Short Story
Butterflies in the Sunshine
In the rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy, in the summer of 2024, the sun bathed the fields in golden light, and butterflies danced like flecks of living color. For 17-year-old Sofia, this landscape was both a refuge and a challenge—a place to heal from a past that still clung to her like a shadow. Her story, woven with moments of quiet courage and newfound connections, would unfold under the wings of butterflies, in the warmth of the sunshine.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Fiction
Shadows of Humanity
In the year 2075, the city of Nova Espera sprawled beneath a sky choked with ash, its neon lights flickering like the last breaths of a dying star. The world had fractured after the Great Collapse—decades of climate crises, wars, and unchecked AI had left humanity teetering. Amid the ruins, a new society emerged, divided between the gleaming towers of the Elite and the shadowed slums of the Forgotten. This is the story of Kael, a scavenger with a haunted past, and Aria, an android seeking her soul, whose unlikely bond would cast light on the shadows of humanity.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Fiction
The Lizard Man's Tale
In the heart of the Louisiana bayou, where the cypress trees draped their moss like mourning veils, the legend of the Lizard Man whispered through the humid air. It was 2025, and the small town of Bayou LaCroix clung to its secrets as tightly as the swamp held its waters. This is the story of Eli, a young journalist, and the enigmatic figure known as the Lizard Man, whose tale would unravel the town’s hidden truths.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Fiction
The Silent Bell of Khorasan
Once, in the dusty and sun-scorned province of Khorasan, when the crescent moon hung like a blade in the heavens and kings were named after lions but ruled like foxes, there lived a monarch known as King Zulfiqar the Just—a title given not by the people, but carved in golden plates by his own court poets.
By Muhammad Abdullahabout a year ago in Fiction
The Perfume of the Slave
Once, in the time when kings ruled with iron fists but claimed to wear velvet gloves, there was a land called Khumyar, veiled in gold but rotting beneath. Its courtyards echoed with poetry while its prisons bled with silence. The king, Jalib the Proud, had a beard as thick as his cruelty and eyes that glistened with suspicion. His court was filled not with wise men but with flatterers dressed as philosophers. The pen was praised, but the sword decided justice.
By Muhammad Abdullahabout a year ago in Fiction
Wholesome Tales for the Heart
In today’s fast-paced world, sometimes the best way to reconnect with simple joys is through stories that remind us of friendship, wonder, and the little adventures that make life magical. Here are three heartwarming tales that will take you deep into a world where animals deliver mail, gardens come alive, and curious cats chase runaway kites — each story wrapped in rhythm and rhyme to delight readers of all ages.
By MAROOF KHANabout a year ago in Fiction
How to go from Radiohead to The Beach Boys in Two Simple Steps
OK COMPUTER- Radiohead 2:29 Track : Let Down About two and a half minutes into "Let Down", hearing the empty echoes of the guitar through my headphones, the sound swimming through my ears and straight to my heart, straight to my head, straight to my soul. Where music makes me feel this passion and wisdom and peace and tranquility all at once. Music gives me a safe place to think about all of the things I wonder about the world. Inside the noise my brain ponders what these answers to the great questions of the world are, and how exactly she came to be at this particular moment in time, listening to the song "Let Down" by Radiohead and busily typing away on her computer as if her life depended on it? It wasn't like Alice in Wonderland, and yet a lot of times, I feel like Alice, especially when I hear Thom's haunting voice through the speakers of my headphones, sinking deep down into my soul. It's an indescribable feeling. I've seen two other people in my life have the same kind of feeling and expression when they listen to music; my mom, and my brother.
By Slgtlyscatt3redabout a year ago in Fiction
Are You a Lizard?. Top Story - June 2025. Content Warning.
This following is a short, fictional horror story that I wrote. He had schizophrenia, but he was cool. His name was Frank. He was short in stature, a little scrawny, with light brown hair and blue eyes. He always kind of reminded me of Eric Foreman from That 70s Show in the face. He was a cool, good looking guy; very calm, chill, and introverted. He was jittery and kind of awkward sometimes, but it was also kind of cute in this strange way. We all loved him despite his eccentricities, in the beginning.
By Slgtlyscatt3redabout a year ago in Fiction
Bailey's Back. Runner-Up in The Second First Time Challenge.
The sun shone brightly on the Alabama Gulf Coast that day, sparkling like a string of diamonds on the deep, blue-green water. Bailey stole glances at it as she drove, mostly because she just couldn't help herself. She hadn't seen the Gulf of Mexico in over ten years. Not since she left home and traveled north for college.
By Natalie Grayabout a year ago in Fiction
Stuck
My downstairs neighbour greeted me politely, and I screamed in her face. She was a nice enough lady, I'm sure. Didn't deserve that. In my defense, I was freaked out, and starting to unravel. I don't know how I got here, and I have no idea how to get back.
By L.C. Schäferabout a year ago in Fiction
THE LAST MEAL
Description: Packed into cramped quarters with no memory of the outside world, they wait in darkness as giants reach in to claim them one by one. When Big Jim gets snapped in half trying to escape, the remaining inmates realize this isn't just another stretch in maximum security, it's something far worse. A darkly comic horror story about survival, hope, and the terrible moment when you finally understand, you're never getting out.
By Joey Rainesabout a year ago in Fiction
