Short Story
At Dawn, We Exhale
At dawn, the world was quiet enough to hear her own breath. She sat by the water’s edge, the mist curling around her ankles like something alive. Behind her lay the life she’d held together piece by piece. A frame she’d built from fear and routine. Before her, a ship waited.
By Cierra Walls11 months ago in Fiction
Experiences May Differ
Just one look. Wouldn't hurt, would it? That's what they all say. That's what they never stop saying. Don't look through the keyhole. Don't tempt fate, don't push for the unseen to be seen. Don't strike up a parley with the unknown beyond the liminality of your doorway/doorframe. Still, what would the harm be in looking through the keyhole or the peephole? The peephole was designed by Abe Nichols and Joseph Spector, who patented their specific version of a concept that had existed for many centuries, and it became known as the optical door peephole or wide-angle door viewer.
By Paul Stewart11 months ago in Fiction
A Message Written in Moon Dust
Dr. Aris Thorne was a geologist, a woman of rock and reason. The first human mission to the lunar farside was her life's work. As her lander settled into the dust of the Mendeleev Basin, a place of eternal Earth-shadow, her heart beat with a purely scientific thrill. She was here to read the moon's oldest stories, written in stone.
By Habibullah11 months ago in Fiction
Letters From The Room That Doesn't Exist. AI-Generated.
Aarav had always been fascinated by old buildings, especially the abandoned Willowcrest Manor — a weather-beaten mansion at the edge of town, wrapped in vines like nature was trying to bury it. Locals said it was cursed, swallowed by time and sorrow.
By shakir hamid11 months ago in Fiction
I Wish for Fish. Runner-Up in Through the Keyhole Challenge.
Gently rolling in his blankets was an umber ambush, a stalking blot of venom on the night sky, thick in the tryst of the hunt. Or, so he thought of himself. No, his sanguine dream of dense jungle and damp mist hiding all but his bright yellow eyes was canned within the confines of a rocking metal tub. “A cat on the sea, who ever heard of such a thing”? The sleek feline mused to himself, lazily trailing a paw over the edge of his soft cloth perch, dangling from the dark ceiling in the corner of a warm room. He peeked though the keyhole to the small cupboard he was curled in
By Thomas Speer11 months ago in Fiction
THE PARALLEL TRANSMISSION
The Parallel Transmission When the message arrived, reality began to unravel. by Alex Mario The night was silent—too silent for a world stitched together by signals, motors, and the soft hiss of the cosmos. Wind swept over the Carpathian ridge and died against concrete, and inside the hilltop observatory the only sound was the hum of old equipment refusing to retire.
By Alex Mario11 months ago in Fiction
Le Grand Croissant
Camille pressed her face against the door to peek through the keyhole one more time, hoping the view had changed. Hoping her eyes had deceived her the first time. Hoping it was just her imagination, brought on by the fact that Julien had been a little weird about that room earlier.
By Cristal S.11 months ago in Fiction
Behind the Sheet
We moved into the house in late fall, the kind of season where daylight fades before you feel ready. The nice elderly landlord walked us room to room with a natural smile, pointing out upgrades and fresh paint and how the furnace had been recently serviced. He kept talking, but every time we reached the hallway, he angled his body away from the last opening at the far end. He never looked at it directly. He never mentioned it.
By Joey Raines11 months ago in Fiction
The Sound of Rain That Never Falls. AI-Generated.
No one in Hollowbridge could remember the last time it had rained. The clouds gathered every evening, dark and heavy, but no drop ever touched the ground. People called it The Dry Storm, a strange curse that made thunder echo but never bless the soil.
By shakir hamid11 months ago in Fiction
The Thought Archive
🖋️ Story Description In the rain-drenched city of Torrento, memories aren’t lost -- they’re stored. Fifteen years after erasing a tragedy from his past, Elias Crane receives a mysterious notice from The Thought Archive -- a shadowy institution that keeps forgotten memories sealed in glass. Inside one vial lies everything he wanted to forget: the love he lost, the pain he buried, and the truth that never stopped waiting for him. When the Archive forces him to remember, Elias must confront what it means to live without the past -- and whether love is something we can ever truly erase. The Thought Archive is a haunting, introspective story about grief, memory, and the quiet courage it takes to remember who we are.
By Sahir E Shafqat11 months ago in Fiction
