Romance Short Stories

One of the Best People

Three days ago, I was bitten by a mosquito. It was an especially painful bite, and the mark it left was more swollen and itchy and alarming than anything I’d…[...]

The Notebook

DANIELSlow is steady and steady is fast. That’s Daniel’s philosophy. Take your time. Be patient. Do it right. He picked the lock to the front door with ease, and siddled…[...]

The Last Straw Of Schadenfreude

My name is unimportant. The players are the opposite. The events that I transcribe are real. Let me set the stage. I dwell in the heart of Stalithe, a city…[...]

CW & A/N: Mentions of past child abuse, gaslighting/coercion, mentions of past drug/alcohol abuse, OD, cursing, absent parents, religious psychosis???, matricide.) (Also kind of ties into the prompt of: Center…[...]

NIGHTMARISH CUSTOMERS AND CUNNING PLOYS TO STEAL THE OWNER’S DATA

The room and breakfast in Ferrara, in the Emilia-Romagna region, represent a category of structure as a guesthouse very clear in the description: it is an apartment with two or…[...]

Something There

I live a different life. One thing my family does not know about, and if I told you, we’d both be killed. When I sit at the table with my…[...]

The Drunk Fish

was no different from other Yorkshire pubs in the late nineties. Divided into two rooms – or ‘bars’ – they were separated by doors, but shared the same bar counter.…[...]

Tennessee mind reader’s Federal Agent

As the days turned into nights, and the events that surrounded Delta's home grew into something more serious. Delta's family and a few other locals, who knew She was connected…[...]

The worst kind of time capsule

Thunk. The shovel’s progress through the dirt ceases. It’s replaced by two soft hands scrabbling at the dirt. A finger nail bends, breaks, leaving a trail of blood. Undaunted by…[...]

The Unexpected

A car sped down a dimly lit road late at night. The hum of the engine blended with the faint glow of the dashboard, casting soft light across the driver’s…[...]

INNER BEAUTY

John Stenheimer wanted to kill someone. And not just anyone. He wanted to kill a Black man or a Jew. Either one would do; it didn’t really matter. As the…[...]

The Loyalist

In a country named Landfar, there lived a man by the name of Jerry Tinone. Jerry was a long-time supporter of the country’s government, which was described by their neighbors…[...]

The Undertaker’s Friend

I was a little apprehensive about trying a new dating app, but the guys I was finding on Hinge just weren’t cutting it anymore. Their profiles would either be completely…[...]

Good Hand, Bad Hand

Tap Tap Tap Cesar gazed out the window of his room, the view overlooking the rest of the city. He stayed at the top floor of the fate casino –…[...]

Hello

""Such a simple word; but when their no response it's like a empty room said Jeff McKinney as he closed the door to house he once shared with his wife…[...]

What Happened To Father?

Chris Flynn2,135 words What Happened To Fatherby Chris Flynn It seems like it’s been forever in the desert. My mind and my heart are in two totallydifferent places. My emotions…[...]

Redeem

It was weighing heavy on my heart. The memory of her. Haunting me. Like the hessian, headless, galloping in my wake. Not a peaceful night’s sleep. But why after so…[...]

Auto Delete

Got a sec? No Not really… Urgent?KindaYesDefinitely In mtg Email?Feels safer on signal Jeez FineOr phone? Cant Mtg???LEAVEWut mtg Can’t Steve is here Pickering all staffScene of the crime Not…[...]

From a false truth to a lie the path is blurred: in search of the truth for the manager of a property

This is a story that draws on an authentic experience.It is a story that hides a fraud and a false belief but let us start from the beginning. The story…[...]

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…[...]

Margie McGill: The Second Case

I stalk the outside of the building. I have spent days upon days tracking footprints—digital and physical—to arrive here. This is it. This is where I’ll find him. It’s an…[...]

Smith and Wesson

That scorching sun wasn’t lying. It made every blistering moment of my torment feel intentional. I looked up at it, squinting like always. That made me frown and wonder if…[...]

FALLEN ANGEL

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,…[...]

The Detective who solves nothing

Brackmere is a town that lives by the sea and the market. Its cobbled square bustles with fishmongers, bakers, and gossiping matrons, while gulls wheel overhead, shrieking like heralds of…[...]

It’s About Your Father.

My phone rattled its shrapnel hammer, waking me like a shot to the heart. I was vertical and lifting the cold receiver well before the fog of sleep had even…[...]

Wanted

He found her hiding behind a cloud of cigarette smoke. The empty beer bottles clustered on the scratched plastic table like flies on a carcass might have explained the red…[...]

Neon Point

Detective Inspector Carl Kay sat in a metal room, with metal walls and a metal chair beneath him. Various hums and groans of thingy-ma-bobs and whatcha-ma-call its surrounded him. He…[...]

An Inventory of Friendly People

NOTE: Trigger warning of suggested sexual abuse. The rain is falling hard as the cab pulls to the curb, the driver careful not to splash his next fare. The man…[...]

Echoes of a Home

The newlyweds stood before the decrepit farmhouse that was now their new home. Rather than seeing the worn, weathered, and tottering facade, they saw potential for what it could hold.…[...]

The Extraordinary Scam

By Lee Kendrick In London's Victoria station the posh ceremony began with a brass band playing, as dignitaries standing on a red carpet prepared to launch the… 'Around The World'train…[...]

Farce on the Orient Express

I check the time on my fake Rolex, having to hold my hand steady so I can read the numbers clearly. 12:07, as best I can work out on the…[...]

The Eye

Richard liked to paint. It’s all he did. Francesca, his attendant, suspected it was all he could do. He never spoke to anyone that she knew of, as long as…[...]

The Badger Is Generally a Solitary Creature

They called him Badger, but the name didn’t suit him. He was six and a half feet tall, had a pale, flat face, spoke in hushed tones, and moved slowly,…[...]

The Black Widow

Mia hovered over the sleeping man. Finally resting, his pain erased by the cocktail of medications in his IV drip. She checked his vitals. Weak, but steady. His heart fluttering…[...]

Pages From the Year I Lost You

I love you. Dear Diar, Day 1 It seems so strange to say, and so distant to think about, that graduation has already happened, and I'm planning the next steps…[...]

Save a Seat For Me

Content Warning: This story contains sensitive content relating to mental health and physical violence (off the page). Please prioritise your own wellbeing before reading. Hi Dad, It’s been a while.…[...]

The Text

Reading the text again for the fifth time the detective knew that it had to mean something.This generation puts everything in a text message instead of calling or writing a…[...]

I’m Hungry

“Tell me where you’re taking me, Adam.”Cassie laughed as she stepped out the front door into the warm afternoon sun. Gravel crunched under their shoes as they headed toward the…[...]

End of the Line?

Jack looked at his motorcycle and sadly shook his head, the local cops all know him and his bike, he needs something more discrete to vanish from the law. With…[...]

An Untold Story of Personal Horror

It was the evening of 23 December 2000. Two nights before Christmas. Sydney was warm and alive. Oxford Street shimmered under neon light, shop windows glowing, last-minute shoppers drifting past…[...]

Crooks, Monks and Bad Thai Food

Have you ever been handcuffed before? The sharp, taunting sound of the click that makes your stomach drop. The coldness of the metal, biting lightly into your skin if you…[...]

The 4:20 to County Jail

by Raymundo AKA "Ray Ray" Reyes. This story contains themes of drug abuse and criminality. This story is meant to satisfy all 5 prompts for the week. Robb Thomas awakes…[...]

Number Five

As the white ball goes around the Roulette Table Gus is watching for a black 5 to be the destination of the white ball.Red number 22 the dealer calls out…[...]

Every fourth word

CW: References to murder. To our patrons: If the morning suits you, early callers now can pause awhile and read what follows in this week’s paper: several free currant buns…[...]

9:07AM

(Other sensitive content: Mention of murder, mystery, crime)(Other sensitive content: Mention of murder, mystery, crime)DAY 1NOVEMBER 27TH 1983 ROOM 12E - SESSION - DURKEE - OFFICER BROWNAgent Brown enters the…[...]

A Bloody Sky

“Hands in the air. Put your f#cking hands up!” The barrel of the man’s pistol swung towards my head. “You!” My heart slammed into the wall of my chest as…[...]

It’s not my problem

.What should I do in the final stages?It's psychologically difficult to take on historical responsibility.Moses did the same—in anger—when his people worshiped the golden calf.Where's my black Bersa Thunder, the…[...]

Minimal Hitter

Wading gently through white foam on the shore, Mairin relaxed her toes as they were slowly engulfed by the sand. The golden sun rays gleamed off the white-capped waves. She…[...]

His grave

*contains mentions of sexual and physical violence, suicide, mental health and grief*It was out of any order, out of my mind was this path I took today. I couldn’t bring…[...]

Edith Jenk enjoys a teapot steeped in thrills

Edith Jenk learned to be unseen long before anyone thought to watch her.By seventy-five, she had become so profoundly ordinary that people edited her out of their memories while she…[...]

The Expiration of a Scavenger

The Averly Alley Artz hosted its annual Independent Creators’ Gala—a night where painters, poets, musicians, writers, and every flavour of tortured creative crawled out of their damp studios to display…[...]

The Hanging Tannery

7:45 a.m.The curtain is drawn, and death lurks behind, a merciless shadow hungry for his victim. I wonder if the shadow knows of the helpless souls attached to this one…[...]

Till Death, Say I do

Maren picked up her phone and dialed Knox again. No answer! She started to dial again when her best friend Reney took her phone away. “Girl, he is with Toby;…[...]

Till Arrest Do Us Part

“I object!” A redhead leaps to his feet, hand raised as if he expects to be called on by the priest who, for reasons I’ll never understand, customarily asks for…[...]

Coded Minutes

Doris opens the drawer, and her eyes flick to the customer on the other side of the metal cage. She’s out of loose twenties, and a banded stack lies in…[...]

The Grand Event at Redbury

Redbury Hotel, nestled in the remote hills of Northern India, welcomed people of each and every sort. They even went so far as to keep five rooms dedicated to the…[...]

To a Worse Person

It felt like her lungs were on fire, but she couldn’t stop or slow down. Sylvia escaped through the forest. The men who had invaded her home were shouting orders…[...]

The Experience

Preface:Author get to experience only what you see in the movie. Chapter One: The Author Lois tried to calm her nervous by pulling out a cigarette from her jacket pocket.Noticing…[...]

The Disruptors 1.2

The energy of the room vibrated around him while laughter, clinking glassware, and small performances played out like an orchestra he and his wife had composed together over decades. At…[...]

The Shed

By Conor Burrell The screen door opened with a creak as Val entered into the cherry wood paneled kitchen. He gingerly removed his long coat and placed it gently onto…[...]

Empty Insides

On the fifth of march, as the late snow was crying from the sky into the suburbs of Tulip's Hollow, Michael Phillips woke up to discover that his liver had…[...]

One Complaint Per Customer

ONE COMPLAINT PER CUSTOMER by Alessandro TRIGGERS: THIS STORY CONTAINS IMAGERY OF SUICIDE, MENTAL HEALTH AND DARK PSYCHOLOGY. What an asshole. Before this new idiot police Sergeant arrived (after a…[...]

Doin’ Time

***Sensitive Material: Contains mental health issues, some sexual content, and violence*** She stared mindlessly out the window. What was she supposed to do now? “Med rounds!” a shrill voice pierced…[...]

Consequences

I was working as a jack of all trades at the local Homeless shelter. The place started life as a motel, but gave in to economics, and took guaranteed county…[...]

The Front Door

“Oh, I see my bag. Yeah, I’ll text you when I’m in the car.” Julia hung up the phone and put it in her trench coat pocket as she maneuvered…[...]

The Power of Rain

My mother used to tell me that in a city like Starlight, a rainy day could either force people to show their true colors or signal that something bad was…[...]

The Disruptors 1.3

Her phone vibrated.Unknown Number: There you are.Something brushed lightly against her shoulder.When Jess turned, Victoria was already standing beside her.Not across the room. Right beside her. The tightness started in…[...]

Das Blaue Maedchen

Note — this story contains sensitive content including the mention of suicide and description of blood. On the left-hand side of a wooden desk sat a miniature replica of the…[...]

Plum Red Musings

The restaurant had its lights dimmed down to simulate candles, an overall clatter of metal on porcelain, a spicy garlic scent, the distant hiss of sizzling, live music—piano not a…[...]

Covering the Ugly

Frederick Bond walked briskly down the sidewalk heading for the pharmacy. It was unseasonably warm in Chicago for mid-October, and his fine wool topcoat was unbuttoned and swung freely as…[...]

Every fourth word

CW: References to murder. To our patrons: If the morning suits you, early callers now can pause awhile and read what follows in this week’s paper: several free currant buns…[...]

Auto Delete

Feral

I taught her to lie before she could spell her name. Told her people were soft, stupid, and always looking for a story that made them feel good about parting…[...]

The Bear Necessities of Contract Law

Goldilocks Lockwood v. Bear FamilySmall Claims Court, Woodland DistrictCase No. 2024-SC-0847Transcript of the Plaintiff's Opening Statement THE COURT: Ms. Lockwood, you may proceed with your statement.MS. LOCKWOOD: Thank you, Your…[...]

Wax/Off

“I’m going to start this confession as plainly as I can: if you can think of a better way to rob a wax museum, I am ALL ears.” The arresting…[...]

Speaking of Superpowers

Speaking Of SuperpowersFor now, I am going to ignore the fact that I am not great at learning languages. It is exceedingly difficult for me. But I am going to…[...]

I’m the Guy Who Rejected June McCarroll’s Proposal to Add White Lines in the Center of Roads to Stop People From Crashing Into Each Other All the Time

Based on the true story of June McCarroll. It may be hard to imagine now, but there was a time before lines were painted on the roads. A time when…[...]