literature

Whether written centuries ago or just last year, literary couples show that love is timeless.

If you don’t know what to say to a cancer patient, say nothing
If you don’t know what to say to a cancer patient, say nothing A cancer researcher and crash survivor explains why “stay positive” can hurt, and what actually helps.
By Jin5 days ago in Humans
Lyric Breakdown: Drop Dead
** “I know that the bar closes at 11, But I hope you never finish that beer. You know all the words to "Just Like Heaven,” And I know why he wrote them now that you're standin' right here.”
By Gabriel B. Shames6 days ago in Humans
I’m 43. Money Is Tight. The New Status Symbol Is Saying “I’m Free.”
Born in ’83, 43, Money Is Tight, and the Scoreboard Changed An old classmate posted on WeChat Moments. Instant coffee, two slices of toast. Caption: “Eating breakfast alone, saving quite a bit.” A dozen likes below.
By Jin10 days ago in Humans
I’m 35, Never Married, and I’ve Lived With 5 Men. This Is What I Know Now.
I’m thirty-five. I’ve dated five men. Laugh if you want. I lived with almost all of them. Plain truth: thirty-five, never married, five relationships. At the start of each one, I thought it would be the last. Life doesn’t settle by “the last.” It settles by “at the time.”
By Jin12 days ago in Humans
The Crack in the Door
Friday nights are my favorite because my granddaughters come to stay the night. They love playing games with me and I am old but not too old for them. I never will be, I would do anything for them. I cook for them almost as much as my wife does. She’s an angel on earth but I don’t say that out loud, it’s not what men are expected to do. We are expected to provide and protect and I have done that for several decades, through all of my kids lives. I used to drink but God changed that. I am a better man because of Christ. I am a hard worker and I used to show my anger with my large, tough hands. But even that was love, or I thought it was. I thought I was teaching them how to behave. I was wrong. Now I work with the same hands to provide, to cook, the play hide and seek with grandkids. To cut wood for fire to keep them warm. And sometimes, when no one is looking, bring my wife a coffee and tuck her in with a blanket. Because she really is an angel and even a tough old man like me can show her gentleness sometimes.
By Raine Fielder16 days ago in Humans
My Memory of You
I once had feelings for you. And you knew it. You told me you were surprised because you never thought I would actually admit it to you.
By Alix18 days ago in Humans
She Had a PhD and a Hospital Job. Then She Quit to Deliver Takeout.
She Quit Her Postdoc to Deliver Takeout The rain in Zhuhai comes fast. Liu Zihan parked her electric scooter outside a convenience store. The lid of her delivery box was not closed all the way, and water ran down the plastic edge. She went in and bought a bottle of water. When she came out, her phone buzzed. New order: three kilometers, a congee shop. She looked at it and did not accept. She opened the water, drank, leaned back on the seat, and waited for the rain to ease.
By Jin18 days ago in Humans
Sit Down: The Night a Concert Proposal Turned a Packed Arena Into a Boundary Dispute
That night at the Bird’s Nest, the lights went down. Glow sticks swayed like wheat. Zhao Lei reached the chorus of some song. In the middle section of the stands, someone stood up. A young man pulled a ring box from his pocket. The box was small, velvet, and it popped open with a snap. The woman beside him covered her mouth. He pulled out a handful of candy and threw it. The candy landed on plastic seats, bounced onto the steps, and rolled to other people’s shoes. Some people bent down to pick it up. Some frowned. The woman stood. Her skirt brushed the seats. From behind, people shouted, “Sit down!” The voices came from several directions. A security guard’s flashlight swept over from the aisle entrance. The beam wobbled across the crowd. The young man froze. The ring box stayed raised. The woman sat back down, stood up again, sat down again. The guard said, “Either sit down or get out.” Around them, everything went quiet for a few seconds. The song kept playing. Some people clapped. Some booed. The young man closed the ring box and shoved it into his pocket. The candy stayed on the ground.
By Jin22 days ago in Humans
The Midlife Libido Myth: Women Don’t Peak at 40 or 50
The female libido peak is not a midlife event Dirty thirties. Cougar. MILF. Mrs. Robinson. Samantha Jones. Hollywood has sold the same story for decades: a woman turns forty and her desire outruns everything she felt at twenty. The story is catchy. It is not the average.
By Jin24 days ago in Humans
The Quiet Ways She Wants You
When She Wants She turned the air conditioning down two degrees. No one in the meeting room noticed. The projector light lay across the back of her hand. She stared until her fingers went numb. Beside her, someone turned a page. The paper made a sound. She shifted. Her knee hit the table leg. She left it there.
By Jin24 days ago in Humans
Everyone Is Just Trying to Get Home
One: The market Marcus’s vegetable stall was the third one from the entrance. Cabbages stacked neat. Carrots still muddy. Spinach tied with straw rope, bundle after bundle, laid out on a plastic sheet. He went to the wholesale market at three in the morning, came back at four, opened at five. Twenty-three years.
By Jin25 days ago in Humans
I Used to Think Education or Mindset Separated People. Then I Watched My Grandmother.
What separates people: education or cognition? I have seen highly educated people live ordinary lives. I have seen people with little formal education achieve remarkable things. What determines the upper limit of a life?
By Jin27 days ago in Humans