Romance Short Stories

ANYBODY WITH A HEART

Markwayne marched across the dusty yard, rifle secured, properly kitted out, uniform a bit sweat-streaked but nowhere near disgusting. Yet. He felt cheerful, light-hearted even. The day was hazy-bright, the…[...]

The Winter Rose

The snow didn’t fall , it drifted, aimless and silent, coating the iron gates of the botanical garden in a fine, crystalized coating. Danny stood by the frozen fountain, his…[...]

The Girl Who Refused to be Rewritten

The moment the author opened the screen, the world inside it shook. Not metaphorically, not symbolically, it literally shook like an earthquake inside the screen, beyond the author’s sight or…[...]

Beyond the Gray

I live in a world where everything is gray. The streets, the walls, the people… even the sky. People move like robots: they wake up in the morning, work, eat,…[...]

Another Heart Beats

Another Heart Beats Emmet was laying in the straw, his ear against Martha’s chest. “Her heart is beating steady,” he reported. Martha, his favourite sheep, was laying on her side…[...]

The Question

The QuestionPsalm 8:4: “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” She wondered about that. “Yeah, what?” What, why, who…?…[...]

CAN A HUMAN HAVE HUMANITY ?

What makes us human ---or can a human have humanityLuna lies on her bed, eyes half open as she takes her morning snooze and ponders the world.This of course is…[...]

The Mortal Mask

Mina Monroe moved to Los Feliz, California with a dream, a cracked iPhone, and a certainty that she would be seen. She always believed in a glow, not the hazy…[...]

Essence precedes existence

Throughout my entire life, I have wondered if I was adopted, an alien from another planet, yet I knew none of these things was materially true. I always felt different…[...]

What All the Real People Feel

Sneaking another glance at the woman working the bar, I can’t help but ask myself The Question. Is she real?She looks real enough to me. It’s not just that she’s…[...]

Finding Finn

There was something about the wind whipping across the prairie that left Josephine strangely electrified. Even sitting on her porch swing moving nothing but her foot to keep her swaying…[...]

What makes us alive

Listen to how your heart beats. Tuk, Tuk, Tuk. Such a muffled, barely perceptible sound. When you are calm, rested and nothing disturbs you at that time. We almost don't…[...]

We Grow from our Graves

Do we have the will to lead us where we want to go? Or does life often provide circumstances and obstacles that derail us from where we intend to go?…[...]

Human

Chloe was of two minds about things. On the one hand, she cared. She cared deeply about people and animals. She hated anything that caused suffering. She spent much of…[...]

Greater Than Fear

GREATER THAN FEAR Today is April 31 and the northern hemisphere should have been celebrating spring and rebirth, instead the whole world was mourning the death of civilization. A whole…[...]

More Than Enough

MORE THAN ENOUGH It is so alarming how fast her little heart beats. My ultrasound technician assures me it is normal, Thank God. Just one more day and she’ll be…[...]

Shifting Perspectives

Beeping played in her mind. Not even the depth of sleep was safe from the troubles of the world. But this beeping, or more like clicks, it had a rhythm,…[...]

Umbrae Animae

When I first noticed the changes, I did nothing to stop them. It started with my senses. The world around me dimmed. Hue and vibrancy faded away to grays. What…[...]

The Platform Revelation

The doors to the tram opened. I shuffled my heavy feet and aching legs onto the platform, oblivious to the other passengers heading to their next destination. I could hear…[...]

Today is April 31

Today is April 31A Day That Lives Beyond the Calendar April 31 does not exist on any calendar.Yet for me, it has lived for fifty-five years. It is the day…[...]

A Promise Kept

*Inspired by true events* My first conscious thought as I come to in the icy water is: Mollie. Where’s Mollie? The fact that I’m even conscious at all after plummeting…[...]

350 Yards

After everything, I have discovered that the darkness ends if you are willing to stop asking, "WHY ME?" Five years ago, my life ended. Everything I had ever known was…[...]

Jim

It could be worse.I gazed below me at the crests of waves crashing against the cliffside. The birdcage-like structure in which I was trapped dangled in the air, projected from…[...]

Echoes of the Hillside

I sat upon a hillside, all my life before me and behind me, somehow it is possible to already have lived your future, did you know that? When you grow…[...]

Left Behind By Ghosts

Oh, dang it! Again? I glare down the two narrow paths ahead, trees branching overhead, as I try to figure out which path my family took. Folding my arms and…[...]

All We Cannot Save

The last gun shot. The last bang that ended a life. It was over finally over. Treaties were signed and it was… Just over… After the long awaited hope of…[...]

The Weight of Small Things

The first thing she ever stole fit neatly into the palm of her hand — and disappeared just as easily into her conscience.At first, nobody would’ve called it criminal. If…[...]

Mug

I can handle that one day at Mum’s. Actually, I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a while since we last saw each other. When was that, anyway? Maybe around…[...]

Everything the Light Touches

The morning smells like rain that he hasn't felt in ages. Gerald knows this smell the way he knows the creak of the third porch step, the way he knows…[...]

The Good Eye

Let me be clear about something before we go any further. I have all my teeth. Well, thirty of them. The other two I lost in 1987 to a gentleman…[...]

Thoughts I Couldn’t Silence

I don’t understand why the sky is blue.I’ve heard explanations—about light, reflection, and the vastness above us—but none of them ever quieted the question inside me. Because what I was…[...]

The Birth of Sunshine Adult Day Care Home

There is a saying: Where there is a will, there is a way. That is exactly what happened in my life. It had always been my dream to open a…[...]

THE CONCERT PIANIST

“My upcoming recital at Carnegie,” he would say, stirring his coffee with the solemnity of a conductor lifting a baton. “I’m thinking late spring. The acoustics favor Chopin.” Elliot Veresi…[...]

3 weeks to forever.

I met Mary on a dating site called All of the Fish. When we met in person there was something about Mary that seemed familiar. Mary would tell me that…[...]

When the Words Went Quiet

Eric used to be the kind of person who could turn anything into words. He was my next-door neighbor and my best friend. He was talented in many ways. He…[...]

Just the Sub

The children felt it before she even said it—the shift, the ending. When she told them it was time to go back, they broke. Not one. Not two. Whole groups…[...]

Are You Happy?

I recently volunteered for the second time as the coordinator of the Chaska River City Days Annual Photo Contest. The tasks were labor intensive, involving all the contest submissions, required…[...]

The Cookies I Didn’t Eat

The hospital cafeteria was quieter than it had any right to be for mid-afternoon. Linda and I sat across from each other at a small table near the window, coffee…[...]

The Weight of Silence

At first, she didn’t notice it.Silence wasn’t loud. It didn’t knock or announce itself. It didn’t arrive with warning signs or sudden shifts. It didn’t come crashing into her life…[...]

A Rare Dragon Made of Dreams

I knew him on sight. Rugged, muscular, disheveled, sad. Sunglasses hid his eyes. “You must be Grant.” I hugged him with all my strength. “I’m sorry, I’m so dirty. I…[...]

Loose Ink

He was gone. He was really, really gone. Izzy couldn't believe it until she laid her eyes on him. She wouldn't dare believe it until her eyes saw him lying…[...]

Post-Op and Cobalt Blue

POST-OP AND COBALT BLUE The night ward was a tent, and he was in the jungle; noise and chatter clattered through his dreams. His mind was light and frayed and…[...]

The Librarian of Doors

People think they come to me for answers.They don’t.They come because they already know the moment that broke them. The library never announces itself. It appears only when someone can…[...]

A Rant Against Time

What if man ruled time? There exists now, in this hour, in this minute, the same number of hours in a day as did at the beginning of the world.…[...]

Everything In Its Place

Everything In Its Place Jack’s Story I don’t understand. It was just an accident, but everyone keeps acting like accidents have to mean something.It started when Mum said I should…[...]

7086562214

After all these years, I still get the urge to call you, to talk about life and all the things that have happened thus far that you missed out on—my…[...]

Draw Like Dad

Before cancer took his mind, my dad could draw with colored pencils like no one else. It is true. Others have said so that he was the best. I have…[...]

Noah, Not for Sale

On the first day, I felt her before I knew I existed.Not as shape. Not as form. Only pressure—hands gathering what had already been broken. Chocolate pressed together, soft and…[...]

ME

Centre your story around a character who has lost their ability to create, write or remember This is a true story, but please do not think of it as one…[...]

It’s A Short Trip

February 29, 1996 “You’re doing good, Dynasty. Push,” John said holding his wife’s clammy hand. The nurse wiped her face with a rag as she hyperventilated; telling her to slow…[...]

Angela’s Block

Angela twirled a pencil in her long fingers, eyes fixed on the window. As she stared, a tree swayed gently with the breeze, its small green buds drawing attention after…[...]

The Weight of a July Blue

In the textbooks, July is a riot of aggressive color. It is the scorching, unforgiving yellow of the midday sun. A light so bright it flattens the world into two…[...]

Pick A Color

I woke up in a dead sweat even though the fan was blowing the hot air around on my boat and the Florida sun hadn’t yet ripped through the morning…[...]

Twinkle

I still remember my mom’s surprised face when I told her about our new third-grade teacher. -What are you saying? Are you nuts?+ I don’t want to join her classes,…[...]

First Light: A Promise Renewed A Journey of Determination and New Beginnings

She blinked awake, the remnants of sleep clinging stubbornly to the edges of her consciousness. As she slipped from the warmth of her sheets, instinct guided her hand to the…[...]

Greyed Out

Invisible. This is how I am feeling as I am looking out the window of a cozy neighbourhood cafe and seeing my own frowning reflection. I feel invisible, and it…[...]

If Orange Could Speak

Taut strands of warp swallow soft linen fibers of weft as the shuttle makes its way through the loom to create me. Hands, softened by lanolin from sheep’s wool over…[...]

The Grass Is Always Green(er) on My Side

PrologueMerryan had always been a good girl. There wasn’t an instance she remembered in which she upset anybody. Even the tiniest hint of a conflict made her stomach shrink and…[...]

The Gray Paintbrush

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited whereas imagination embraces the entire world. -Albert Einstein“Creative Director: Malachi Borismortier”. My hands shake in excitement at the title. The wet,…[...]

The Shape of Knowing

The Shape of KnowingThe lights went out on a Wednesday in October, which was an inconvenient day for the end of the world. Don Anderson was in the shop behind…[...]

Charcoal Drawing

Charcoal Drawing It doesn’t all go at once, you know. Think August to October. At first, you see the tips of the leaves turn a crisp autumn color, then the…[...]

The View She Chose

Fourteen days before she decided to knock Trevor’s front teeth out of his head, Carly booked the cabin.It wasn’t a dramatic decision. Just a quiet acknowledgment that something inside her…[...]

UNICORN RE-WILDING

No re-wilding programme has caught the British public’s imagination more than the recent plan to re-introduce unicorns into Scotland. People of our generation have long forgotten that the unicorn used…[...]

The Elder’s Corner Tale

Hush now. The drum is talking. Listen. The evening light slants through the kitchen window in Indianapolis, turning the table gold like old rum poured slow and careful, the kind…[...]

I The Chimera, T The Tachyon, and We The Web

My kin told me a long time ago in my youth, “The earth remembers what” others “forget.” “Others? Of whom do you speak?” I asked ”You’ll see” said affirmatively my…[...]

Tree Trip.

Roaring, the bulldozers were rolling on. The climate justice protestors, combined with the greenies and ecowarriors were chanting abuse. Some demonstrators lay down right in the path of the machines…[...]

A CEDAR WHISPER TO REMEMBRANCE

A CEDAR WHISPER TO REMEMBRANCEBy Carolynn McCully There is an old mountain saying: “Some gifts are wrapped in silence, carried on the wind, and left at the water’s edge for…[...]

She, The Goddess

The Earth knows, She has always known. She holds her secrets until we are ready to listen to our heart, for Her song is quiet and Her heart is wide…[...]

Divine Intervention at the River

Though the story is fiction, it addresses topics related to abuse, trauma, alcoholism, and other life challenges. The content may be triggering for some readers. The idea of the story…[...]

The Forest Remembers

Knowledge truly is a curse. My leaves shake and shiver in the wind as a plea to my mother. But she does not answer. She has not answered in hundreds…[...]

What I Remember

I was there when all of them first arrived. I had never felt so free. It was in all the curves of myself, wherever I flowed, whenever I wished. I…[...]

Bottom Feeder

The tidepool where Ane Anemone lived was as beautiful and peaceful an environment as any anemone could imagine. It was her paradise. Cool, shimmering currents of water flowed over her…[...]

The Seventh Sense

The Seventh Sense The screams were horrible. She had never even been able to watch crime shows on TV that depicted people hurting others. It was a type of horror,…[...]

The Brother Who Let Go

First, I have to tell you I am alive and I have two brothers. One Near-And-Beating Brother, who holds my hand beneath the damp, green and life-bearing soil. Whose hurts…[...]

Tree’s feelings

They say we don’t have feelings. But they don’t even wanna grasp the idea of us enduring pain and experiencing happiness. Outer body happiness, estranged happiness. Their happiness. We meet…[...]

Mama’s Secret

Soft steps are heard in the garden, gingerly I hide. Looking from the bush, I see my mother. My love. Oh, how she is so sad. My initial motive to…[...]

How to rebuild the future

The Earth remembers what we forget. The husks of humanity’s past glory, laid out all around for us to admire… And yet, we lack the ability to restore them, to…[...]

I Cried the Day Superman Died

I remember. I remember I cried the day Superman died. Try as I might, I just couldn’t hold it in. I mean, I hadn’t even cried at my dad’s funeral…[...]

FAT

Maribel Diaphanousky did not merely enjoy food. She orchestrated it. Her kitchen functioned less like a room and more like a bustling airport, with snacks taking off and landing at…[...]

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

I am looking at a beautiful painting in the gallery. The painting I am looking at in the gallery is beautiful. I am in the gallery. I am looking at…[...]

I The Chimera, T The Tachyon, and We The Web

My kin told me a long time ago in my youth, “The earth remembers what” others “forget.” “Others? Of whom do you speak?” I asked ”You’ll see” said affirmatively my…[...]

The Elder’s Corner Tale

Hush now. The drum is talking. Listen. The evening light slants through the kitchen window in Indianapolis, turning the table gold like old rum poured slow and careful, the kind…[...]

Tree Trip.

A CEDAR WHISPER TO REMEMBRANCE

A CEDAR WHISPER TO REMEMBRANCEBy Carolynn McCully There is an old mountain saying: “Some gifts are wrapped in silence, carried on the wind, and left at the water’s edge for…[...]

She, The Goddess

The Earth knows, She has always known. She holds her secrets until we are ready to listen to our heart, for Her song is quiet and Her heart is wide…[...]

Divine Intervention at the River

Though the story is fiction, it addresses topics related to abuse, trauma, alcoholism, and other life challenges. The content may be triggering for some readers. The idea of the story…[...]

The Forest Remembers

Knowledge truly is a curse. My leaves shake and shiver in the wind as a plea to my mother. But she does not answer. She has not answered in hundreds…[...]

What I Remember

I was there when all of them first arrived. I had never felt so free. It was in all the curves of myself, wherever I flowed, whenever I wished. I…[...]

Bottom Feeder

The tidepool where Ane Anemone lived was as beautiful and peaceful an environment as any anemone could imagine. It was her paradise. Cool, shimmering currents of water flowed over her…[...]

The Seventh Sense

The Seventh Sense The screams were horrible. She had never even been able to watch crime shows on TV that depicted people hurting others. It was a type of horror,…[...]

The Brother Who Let Go

First, I have to tell you I am alive and I have two brothers. One Near-And-Beating Brother, who holds my hand beneath the damp, green and life-bearing soil. Whose hurts…[...]

Tree’s feelings

Mama’s Secret

Soft steps are heard in the garden, gingerly I hide. Looking from the bush, I see my mother. My love. Oh, how she is so sad. My initial motive to…[...]

I Cried the Day Superman Died

I remember. I remember I cried the day Superman died. Try as I might, I just couldn’t hold it in. I mean, I hadn’t even cried at my dad’s funeral…[...]

How to rebuild the future

The Earth remembers what we forget. The husks of humanity’s past glory, laid out all around for us to admire… And yet, we lack the ability to restore them, to…[...]

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

I am looking at a beautiful painting in the gallery. The painting I am looking at in the gallery is beautiful. I am in the gallery. I am looking at…[...]

FAT

Maribel Diaphanousky did not merely enjoy food. She orchestrated it. Her kitchen functioned less like a room and more like a bustling airport, with snacks taking off and landing at…[...]

The Last Artist

There was once an artist named Rade Myner. He was an artist that knew how to do a niche style of art known as Watercrafting. The art revolved around using…[...]

Old Friend

That smile, genuine and innocent, it matches the sparkle in the light brown eyes with a silent tear resting on her edges. A light touch on the arm to enhance…[...]

From the Front lines to the Front Porch: Memoir of a Matriarchal Soldier

The dirt of Fort Bragg is a jealous thing; it stains the soul with a rusted, iron-bound persistence that thirty-five years of rhythmic "left-right-left" cannot shake. My journey began in…[...]