Short Story

Final Report
The full moon was its biggest, brightest self, and seemed to be enjoying its freedom in the massive Montana sky. Wolves howled mournfully in the distance. One of the four men seated round the fire turned and looked toward the cries in the dark.
By Canute Limarider13 days ago in Fiction
One Swim More. Runner-Up in Last Call Challenge. Top Story - September 2026.
There is a rhythm in walking, left, right, left, right, makes it easier to think, or harder not to. And thinking to the beat, right, left, right, left, makes it harder to finish a thought, once it gets twisted and irregular, once it isn’t neat. Once it loses that one-foot-after-another flow, so you can either grind to a halt or let it go, and to sate the brain, which loves a purpose, march out another. There’s no shortage.
By Hannah Moore13 days ago in Fiction
Green Case, Red Button. Honorable Mention in Last Call Challenge.
In the middle of the night, when all the candle lights were out, the room smelled of two competing scents. I should have stayed asleep, but I kept twisting and stretching my tired limbs.
By Caitlin Charlton13 days ago in Fiction
Every Ending Until the Last
The bottle made a hollow, grating, tinkling sound as it spun. James watched nervously as it made its rounds on the pavement outside the gym. The pounding of the middle school dance’s music was barely audible. Even the pounding of James’s heart was louder as he waited nervously for the bottle to land on one of his friends who encircled it.
By Ophelia Keane Braeden13 days ago in Fiction
Gigi
“Gigi! Gigi!” I walked around the edge of our five acres as I had every morning and every afternoon for three months. We had been away, visiting family for four days in February. It had snowed while we were gone. Our house sitter didn’t tell me until we were getting on the plane to come home.
By Natalie Wilkinson13 days ago in Fiction
Sweet Water. Top Story - September 2026.
The summer sun was unbelievably hot in Spree that day, the kind of sun that makes you feel shell-shocked and causes the world around you to look like it’s underwater. Sandy felt like she was half out of her body, hardly hearing herself as she half-heartedly answered a question her friend had just asked her.
By Shannon Hilson13 days ago in Fiction
The Final Destination
She shifted in her seat, again, her eyes darting nervously around the room, scanning the faces of other passengers, surveying the cracks and water stains in the foam tile ceiling, watching bus after bus come and go from the slight peek into the garage from behind the ticket counter, to the right of the departure board, to the left of another windowless wall.
By jl wood13 days ago in Fiction
Nails in the Coffin
Conception is the first nail in the coffin we know as life. In no small matter of irony, a mother’s decision to bear a child instead of aborting one is the second. Third is the moment of escape from the comfortable, protective warmth of the womb, and we emerge into the harsh, cold, unfamiliar, and often unfriendly world.
By Liz Montano13 days ago in Fiction
Fill the Belly 🐺. Content Warning.
It's nice here. I guess. Clean anyhow. Not like that hostel. Got no weirdos tryina climb in my bed or put hands on me. That's good. There's food. Can be a bit dull and stodgy-like sometimes. The old lady doesn't know what spices are, I don't think. I've gone hungry enough times not to mind that so much. Food's food.
By L.C. Schäfer13 days ago in Fiction
Last Call
The gray road splits perfectly before me. All I can do is stare at the diverging paths, as the first few flakes of snowfall melt against my windshield. It’s the first snow fall of the season - I know that logically.
By Taylor Rigsby13 days ago in Fiction
Last Call at Conways
A large bell rings, and the portly bartender calls out, “Time, gentlemen." It’s my last chance to get a drink for the night. In fact, it will be the last drink I ever order at Conway's, a pub that has been a big part of my life for 14 years.
By Matthew Smith13 days ago in Fiction
Not Even Called
The scuffmarks on the worn gym floor stared up at me as I cast my gaze downward. I closed my eyes and hoped the other kids would not see the tears starting to form in the corners. I knew they could see the embarrassment that burned hot on my face. There was nothing I could do about that. All I could do was continue to stand there. Waiting…. Waiting for my name…
By Rae Fairchild (MRB)14 days ago in Fiction