Short Story
The Anonymous Letter Writer . Top Story - December 2024.
She knew she didn’t have a choice. Her father, of course, was right. They needed the money and could not afford to send her to school past the sixth grade. Not to mention the fact that he did not believe girls needed an education to raise babies, which, in his opinion, was all women were good for.
By Terri Kalloch2 years ago in Fiction
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
No one is pretending anymore. A disgusting former noose that brought America to the brink only to fall for the sweetness in nightmares sold as a constitution revisioning. That’s how Papa Jimmy described it after I told him how my teacher presented it in her lesson. One of his mini rants during his morning routine of black lemon tea and skunk-ish smoke. He talked, whether he had an audience or not, and greeted the new audience happily without needing feedback between breaths. Dad says it’s how he used to plan routes. My mom and dad stopped volunteering to listen a long time ago. I guess war stories can only be so interesting in the revisit, although they let him stay while he was ‘stranded’ but beyond that, silence. Dad never said why. The most he would betray was the inner battle cry he’s amazing at hiding. I felt that he wasn’t the only one silently asking for quiet forgetfulness from all of us. I refuse to try to forget to look for what I don’t know. “That-a girl.” Wish other adults weren’t so secretly sad in conversations. Or a deep nostril exhale before abruptly changing the subject. Nervous laughter sounded the same as laughs at dirty jokes in kid-friendly movies. Not Papa Jimmy; he cackled even before he left two years ago with his ‘I’ll be back’ line referencing what Dad called a dumb kids movie from decades ago.
By Willem Indigo2 years ago in Fiction
Wings of Hope: The Dove's Secret Message
A famous political prisoner, incarcerated during the war, was held in a notorious prison. Distressed by solitude and the distance from his homeland, he began to write about his circumstances. It is better to let the prisoner himself tell the story:
By Sara Lorel2 years ago in Fiction
A Blizzard All My Own. Content Warning.
It was a typical Wednesday afternoon, Nora finally got an opportunity to have some time to herself. The hustle and bustle of the holiday season always dampens her alone time. She liked people, but she didn’t like her world revolving around others all the time. Which, when you work in customer service, it might as well.
By CgtWriting2 years ago in Fiction
The Tyrant's Shadows of Ambition
Tunde Bullock’s frailty was a cruel illusion. Beneath his trembling hands and hollowed cheeks lay a mind sharp and relentless—driven by a single, all-consuming hunger: to rule Neverland. His past was a tangled web of whispered rumors—shady deals, a rise to wealth steeped in mystery, con artistry, and ties to criminal forces as dark as the secrets he kept. But one thing remained undeniable: nothing would stand between him and his ambition, not even his failing body.
By Honsby Orji2 years ago in Fiction
