Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Humans.
Fictional First Date
Even the most experienced house remodeler can be surprised by what the world has to provide it. Tearing apart the 1990s version of a kitchen was more work than she expected. The cabinets were screwed directly into the studs and the electrical was placed in locations that didn't make any sense for the modern kitchen. So instead of just replacing the cabinets, Alex demolished to the studs.
John BurkholderPublished 3 years ago in HumansThe Heart Note
The soft points of the honeybee’s six legs shifting on Kray’s naked shoulder tickled more than she expected. She knew them to be innocuous, as everyone did, and the thought of being stung shouldn’t have crossed her mind, but Kray couldn’t keep her muscles from tensing when it landed on her, though she didn’t try to remove it. Kray worked quickly among the branches of her orange tree, a tree she spent the last year painstakingly covering, fertilizing, and pruning to survive the New York winter. She was competing with the honeybees, floating from bloom to bloom in the low morning sunlight of early April, for the tree's few orange blossoms. Kray had an encompassing view of her backyard. A mass of Jasmine flowers, white as moonlight, wrapped down the iron trellis which rested against the back of her house, greeting the orderly rows of mint beneath with their heady fragrance. The yard was awash with every aromatic flower to be grown in New York’s temperate climate, meticulously planted in a grid, one foot between each. The sourness of fresh mulch and soil, almost fecal, mixed on a breeze with the flowers’ cloying sweetness, was carried to adjacent yards. Kray considered the smell a gift to her neighbors; they did not. This variety of high maintenance foliage was not merely a point of vanity, it supplied Kray with a bank of scents to utilize for creating perfumes, her trade of ten years. Kray reached for another blossom, pinching it at the base then plucking and laying it in a basket with the others before descending the eight wooden rungs resting against the trunk of the orange tree. Kray thought of her father, buried next to her mother behind a quaint Presbyterian church in the blue ridge mountains of Virginia, and the trees she helped him prune on their farm by stabilizing the base of his extendable aluminum ladder. Her left foot was the first to touch the ground. Before the right could catch up, a car horn from beyond the fence surrounding her backyard threw her off balance. She stumbled backward as two flowers fell from her basket into the dewed grass.
Maddy JohnsonPublished 3 years ago in HumansThe Struggle with Boundaries
I burst into tears the last time my partner left my apartment. It was one of those breakdowns where I knew how ridiculous I was, but I couldn’t stop being ridiculous. I pulled away from them, trying not to let my partner know I was crying, but tears were infinitely flowing. Feelings such as rejection, loneliness, and abandonment infiltrated my thoughts, even though I knew it was bullshit. My partner just needed some space.
Mari MoorePublished 3 years ago in HumansNot a Drop spilt
“I will pick you up at eleven, enjoy yourself darling!” Maria’s mother spoke lightly as she pulled her daughter firmly from the car.
Robert Michael WarrPublished 3 years ago in HumansA Pause in Time
A Pause in Time Since anything began, I have always been, and will always be, until the day that nothing is. I observe everything, briefly, for a moment, a heartbeat, a blink. Then it is no more and I move on, move forward. You sometimes linger there, although I am gone, and you sometimes forge ahead, impatient, not waiting for me.
Orlaith ReevesPublished 3 years ago in HumansDon’t wait for me
I take one final glance in the mirror; long wavy hair half pinned back with soft strands line my face. Onyx eyeliner borders tightly along my lashes, highlighting my russet cat eyes. And a muted rosewood rouge on my lips gives them a youthful roundness. I look — pretty, exotic even. And the thought of canceling tugs on my instincts, but I brush it away as nerves getting the best of me. The excessive questioning of every decision, from which dress I should wear —or should I go with the pantsuit? To conversation starters and which topics to avoid — ex spouses — has my stomach in knots.
Anais MargolisPublished 3 years ago in HumansIt's all in the details...
Eva waited at the table, absentmindedly picking at the soft white tablecloth that draped over the corners. A red carnation stood in a delicate white vase in the middle of the table while the flame of a dripping candle reflected in a set of sliver salt and pepper shakers.
Nicole CrescenziPublished 3 years ago in HumansTo New Friendships...
As he sat in the slightly wobbly chair, he found himself wringing his hands and rubbing them on his gray pants. The moisture on his hands matches the perspiration slowly beading upon his forehead. He didn't understand why he was so nervous. Maybe it wasn't nervousness, was it excitement? It had been a long while since he did an escapade such as this. He thought he was past that sort of longing and desire. He was fifty and comfortable in his life. He chuckled and grab a rock glass of Bourbon and gulp it down. Holding the bottle, it slid out of his hands and slammed back onto the faux wood table that had nicks and scratches along its top.
Cecee LusarPublished 3 years ago in HumansA Lifetime Started Under the Stars
"Where are we going?" "You'll see." Here I was sitting next to the most wonderful guy I had ever met. He was so unlike anyone else I knew. Constantly surprising me and blowing away my expectations. There was never anticipating what he would do, or say, next and that's what I loved about him. It wasn't easy opening up to him, I had a lot of baggage form earlier in my life, but it was so worth the risk for happiness. We've only known each other for a year and a half but it seems like I've known him for a lifetime. I guess this is what you would call being head over heels in love.
Jennine BruntonPublished 3 years ago in HumansComing Full Circle
I pulled up in the parking lot of the steakhouse, parking at the far end of the parking lot. I had arrived for my date far too early, pretty strange for me since I’m usually on time or slightly late any other time. It was 6:45, and we were to meet at 7. I knew it had to be dating jitters. Not just because it was a first date with a new guy, but my first date in over a year.
Jasmine K. HathawayPublished 3 years ago in HumansShattered Glass, Happy Feelings
Danielle sitting on a chair inside her bedroom in front of a large mirror, she finished her makeup and looked at herself making weird movements with her face and lips stretching them around before yelling to her roommate “Kim!” not stopping her facial “exercises” until Kim walked in. “What?” she said not annoyed just bothered “How do I look? Do you think it’s too much?” Danielle asked her roommate looking into Kim’s eyes, as Kim looked over her outfit, waiting for the correct response. “No not at all you look really good,” Kim tells her “Just good?” Danielle asks a little worried “You look like a strong sexy woman but not overpowering enough to scare him away” Kim replied sarcastically but also truthfully. Danielle nods, smiles, and stands up, her makeup is done and she is wearing a tight dark, ‘dark’ mauve dress (so dark you would think it’s black without the correct lighting) she follows Kim out of her room and walks through the cleaning swamp of the apartment. A vacuum, two brooms (one big the other small), multiple cleaning spray products, a mop and bucket and two rolls of paper towels. “You get to go on a cute first date and I get to get drunk and clean the apartment. Because life is great” Kim says mockingly while tightening her bandana and sipping a glass of rye on ice. Danielle is already done putting her shoes and light jacket on by the door and laughs at Kim while looking at herself in the foyer mirror (which hasn’t been cleaned yet) “Ok. You promise I look good?” “Yes, and it’s a tinder date it doesn’t matter how you look as long as you show up” Kim laughed while grabbing the big broom and also her glass again. Danielle smirks and says “Maybe he’s the one” she grabs her keys and opens the door and says goodbye and starts leaving for the bar.
Jackson PiccoPublished 3 years ago in HumansRight Here Waiting
It is just another day in the life of mine. I have to get up and get ready to go work as the manager for a high end restaurant downtown Tucson. The skies are blue and the sun is beating down without the humidity of the Midwest states so a tshirt and a button up is all I will need today. The drive was safe but now I’m at work and I have to get busy. Break time has finally come around so I will turn the lights off and lock everything up for a couple hours since we close from 2:30-4:30. As manager I am in charge of hiring and I have been struggling to find some good hosts. We have a couple male hosts and I think a couple female hosts would bring a good balance to the work environment. Oh, I know! I’ll go get lunch and while I’m on my break I can visit some retail stores to see if there are any employees looking for another job or to replace their current place of employment. I think I’ll start off at my favorite barbecue joint and am going to get whole slab of ribs. Their ribs are absolutely to die for! The workers behind the counter are nice, but there weren’t any that fit my criteria to be a host. No luck there so I’m going to hop on over to this small bakery in the same strip mall for dessert. I am ordering this pastry called a bear claw and it has pecans, cinnamon, as well as icing on it. I just looked up after my third bite or so and noticed what looked to be a beautiful smiling face under her mask. I am now eating my pasty as fast as humanly possible in order to get the chance to talk to her before she gets in line to order her food. “Hi, my name is Robert” is what I managed to muster up to say to this stranger. She just looked up at me and with her welcoming eyes said, “Hi. I really like your hair!” I thanked her for her compliment and informed her about my goal to hire a few more hostesses at my restaurant, but she kindly let me know that she was happy with her current position which just so happened to be at my favorite bbq joint. I gave her the card to the restaurant and my phone number just in case she knew someone looking for a job. It has been about 30 minutes since I met that girl at the bakery and I received a text saying, “Hey, it’s me from the bakery and I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated your job offer and that I thought you were really nice as well.” I thanked her and went back to work without thinking much of it. Finally, I’m off work and back home and something came over me to text her again. After about thirty minutes of conversation I realized that this girl is really really cool so I asked to FaceTime her and she agreed, reluctantly. We ended up talking for nearly 3 hours with ease! Just got off the phone with her and it’s nearly 3 in the morning. I don’t know how to feel, because I have never met a woman like this in my life before that shows interest in me. I figured it’s best for me to not overthink anything and just hit the hay.