Short Story
Knight & Day. Honorable Mention in Parallel Lives Challenge.
Roger had a very happy childhood. He was the youngest of four children, all children of Carl and Betty Knight. Sasha was only ten months older than him. She had been born prematurely but never let her smaller stature stop her from reaching her goals. Tommy was three years older than him and was believed to be the most athletic. Jackie, five years older, was considered the smartest — that is, until Roger came along. Don’t get me wrong. All four were very brilliant. Roger just seemed to catch on to things quicker than his older siblings.
By David E. Perry12 months ago in Fiction
The Drunk
This is all my fault. She did not try very hard. The bottle she had in her hand was vodka and very expensive (first mistake); she tried to sit between Robert and Kerwin (second); she felt upset when one of them picked it up – that very overpriced booze – to see what it was she was drinking.
By Kendall Defoe 12 months ago in Fiction
The Café That Waited for Love
The rain had been falling since morning, soft and unhurried, like the city itself had decided to move in slow motion. Inside Café Loraine, the windows fogged from the warmth of espresso and conversation, turning the world outside into a watercolor blur.
By Atif khurshaid12 months ago in Fiction
The Bells of Black Street
The Bells of Black Street The year was 1832, and the city stank of death. A damp fog rolled in before dawn, thick as wool, curling around chimneys and spilling through the alleys. Beneath it, the cobbled streets glistened with grime, the gutters overflowed, and the air hung heavy with fear. Mothers pressed cloth to their children’s faces, fathers went to work with trembling hands, and everyone whispered the same word that made even the strong turn pale — plague.
By ♿ V+ Marie381Uk 12 months ago in Fiction
WHERE ARE THEY??
THE INQUIRING MIND Issue #327 – October 2025 You won’t see it on the BBC, or read about it in the Guardian, or the Daily Mail. (They're ALL captured, but you already knew that.) People all over England, Scotland, and Wales are going MISSSING. They’re not on the missing persons register, and as far as we can tell, they’re not in custody either. SO WHERE ARE THEY?! Since March, hundreds of individuals across England, Scotland, and Wales have disappeared without public record, legal process, or explanation. There have been no alerts, or investigations. Their families have not been permitted to appeal for information. These are adults from all walks of life. At first they don't seem to have much in common. They are different ages, and widespread locations. Not to be crass, but they are from all social classes, although there are more missing from the working class and those affected by poverty. They are office clerks, delivery drivers, students, midwives, and retirees. They left behind flats with the lights still on, pets under, phones charging. In more than one case, they left meals half-eaten, suggesting a hurried snatch. In several cases, they left work for a doctor's appointment, and didn't come back. Here is what the cases have in common: VANISHED - the individual is gone without a trace NO APPEAL - the families have not been supported to make a public appeal for information. They can make their own of course, but no conference is called. If they post on social media, this is "shadow banned" - the platform squeezes reach so that few people ever see it. In several cases, these posts are taken down by "fact checkers" for containing "misleading information". If they try to get the story in their local paper, it never makes it past the editor, or it's buried in a tiny column near the back. POLICE NO HELP - Even if there is a flurry of activity initially, this fizzles out and the family is fobbed off, told there is no evidence the person has come to harm, and has probably just done a runner. Any follow up is squashed. The government has issued no statement. We reached out to several spokespersons at the NHS, given that many have disappeared after attending what appear to be routine appointments. Said spokespeople remain unavailable for comment. So we asked ourselves... What the hell is going on?!! Sidebar: >312 disappearances since March. The number climbs each week. >NO press coverage >0 official investigations >1 very nervous receptionist who said “I shouldn’t be talking to you” and hung up We’re not saying it’s aliens. We’re just saying it’s happening. And, what's really worrying us, is that, as far as we know, we’re the only ones counting or caring.
By L.C. Schäfer12 months ago in Fiction
Homegoing
8:00 p.m. Saturday night, October 11th, Greensboro, North Carolina. Destiny is waiting for her friends Trevon and Giselle to come pick her up for the homecoming party at North Carolina’s A&T university, her alma matter. “So how long are y’all gonna be out?” Destiny’s mother Vera asked. “Ma you know homecoming is all day, all night” Destiny replied. “Yeah, but we ain’t hardly seen you all or all night since you been home.” Destiny’s father Charles added as he walked in on the conversation. “Daddy you know I’ve been tryna catch up with everybody since I got back Thursday. I’ve missed everyone since I moved after I graduated 2 years ago”
By Joe Patterson12 months ago in Fiction
The Girl by the Sea – Part 2. AI-Generated.
Ethan Cole thought he had mastered the art of vanishing—slipping through places without leaving a trace, never allowing roots to form. But ever since the morning he crossed paths with Amelia Hart, something within him had shifted, quietly and unwillingly. He found himself wandering back to the shoreline where she often sat, her presence lingering in the salt-stained air like a question he refused to answer. He told himself he didn’t care, that she was only a momentary distraction, yet his feet betrayed him, guiding him back to the very place he swore he would not return. Amelia stood once again at the water’s edge, sketchbook resting against her palm, her gaze drifting across the ocean with the softness of someone who believed in things he no longer did—hope, healing, the possibility of gentle endings. When he approached, she didn’t turn to him, yet she felt him, as one feels the first drop of rain before the storm. “You came back,” she said quietly. Ethan’s silence was not agreement, but it was not denial either. He looked at her drawing—the horizon, stretching farther than any man could run. “I don’t stay,” he murmured, almost to himself. “I don’t belong anywhere.”
By Yaseen khan12 months ago in Fiction
Tune Between Smiles
A soft tune, a quiet smile, and a story that feels like rain. He laughed at the mirror again, the kind of laugh that hides a thousand tiny worries. His morning coffee went cold, but he didn’t care. The city outside was loud, restless, alive. Inside, his heart hummed an offbeat melody that only she knew.
By MUHAMMAD SHAFIE12 months ago in Fiction
