the buzzing alarm from his phone told him it was time to leave.
By Jason Morton6 months ago in Fiction
Where Magic
Mrs. Periwinkle plucked a ripe apple from the tree and tossed it in her basket. She took the apples and headed inside. She mashed up a couple of apples and concocted her own apple cider. Next, she sat under her apple tree and read from her book of poetry. The bluebirds in the sky chirped their happy songs for her. Her brawny husband Sam came into sight. He waved at her and smiled warmly. “Greetings my love,” he said. “How do you do my sweet,” she asked. “Labor is long and hard but seeing your face makes it all worthwhile,” he confessed. “Your flattery knows no bounds,” Mrs. Periwinkle said. He bent down and kissed her cheek.“You make me blush as if I was a school girl again,” she confessed. From her crystal ball watched a woman equally as beautiful as Lorna Periwinkle. However, she is ugly in her heart. She grimaced as she watched this mushy scene. She turned to her pet raven named Midnight and said,“Don’t it make you sick?” “Someone’s jealous?” Midnight retorted. Storm, the witch’s black cat rubbed against her leg. The witch was named Sienna Cedar. She bent down and petted her cat. “Why can’t you be sweet like Storm?” she asked. “He’s only nice to you because you feed him,” Midnight squawked. “Can I eat the bird now?” Storm asked licking his lips. “You wouldn’t dare, tuna breath,” Midnight said. “Graveyard lurcher,” Storm shot back. “That’s enough you two,” Sienna said. “we’re a family; we shouldn’t fight.” The cat and the raven grumbled.
By DJ Robbins6 months ago in Fiction
THE CHANGE
The first thing that changed was so small it almost seemed like a mistake. Erica noticed it while rinsing a glass, the water running louder than it should have, or maybe thinner, as if it had somewhere else to be. She turned the faucet off and on again, testing it, but the sound didn’t return to what she thought it had been. It stayed slightly off, like a word pronounced almost correctly.
By Pamela Dirr6 months ago in Fiction
Rannor. Top Story - March 2026.
Rannor looked across the empty field that held wheat in season and watched the sun rise. Oranges, purples, and pinks eked their way across the sky, fighting past the mass of black smoke on the horizon that tried to blot them out.
By Aaron Morrison6 months ago in Fiction
Go Home
To Rue Waterby, there was little worse than a breathless summer’s night in a crowded tavern with a tone-deaf bard. The ale in her tankard had long since lost the chill that made it drinkable, now sitting there with the same sweaty appeal as the thick, humid smell of bodies and beer. On top of it all, her hand at the card game was the crappiest she’d been dealt in a long time. No, there wasn’t much worse.
By M. A. Mehan 6 months ago in Fiction
Once More from the Top
By the time April understood the garden scene had never been about the play, it had already been cut. Daphne, the director, stood in the aisle with a yellow legal pad balanced against her hip and said “Act Two is sagging, and I think we all know where the drag is.”
By Aspen Noble6 months ago in Fiction
