Humans

Who?. Top Story - October 2026.

Content note: this story deals with domestic abuse and thoughts of suicide. …Sobbing. "Mother, please help me!" A loud, drunken voice yelled, "She is not going to help you; she knows better!" The young man looked at his mother with desperate tears in his eyes, wanting her protection. She stood by the sink, tugging her sleeve down over the purple bruise on her wrist, the way she always did. They shared a moment's stare, looking directly into each other's eyes, into each other's souls. Her lip trembled. For a second, he thought she would speak. The mother broke into tears and hung her head. Then the back of his stepfather's hand caught him across the jaw. A chair crashed to the floor beside him, and the kitchen spun as the young man's vision went blurry. He tasted blood. His stepfather was looking down on him, laughing, and said, "You are as worthless as she is; why don't you do us all a favor and end it."

Same Again?. Top Story - October 2026. Content Warning.

Ah held mah heid up wae mah weary hands, the weakness flowing through mah body. It had been a day. In fact, it had been a lifetime. A lifetime of mistakes an ah dinnae ken how the fuck ah wis gonna change anything.

Hong Kong Diary - Yet Another Bloody Murder. Top Story - September 2026.

Living in the ex-British colony of Hong Kong is an exercise in cognitive dissonance. On the surface, the city is a triumph of aggressive Asian efficiency. The streets are impossibly clean; you could realistically eat your lunch off the pavement though society prefers you to do so in a designated area. It is a safe, frictionless, well-organized society, albeit one where the prevailing sense of democracy has been recalibrated to “just listen to what the school principal says, and no running in the hall.”

We Don't Change. We Get Rewritten. Top Story - September 2026.

Life is made up of unpredictable chapters, each one leaving its mark on the main character —  you.  The same way we get pulled into a good storyline, the different stages of our lives have a way of reshaping who we are; adding depth, complexity, and intrigue to our personalities. Do these chapters make us better? Stronger? Do they break us?

BAD MANNERS. Top Story - August 2026.

Bad Manners Ignorant or ignoramus ** I’ve known Jeanine for well over twenty years and throughout those years, she’s always proved her ignorance. While she attended college and spent the next twenty-five years in military service, her course of studies, somehow, went awry.

Is This Love, Or Am I Hysterical?. Top Story - August 2026.

My ex has just asked me if I want to try our relationship again. I live with him now. We co-parent and sleep on separate floors. Every Monday, I go down into his bedroom. He has been seeing other women. Recently, I became the easier choice. He brings up trust. I don’t trust you, I say too quickly. I do not trust myself.

It’s 5 am. Top Story - August 2026.

I don’t know you but it’s 5 in the morning and the rest of the commuters are either at their midlife crisis or not even old enough to truly comprehend it. You sir with your cane and orthopedic shoes walk as fast as your legs won’t allow and yet here you are. I can’t help but to wonder what you are doing or where you are going that’s so important for you to travel before the light has woken up. It makes me wonder what will I be doing once I’ve achieved your age? Will I be walking to a job that overworks me because no one I know is 1 one percent enough to influence ballots and retire? Is this the reckoning that awaits us?

What About The Night We Met?. Top Story - August 2026.

The day we met in the park was more special to me than you think, despite the trauma that life had brought to me. I was fifteen years old, and sleeping alone on the street; something a child should never have to go through. I was terrified because I did not know how to survive, and the boyfriend I was with back then did not have a clue how to help me at all.

Things I won’t miss (and he won’t recognize)

I Planned the Family Trip. My Daughter Spent It Showing Me the Back of Her Head.

What Causes a Man’s Midlife Crisis?

Why People Stop Asking for Help

Sagittarius Woman and Virgo Man Compatibility Score

The Long Way Home

REGRET

Of Heart Surgery and Humanity