Romance Short Stories

Every Dream is a Theft

Three months after the funeral, I started dreaming of him. He was there, in the living room, wearing his sunglasses inside, his favorite ones with the blue-green chrome lenses that…[...]

Feliz Cumpleaños

Feliz Cumpleaños My six-month volunteer teaching stint in sunny Pachuca, Mexico was to end on Sunday evening. The city had become a second home to me and the house I…[...]

Ghost

He had always shared a room with them, his three brothers and himself spread out in two beds. But for the first time he was alone, because tomorrow he was…[...]

The Raleigh Cartagena Connection

Carlos Huston, a fit 45-year-old Black male, stepped onto the tarmac of Rafael Núñez International Airport in Cartagena, Colombia. He thought that the many trips he made to the desert…[...]

Are You Really About La Raza?

ItzelLa Gringa. The White Girl. It used to be my nickname growing up. My light hair and light eyes and thick tongue that struggled to formulate anything Spanish. As a…[...]

San Bartolo

CW: Accidental injury Tata's driver dropped us off at the top of the hill. The sun glints off the metal inside the car had burned my eyes.I blinked hard and…[...]

La Hacienda

When the layoffs came, they arrived like a sickness spreading through the country. Entire departments gone overnight, entire futures rewritten in an email that began with, ‘We regret to inform…[...]

Ghost

He had always shared a room with them, his three brothers and himself spread out in two beds. But for the first time he was alone, because tomorrow he was…[...]

New Traditions – A Dia de los Muertos Story

Carolina stood in the middle of her Florida apartment, surrounded by shopping bags from Michael's and Publix. She felt both nervous and excited, wondering if she was doing the right…[...]

Your Heart Will Always Be Mine

I still remember his number by heart -- the heart that he had breathed life into for a whole year before strangling it dry. My bloody fingers tremble as I…[...]

Las Catrinas

Their laughter came before they did. It was sharp and foreign against the hush of candles and prayer. He felt it ricochet off the stone walls and rush back at…[...]

Pan Con Pavo

I took a deep inhale from my vape. I was going to need it. I was visiting my family for Thanksgiving, and it was always my least favorite thing to…[...]

5am

Roberta: Good morning!Tanya: Jesus!Roberta: No, mom.Tanya: Why are you up?Roberta: Why are you home late?Tanya: Are you waiting for me? Did you sleep?Roberta: How can one sleep when their child…[...]

Somewhere

Once the officers left, she started to pack. Clothes, a brush, shampoo. Small jewelry. Keepsakes from her cousins in San Juan. Her savings from the flower shop in her coat…[...]

The Mountains

The apartment has remained the same over the last few years. No more moving or changing things. The off-white walls hold old paintings of hunting dogs and hilly scenes. The…[...]

The List

Manuel Salazar, better known as just plain Manny was a riding in a Yellow Cab through the streets of New York City. He was on his way to LaGuardia Air…[...]

Cafetera Bialetti

“Bueno, el café es una de las cosas más importantes para los puertorriqueños y el mayor parte del caribe y Suramérica.” Damn it; I forgot the lecture was going to…[...]

No more coffee shops

She was shot in broad daylight. That day I had been arguing with my son about getting a haircut before his band concert. I wanted him to look sharp when…[...]

The Fire Hydrant

The day had barely started, and my younger brother was already up to his mischief. It had been three years since my family had all been together in the same…[...]

Guardapalabras

Before last night, I was nobody in particular. I mean that literally. Our apartment has bare walls where other families hang portraits. No photo albums. No letters from the old…[...]

Taco Tuesday

The small, wooden box is nestled between two large books on the bookcase. The modest in-home library came with the house and Josie has been meaning to go through the…[...]

A Blinding Light, A Moment of Silence

A blinding light, a moment of silence. Darkness. And then, the sound of a river. He could feel the hot dirt below his skin. A flash of memory hit him…[...]

Here there is the answer to a question: how a platinum blonde influencer bought herself a hair salon without working?

Marcela Castoro Pérez, a beautiful platinum blonde influencer with thousands of views on Instagram due to simple viral videos shot with a boy with walking support due to walking problems…[...]

The shutters, clattering against the bedroom window, wake him though he struggles to recognise his surroundings; vaguely recalling the faceless whore he’d picked up in a bar in Teotihuacan. Instinctively,…[...]

Santo, Pero No Libre

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, forever and ever, Amen.” I stared at my mother after reciting…[...]

My Mothers Lies

My mother once told me that my dad was an alien. I was six when she told me that. Now, my parents were born and raised in another country, Peru.…[...]

Close to Home

They sat around the pond, Lake Mini-Ha-Ha, and listened to the story of when Kyle got a fishing hook pierced through his cheek through the inside of his mouth and…[...]

The Disappearance of Rosa Ortiz

The day they took Rosa Ortiz, I was thinking about my grocery list. Rosa had just relieved me at the nurses' station. She was laughing at something – a joke…[...]

Roja Lupa

She was to blame for this. For all of it. Roja had come back to the pack. Not as a full fledged lupin but a full blown traitor. Willing to…[...]

The Jesters Who Became Kings

Two men enter a bar, sit by the balcony, where the bartender, a smiley fellow with a funny mustache, is washing a glass. One of the men looks tired, and…[...]

Royal Blue Lies Inside The Eyes of Heaven

This story is inspired by the song The Soul Controller by Ghostface Killah Maurice Powers should have just said no when Isaac Aguilar asked him if he wanted to make…[...]

The Daughter of Early Dew Drops

My favorite part about visiting my mother is leaving her.It's the dew on the grass, the fresh wind of an early spring day just an hour before the crack of…[...]

Saltwater Spirits, Sugarcane Shadows

The first thing Marisol felt was the pulse—a thrumming, blood-red heartbeat of a feather resting upon her threshold. It did not merely lie there; it breathed, twitching against the humid…[...]

Today is Going to be a Good Day

The smell of fried dough reaches the upstairs washroom where I run my fingers through my curls. My stomach grumbles, pleading for a bite. Today should be a good day.…[...]

Love in the Time of Asthma

The mask swam elephantine and bug-eyed in the dark glass. After several years of passing the auto shop, whose empty windows were the only ones between the drilling fields and…[...]

Underneath Fernando

Ricardo followed Jorge reluctantly up the stairs to their section of the stands. Jorge turned to Ricardo, saw the expression on his face and rolled his eyes. “Why did you…[...]

Kiss of the Snake

Yellow Day Today is a yellow day. The sunlight sneaks in through the window, writhing on the floor like a snake. Outside, the leafy pecan tree shakes in the wind.…[...]

The Ungentling

Bill’s disappeared upstairs with the little sickly girl but me I’m here to see the blind woman. I hear she did it on purpose, tore donkey tail out of the…[...]

Re: Disappearance of Alexis Monroe

Dear Mr. Stone, I haven’t spoken with Alexis in like six months, so I’m sorry if I get any details wrong. I’m not really sure where to start? I’m not…[...]

Olive Green Couch

I tried to savor the seconds slipping away, like sand falling between the fingertips of an open palm. I could tell that she was falling out of love with me,…[...]

Ellie’s Ghost

I just wanted to see her again. She was the light of my life, and she still is the light of my afterlife. As I look through her window, I…[...]

Venus Buried

The girl in the graveyard is your best friend, so you take her home. The night is a bruise between you, a blotch of rogue in the passenger window; the…[...]

The Mermaid’s Wedding

The Mermaid’s Wedding When Jeanine was a little girl she would dress up as a mermaid and marry her prince at sea.Her adoptive parents had her dream come true. Steve,…[...]

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been afraid of the dark. There's something about the quiet shadows that makes my heart race and my senses heighten, as if…[...]

Ó Leannáin

The moonlight drifted pleasantly through a gap in the autumn clouds. Breathing in, you would taste rain and smell the delight of the refreshed grass and mud. Niamh shivered, not…[...]

Of Course I’m a Witch

-Mirror mirror on the wall…. Look at that reflection!!! Blonde curls falling gently on my shoulders. Bright blue eyes and rosy cheeks. Truth be known, I look kind of sweet and innocent. Even after…[...]

June 10th, 2026

**Sensitive Content: Mental Health, Alcohol, Major Bodily Injuries Abandoning solitude of many months. I found myself risking peace. I had finally decided to break free from the labyrinth of my…[...]

Even the lost can be found.

(Trigger warning: This story depicts mental issues, drug abuse and homelessness.)It was early evening when my phone rang. I answered to the frantic voice of my ex-girlfriend's current partner. "I need your…[...]

Friends with Benefits

(Sexual Encounter) Thinking back to my childhood, I can clearly remember sneaking into my dad's Playboy magazine stash and gazing at the beautiful women and their big boobs. I would…[...]

Friends with Benefits

(Sexual Encounter) Thinking back to my childhood, I can clearly remember sneaking into my dad's Playboy magazine stash and gazing at the beautiful women and their big boobs. I would…[...]

What Am I Gonna Say?

I knew she would ask. She always does. What am I gonna say? Of course, the story doesn’t start there. Yikes, I wonder where it does start? I guess the second week of 7th grade…[...]

the middle mermaid

Look, when your father's King Triton, you have little say in your life. You performed for the fishes, pretended you don't eat half of them whenever you're not on display,…[...]

She’s His Best Friend’s Girl

My name is Margie Rabinowitz. Years ago, when I turned twenty-one, I decided to go out with my friends to finally drink legally and get seriously hammered. My boyfriend’s name…[...]

exempli gratia

A black bird glides down to the billboard outside Ellen's apartment. She sips a London Fog as the bird sidles into the crowded line of preening starlings, causing a jostling…[...]

Sweet Goodbye

Celeste woke up to the sun streaming through the blinds. She stretched before reaching over for her phone on the nightstand. It showed 7:43 AM and she rubbed her face,…[...]

Shadows Left Behind

Beneath the endless stretch of dark, looming clouds, the world served as but a facade. A lifeless imitation, where mechanical humming drowned all that could be perceived as "living". The…[...]

Peaches

Tennis camp was fun, but honestly, I just did it for Charlie. My forehand was shit and I couldn’t serve even if I tried, but she was there so I…[...]

Snowed In Lovers

Beverly was awoken by the scent of hot chocolate wafting through the room. Followed shortly by an Angel moving the bed sheets out of her face. Or at least someone…[...]

The Fire Within

The Fire Within "I'm really sorry," Emily said the moment Michael opened the door. Her large brown eyes shimmered with unshed tears against the backdrop of her golden locks.Michael hesitated,…[...]

Saturday Is The Coldest Day of The Year

Monday. I am freezing. My hands are stiff, tight, and red, nearing purple. I’m walking forward. One foot in front of the other. What else did I do but continue…[...]

Fragments of Us

Autumn, 1991. Ottawa. I hadn’t seen Sophia in months, and it felt like a lifetime. We’d known each other through our families—Slovenian immigrants who had somehow found each other in…[...]

Skin Deep (Sensitive Content: Mental Health, Physical Violence, and Gore)

I sit in my car, the engine cold and idle as I stare at the dashboard in a deep hypnosis—eyes glued to a series of writing-like scribbles etched into the…[...]

Unusual Cargo

Some people considered the job of docking coordinator to be a boring one, but it suited Dyna quite well. She enjoyed the puzzle of slotting different spaceship models into the…[...]

92.7 WQLZ

You whistle in your sleep. It is often quite loud but I do not mind. You attain many hours of sleep every night and it is enough to sustain you.…[...]

Good Girl

When I arrived here I hadn’t yet met the woman who would save my life. The wipers squeaked across the window as tiny semi-solid balls of ice fell from the…[...]

Over a Cup of Tea

Over a Cup of Tea“Well, how are we going to do this?” Eliza questioned. “I mean, do we go to a fertility clinic and get artificially inseminated, or what?” And then,…[...]

Meng Po’s Tea for Forgotten Memories

Meng Po's Tea of Forgotten Memories Deity involved: Meng Po (Grandma Meng), the Goddess who helps deceased souls to forget their past lives before reincarnation from Chinese mythology“You’re back again?” She…[...]

The Tenant

Another dispute is heard from the gritty stairwell of ‘Fydor’s Apartments and Housing’. Flickering wall fixtures dot every door; the only light during November’s grim evenings. Up the metal stairs…[...]

Child of the Storm

Nettle darted around the mountainside, desperately trying to stuff as many mushrooms as she could find into her basket as the first snow of winter rolled in from the west.…[...]

You always make things better

Honestly, what is the point of an umbrella? thought Lena, as she grabbed at hers, threatening to blow inside out. As she raised her arm, raindrops raced gleefully down her…[...]

A Night Out

It’s 1:30 in the morning and the bass is hammering so hard I feel it beat in time with my heart. It could be my adrenaline. No one sees me.…[...]

Vivian’s Blizzard

Vivian stumbled through the icy mounds of snow covering the ground, almost in a daze. The dark grey clouds covered the sky, ensuring not even the slightest pinpricks of light…[...]

Forty-Five Minutes

The muffled boom of the music reverated through the thick tiled walls of the bathroom as I pushed her against them. I wrap my hands around her, one to roam…[...]

First and Last Kiss

The First and Last Kiss Fifty is the sixteen of old age, an age when you know you have crossed a threshold into another era of your life. It is a…[...]

When the Earth Stops Spinning

When I tasted her lips for the final time, no one warned me it would be the last. There was no sign, no inkling of fading feelings, everything was beautiful.…[...]

Twee Meisjes op het Strand

Author’s note: Joke is a female Dutch name (pronounced “Yoke”), nothing funny :-) The mist obscured the horizon, and the fine, persistent rain, driven by the wind, felt prickly. The…[...]

Beatrice

The sound of the front door opening and closing causes Amber to glance from the window she'd been gazing out of. A smile forms as her daughter walks in with…[...]

The Color Of Life

The color of life is rich, dark, and beautiful, covering every centimeter of one’s existence without the deep realization that it is even there in the first place - it…[...]

Girls Green and Blue

I always had a friend who was blue, she blue to my green, her eyes indigo blue. She loved inky blue glass and lapis lazuli rings framed in silver. She…[...]

Brown And Blue For You

Josie was coloring in art class with her girlfriend, Archie next to her. Though the latter notices that Josie didn't color the eyes brown. It's clearly Josie herself, but the…[...]

6:03

The clock of time ticks away in a deafening manner, mocking me, the way my heart sinks lower and lower as the small hand edges closer to 6:00. The smell…[...]

My Gorgeous French Girl

Traveling was on my bucket list. Seeing the giant mountains in Europe, or even the salty breeze in the Caribbean. If I didn't complete my bucket list, I would feel…[...]

State of Death

*This story contains gun violence, criminal behavior, coarse language* These are my seven minutes. I have seven minutes before my brain stops and there is nothing left within me. There…[...]

Patti and Beth Closure

The door flew open to the morgue, and a shadowy figure highlighted the entranceway. Her vivacious and curvy body made quite an entrance. Patti looked up and immediately knew it…[...]

The Beast, the Witch and the Sisters

King Ferdinand was not a great ruler. He did what he wanted. If it was good for the country or not, he didn’t care. He ended up having three daughters,…[...]

Seven Letters From Camp Conversion

Mom: I cannot believe you and Dad sent me away to this crappy summer camp. I hate it here. All the food tastes the same and the girls are taller…[...]

Letters of lost and found

March 13th 1976Holly, I am writing you to say happy birthday. It's been years since I've written you, I know, but I have lit a candle for you every year to…[...]

One Kiss Less

Francis couldn’t remember the last time she’d lived. It didn’t feel real, her daysmore empirical than whole experiences themselves. Another morning simmered beneath the scorch of her hatred. One more…[...]

A Duet of Balanced Motion

I feel just a little euphoric when I leave my comfy little group every Wednesday night. I can’t say what it is that does it; the conversations, the herbal teas,…[...]

Hallowed Admiration

[Sensitive Content Warnings: Mental Health, Suicidal Ideation, Physical violence]It'd been three months.Three months since I last saw my partner.Three months since I had to face my own fears.I laid in…[...]

Golden Hour

Golden rays of warm light bathed the bedroom, washed over her soft skin where it was exposed above the tangle of sheets that wrapped us together. She breathed in, and…[...]

Her Own Time

I never understood what it means to give time. I always thought 'giving time' was just about waiting... but it’s not. Time is a context we create to allow things…[...]

Tales of a Baby Gay Part 1

Sensitive Content Disclaimer: This story contains references to mental health issues, as well as mature content and light cursing.I couldn’t be sure what had caught my attention in Sonja’s online…[...]

Burnt in The Memory of The Rain

Sensitive Themes - Slight Abuse, Discrimination, Religion I used to love being out in the rain. The rhythmic sounds carried by nature, the world settling into peace, and the feeling…[...]

Birdsong

Often, those who prefer the cover and darkness of night are called “night owls”. Like real owls, they are awake long after most have retired. But not me. I’ve always…[...]

Canteen Full of Sins

Content Warning: Mentions of drug use and child abuse.Ivy gave me three days to give her an answer.I couldn’t on the first day because it was too soon to consider…[...]

Intersection of Right and Wrong

*Adult language contained in this story*Life is full of choices. You can look at them like intersections. If you make certain choices, you will be on a proverbial path. If…[...]

RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE: How are you so stupid?

TW: manipulative relationship, cheating From: <LivLafLoathe@mail.com>Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2025Subject: How are you so stupidTo: <jim@jimmail.com> Dear Jackass, Claire called yesterday. She said you hit on her wife at work.…[...]

Egan’s Creek Simulator

CONTENT WARNING FOR HOMOPHOBIA [ Play the game here —> https://jaythefirst.itch.io/egans-creek-simulator ]Rosie’s Diner and Bakery is world-famous for their cakes, shakes, and being the restaurant where Harry and Giselle broke…[...]

The Things I’ll Tell My Diary and No One Else

Hi all, I would like to add a quick trigger warning for sexual violence and mental health. December 12, 2020 Hypothetically, how many years in prison would I get for…[...]