Short Story

Sins of the Father
You hear a loud crash from above. It sounds vaguely like violent thunder. The odor of burning ash fills your nostrils as your eyes flutter. Your vision is blurred at first. You wipe off your face, reach around to find your hat, and turn over. That's when you freeze, and you finally realize you're not alone.
By Jason Morton28 days ago in Fiction
I Sat in the Driver's Seat of a Car I Was Never Supposed to Touch
You are not supposed to be here. You know this before you touch the door. The sign on the chain-link fence says NO ENTRY. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. But the gate hangs open six inches, just wide enough to suggest permission if you are the kind of person who needs permission to be suggested.
By Jin28 days ago in Fiction
No Seat Belt
Imagine you are 6 years old and going to Woodfield Mall with your parents. You leave the apartment with them, climb into the sports car, and crawl over the seat to the console between the two bucket seats. Your mom gets in on the right side of the car, and your dad gets behind the wheel of the orange sports car. You sit between them , happy to go for a ride in your daddy’s fast car.
By Andrea Corwin 28 days ago in Fiction
Respiration
A short story for the 'You Are Hear' Challenge, developed from my prose poem 'Drowning', created for the 'Negative Space' Challenge. https://vocal.media/poets/drowning-ded7be8365
By Alyson Smith 29 days ago in Fiction
White Bird Island: The Summer Camp That Never Let Children Go Home
The sea is very blue. A white bird skims under the clouds, its wings cutting the wind. Far off there is an island, like an emerald floating on the sea. White buildings are scattered on the island. Lawns are trimmed neat and even. Children in white dresses and white shirts sing on the grass.
By Jin29 days ago in Fiction
High Tea For Werewolves
High Tea For Werewolves The shift began at the emotional level before mutating your physical form. It was subtle at first; a sudden, sharp intolerance to indoor lights, a heavy pressure behind your brow. It became too dark to read the books on your shelf. The text blurred into meaningless shapes, leaving you unable to decipher what you yourself were about to become.
By Alyson Smith 29 days ago in Fiction
The Wrong Room at the Right Time
You don’t know how you ended up in this room. You weren’t looking for it. You weren’t even looking for him. You were just walking — down a hallway, through a door, across a threshold — and suddenly you’re somewhere you’ve never been before, somewhere that feels private in a way that makes your skin prickle.
By Syl De'Vil29 days ago in Fiction
THE MISFORTUNATES
In the dark suburb of Kahl, in a city you had never heard of and would never want to hear of, every house and empty apartment block seemed to have been built beside a howling railway line. The moon was the only light, and death was the only achievement most people in the city were ever likely to reach.
By Nicholas A. Swanson29 days ago in Fiction
Into the Valley. Top Story - October 2026.
You wake up, belly down, in warm, pale yellow sand. With a cough, you raise your head, wiping grains from the sides of your lips like froth from some drink you wish you had.
By Aaron Morrison29 days ago in Fiction
Bitter Petals
You’re eager for that shower, but you gotta let the song finish! It feels too good to cut short, so you let it saturate your ears… Ah, and your soul! To hear the 90s again, even if it’s just for a moment it’s doing you good.
By Sam Spinelli29 days ago in Fiction
Earth Angels Part Two
CHECK OUT PART ONE BEFORE PROCEEDING PLEASE :) PART TWO: CHAPTER FOUR "If stalking were a sport, you'd take the gold medal."
By ToyaRenee 29 days ago in Fiction
The Space Station Toilet Plumber
"Why could you not have kept your bloody mouth shut? As if it wasn’t bad enough that Commander Graham’s blood globules were floating around the equipment lock—courtesy of you accidentally smacking him in the face after a misjudged high five—you then had to go and volunteer through your own guilt to perform the spacewalk yourself. Idiot!
By Simon Aylward30 days ago in Fiction