Romance Short Stories

Foley’s Follies

Pre-AI-flashes of light emanate from the half dozen compact discs suspended by ribbons of multiple lengths and colors hanging from different branches of the venerable pepper tree in front of…[...]

The Last Honest Thing

The room was always loudest in the beginning—laughter erupting, voices carrying, the sound of shoes meeting the floor. Each Tally in the room belonged to someone. A human, somewhere out…[...]

Bertha

What a monolithic masterpiece – one hundred pounds plus of World War Two era electronics, from an age when things were built to last. My fingertips traced the words Super…[...]

The word nobody warned me about

The Word Nobody Warned Me AboutPeople talk about grief like it is the monster.They say it gently, with soft eyes and careful voices.“You’re grieving.”“You’re still grieving.”“Grief takes time.”And they are…[...]

Foley’s Follies

Pre-AI-flashes of light emanate from the half dozen compact discs suspended by ribbons of multiple lengths and colors hanging from different branches of the venerable pepper tree in front of…[...]

Holiday Lunch Club

Holiday Lunch Club I met Bernadette at a monitor academy. Monitors are probation officers who get DUI and DWI cases. She was very attractive (She reminded me of Kate Hudson,…[...]

Lights

When I was much younger than I am now, my grandfather died, and two lights turned off. As the dwarfs slid down the sky, becoming blue and brighter, my mother…[...]

The Olive Tree

The elders whispered of a beginning that had been beautiful. They called our grove a hidden paradise, where animals and humans roamed in harmony. A place where gentle streams of…[...]

Connection

I was simply ‘grass,’ and my friends were just ‘trees’—no personal names, no distinctions. We natural things have to take what’s given to us; no questions asked. There was no…[...]

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…[...]

Second Chance

Trigger Warning: Mentions of neglect, substance abuse, abuse and abandonmentAsh was your regular college school student, he had decent grades, he had a few friends and as well had a…[...]

Thalion Silver

Marcus sat at the edge of his mother’s bed, the mattress dipping under his weight. At age fifty-three, he carried more of it than he’d like. The cardboard box in…[...]

Firefly

It was the fireflies that had brought her here. Hundreds of them, or perhaps thousands, lit up the open plain, blinking in and out of existence in such a flurry…[...]

Still Waiting

The therapist’s office smelled faintly of coffee and lavender, and somewhere behind me, a clock ticked steadily against the silence, each second feeling louder than my own breathing. “When was…[...]

When Gratitude Arrives Before Sadness

The hardest people to lose are not the ones who leave loudly. Not the ones who slam doors, throw accusations into the air, or make sure the ending scars itself…[...]

Flowers & Makeup

I'm a productive person.I can wear makeup because I’m not a bitch at my prettiest. And I don’t want to steal husbands and I never respond even if a husband…[...]

Holiday Lunch Club

Holiday Lunch Club I met Bernadette at a monitor academy. Monitors are probation officers who get DUI and DWI cases. She was very attractive (She reminded me of Kate Hudson,…[...]

Lights

When I was much younger than I am now, my grandfather died, and two lights turned off. As the dwarfs slid down the sky, becoming blue and brighter, my mother…[...]

The Olive Tree

The elders whispered of a beginning that had been beautiful. They called our grove a hidden paradise, where animals and humans roamed in harmony. A place where gentle streams of…[...]

Connection

I was simply ‘grass,’ and my friends were just ‘trees’—no personal names, no distinctions. We natural things have to take what’s given to us; no questions asked. There was no…[...]

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…[...]

Second Chance

Trigger Warning: Mentions of neglect, substance abuse, abuse and abandonmentAsh was your regular college school student, he had decent grades, he had a few friends and as well had a…[...]

Thalion Silver

Marcus sat at the edge of his mother’s bed, the mattress dipping under his weight. At age fifty-three, he carried more of it than he’d like. The cardboard box in…[...]

Firefly

It was the fireflies that had brought her here. Hundreds of them, or perhaps thousands, lit up the open plain, blinking in and out of existence in such a flurry…[...]

Still Waiting

When Gratitude Arrives Before Sadness

The hardest people to lose are not the ones who leave loudly. Not the ones who slam doors, throw accusations into the air, or make sure the ending scars itself…[...]

Foley’s Follies

Pre-AI-flashes of light emanate from the half dozen compact discs suspended by ribbons of multiple lengths and colors hanging from different branches of the venerable pepper tree in front of…[...]

Flowers & Makeup

I'm a productive person.I can wear makeup because I’m not a bitch at my prettiest. And I don’t want to steal husbands and I never respond even if a husband…[...]

The word nobody warned me about

The Last Honest Thing

The room was always loudest in the beginning—laughter erupting, voices carrying, the sound of shoes meeting the floor. Each Tally in the room belonged to someone. A human, somewhere out…[...]

Bertha

What a monolithic masterpiece – one hundred pounds plus of World War Two era electronics, from an age when things were built to last. My fingertips traced the words Super…[...]

Pink and Gold

Pink and Gold in the DarkThe sky was a dark veil of black velvet sprinkled with tiny diamonds – sharp, magnifying, illuminating, a perfect fresco for this world. Today, the…[...]

What Once Was Mine

Warnings for themes of death, grief. When you’re young, you have all these dreams and passions. As a young lad, I wrote and created stories with my very best friend-…[...]

A Fitting Tribute

For the robber, it felt fitting to steal from the Hoboken True Crime Podcast Club on the evening of Bob Horowitz’s wake. A touching tribute. A murder could have been…[...]

Your Own Path

The heat hit in a double blow, the sun relentlessly beating down and then reflecting off the marble paving of the square. Mary sat in a café sipping iced coffee.…[...]

Flash In The Pan

Sapient, inhuman, and brilliant: This silver star deep in space—was just like me.When it first contacted, I was surveying distant planets.My ship radio crackled, and I answered.I greeted half-heartedly, expecting…[...]

Old Light

OLD LIGHT The baby blue paper was folded in your jacket against your ribs. She had given it to you the night before the flight. A ream of small sheets,…[...]

The Apology I Practiced

Sweat glistened on her skin as she made her way past me. I stood there under the tree letting the shadow swallow me, keeping my head down. She had her…[...]

Once upon a Labyrinth

Milos had never liked the sea. It wasn’t fear exactly but there was something about the way the horizon swallowed everything that unsettled him. So when the ship cut through…[...]

Minzy The Star Cleaner

Minzy glanced out at the emptiness and shivered. All those stars and planets were so terribly far away. It was one thing to see the night sky from home with…[...]

The Blanket and the Light.

It's like a blanket wrapped around me and over my head, suffocatingly too warm and nowhere to escape. Like standing in a room full of people, yet I feel swallowed…[...]

The Eleanor Effect

Dead.Eleanor didn’t know what she was looking at first. But as she looked closely. It was a dead bird. She stood there for a moment. At first, she was in…[...]

The Broken Bird Feeder

The storm came through around three in the morning, and Harold was awake for most of it, the way he was awake for most things now. He sat in the…[...]

He Believed in Everyone

The restaurant was called The Green Parlor because thirty years earlier a newspaper critic had praised the ferns near the entrance, and the owner, who trusted praise more than instinct,…[...]

Gems

Cass checked her phone. Isabella’s never late. In their twenty-year friendship, Isabella had been late maybe one time: after a fender bender she “did not cause”—a point she continued to…[...]

Best Served Cold

Diana got to the restaurant early. She looked into the bright, clean dining room. But not too bright…Most of the tables remained empty.Why did Jenny want to meet? She sounded…[...]

The Agony Aunt

Julie peered out of the car window as Nolan carefully steered around the crowd outside the church. The lane was one car width and people squashed up onto the verge…[...]

Sally Spades

“I bid five.” Sally says confidently, eyeing her card game partner Jack with a grin.“No way you can make five, no way.” Jack returns the smile, but his thoughts are…[...]

Harmony

Melody swears that when she has kids–no more and no less than two–she’ll pass on the curse of owning one half of a matching set of names. April and May,…[...]

Candy Thriller: Bud

Lenny’s Dad pulled up in our driveway one Saturday afternoon, still driving that rusty, green Nova with the sagging ceiling. Lenny and I had been friends in grade school before…[...]

Underground Words

After a long night traveling, we’ve finally made it to my grandmother’s house in New York. I’m staying over for the week since the hotels me and my friends were…[...]

Mourned Alive

Gravel crunched under Ealdian’s boots as he walked along the road, carts rattling as they passed him and hooves clopping as horses went by. Spring was at hand, and the…[...]

Behind the Shoulders of Every Soldier

Her face started to show up in the mirror while the image of her past faded away. She was raised from her very first breath to be the king’s wife.…[...]

Operation Midnight Tissue

The Golden Child. The Joker. The Wild Card. The Twisted One. Or, as our parents would have it: Sina. Rhea. Drake. Lav. I’m Sina. I’m not a fan of the…[...]

The Last Night of Pledges

Content Note: Contains mild profanity, alcohol use, sexual references, and fraternity hazing themes. The fraternity house on Lincoln Street had once been a funeral home, which explained several things at…[...]

A Lot Can Happen in Ten Years

“Wilkins, I have a reservation for a table at 7 pm.” Tom spoke assertively to the greeter in Chez Ma Mere. It had been their favorite restaurant for the last…[...]

Igniting a Spark: Soggy Sandwiches and Steak Dinners

What is the point if I cannot make something of her last gift to me? Her gift was not wrapped in a pretty bow and set under the tree for…[...]

The Way Back Home

The trailer park had never been much to look at.The mailboxes were rusted and leaning, their red paint faded and chipped from years of exposure. Rain turned the gravel roads…[...]

Personal Instincts

Space travel had become more prevalent, and jobs had expanded into space exploration. Minda 208 was one of 20 ‘attendants’ on a ‘The Nebulas Gazer II’. Her team did sensitive…[...]

With rosemary and rue

Dearest Laura,It was so lovely to see you again. And your party was great! I haven’t had so much fun for ages. You know with the kids and Martin ……[...]

An Emotional Find

AN EMOTIONAL FIND Well, upon that chosen early Wednesday morning, it was a crisp cold winter morning where the temperature was cold enough that it was brought on by the…[...]

A little company

"That's silly!" She giggled."No, it's not. I'm an Operational Business Analyst for Telo-nelco."The little girl giggled again. "That's not a real job.""Sure it is!" Isaac protested."What do you do?"After a…[...]

The Rooting

Roots E.A. Adams Dear Sarah, I've started this letter seven times. Seven different openings, seven different ways to say "I've been thinking about home", and none of them feel right.…[...]

Notes to Remember

I live on Douglas Street, the note in my pocket reads. I tuck it back in. I am not sure why I have that note, but it’s laminated, so it…[...]

Raindrops

The raindrops turned into a steady stream as I watched them drizzle along the coffee shop windowsill, my eyes drifting from my book for a simple second. As I planned…[...]

Matt Wallace has a Problem

She sits in the shade of the oak tree. A breeze does not disturb her curls and is just as gentle and delicate as her hands, turning a page of…[...]

Get Stuffed

First of all, the dragon was not supposed to come to life. Last night, it had still been a palm-sized plushie which I had ceremoniously dubbed “Embersnoot.” Cute. Inert. Secondly,…[...]

The Air We Share

I pushed open the door, its hinges announcing my arrival with a squeak that echoed through the stone stairwell. Carlos, the hostel host, had sent a poorly transcribed text message…[...]

THE TASTE OF SUMMER PEARS

THE TASTE OF SUMMER PEARS The Orchard The pear tasted like sunlight. Clara Bell stood beneath the sprawling branches of the orchard with juice slipping down her wrist, sticky against…[...]

My Friend the Hero

With a quick inhale, I stepped up to the casket to view my best friend. The mortician excelled at their vocation - he looked like he was sleeping. No bruises.…[...]

Every Shade of Beige

“You smell like chocolate,” said the little girl, her eyebrows raised into a question mark. “This room smells like Brussels sprouts but you smell like chocolate but my Grandma smells…[...]

The Perfume Laboratory

The Perfume Laboratory It never occurred to me that, after 40, I would no longer be noticed or fancied by young, attractive people. I just thought life would go on…[...]

The Two of Us

They walked through the park, just the two of them. Just like they did every morning. This morning was different though; this time they were going somewhere special. Josh waited…[...]

The Ring. The Beginning

Lucy parked her car in front of her old childhood home. .The front porch was almost obscured by an over grown shrub. Lucy stood on the walk and stared. “Excuse…[...]

The cold empty space

He had grown used to it. The constant silence born from the absence of anyone else. His throat was dry from disuse, as he had not spoken in a very…[...]

Rock, Paper, Scissors – The True Story

There is a constant battle between rock paper and scissors, but how did it all start? What are the sides? The truth is that they are not all fighting against…[...]

Kindled Friendship

“Wait- please!” Blackbird said, reaching out to Yrsa, but she was already struggling to her feet and backing away.“Stay back!” she said. “Don’ get near me!”Bird’s fear raced through him.…[...]

Jack

There were three modern buildings with reflective windows in the half moon corporate plaza: 4 Gateway Drive, 6 Gateway Drive, and 8 Gateway Drive. Parking was in a huge lot…[...]

The Price of a Sister

The first warning came from a man Yaa barely knew."Be careful of Adwoa."Yaa laughed when he said it.If there was one person in Accra she trusted completely, it was Adwoa.The…[...]

Ashes of Fruit

The sweet aroma of bubbling berries filled the air and it felt like home, but the chilling breeze of the forest reminded everyone where they were. “They say you can…[...]

My Best Friend

Today is the worst day of my life. I thought I could depend on my friend but after reading what I read I now know I can’t. How did such…[...]

Petey’s Home Search

PETEY’S HOME SEARCH Petey hadn’t seen his mother in so long that sometimes he found it hard to remember her. He remembered how she would snuggle with him, kiss and…[...]

Echoes of the Pack

Echoes of the Pack I still remember the scent of them, the warm, loving aroma of my pack. Their voices were music; their laughter was the sun that brightened every…[...]

The Road Back To Freindship

The Road Back To FriendshipA Story By Anna PopoviciChapter 1: Best Friends ForeverEthan Carter and Lucas Reed had been best friends for as long as either of them could remember.…[...]

Found Behind

The research facility’s alarms blared like a snowstorm’s gale around me as the fuel cell of my hand cannon ran dry. I was empty, alone, and bleeding out in a…[...]

The Letters We Keep

On the first anniversary of Ruth’s death, Daniel Webb found her handwriting on the mat.He stood there with the milk in one hand and the letter in the other, not…[...]

Broken Bond

Tim and Bill had been nearly inseparable since meeting one another in kindergarten. Now at the ripe young ages of 19, the now college sophomores were about to embark upon…[...]

As The Tea Brews

It is an early fall morning. The air is starting to crisp as the wind blows cool. Leaves from the bamboo thicket begin to find a home in a clearing.…[...]

Waiting

I will always wait for you. When you brought my sister and I home from the loud and crowded house in which we were born, I knew nothing of the…[...]

Piltdown

Charles Dawson found me in London. I had a study across from the Natural History Museum, where I could work without the disturbances of the larger building. I only gave…[...]

Mirrors Crack Too

Trigger Warning: Mental Health Themes “Pidge? Those are my private documents.”“I know.” I respond, cold like Marlow has been towards me these days.Marlow reaches for the papers in my hand…[...]

K-nine and my human

This morning, I awoke with a sense of grogginess that clouded my mind, leaving me feeling somewhat disoriented as I blinked against the soft light filtering through the curtains. My…[...]

Martha and Me Have This Disagreement

Martha and me, we’re having this argument. It’s about the threshold of age, when life does things to you, instead of you doing things to life. Martha says we’ve crossed…[...]

The Worst Day of My Immortal Life

Listen, I’ve been alive for three centuries. I’ve seen empires rise and fall, witnessed wars that reshaped continents, and once watched a particularly stupid duke try to seduce a tree…[...]

Stadiums & Shrines

The roar of the crowd was all the confirmation I needed. He lost control. The smell of burnt rubble and exhaust set a fire in my stomach. This happened all…[...]

Spring. Earth. Her.

A human smells chicken soup. I smell a symphony — and underneath all of it, her. I can smell the onions softening in butter. The bird that waited three days…[...]

Next Tuesday

Marie peered in the window to see if Kim was there. She hated ringing that small gold bell on the counter. Its harsh ping was so invasive, like dropping a…[...]

A Pink Flower Called Hope

Click. “Chin up,” commanded the photographer. Rani confidently raised her slender, recently-threaded chin. Click. “Okay, now do this,” ordered the photographer. He set his camera aside and contorted himself into…[...]

The Hourglass.

TRIGGER WARNING- this short story contains Some Strong Language, Brief Sexuality, and Substance Abuse. The Hourglass. Part One- Showtime. It was showtime, and I could not blink. Hyperaware, and manic…[...]

Basketball Brothers

Sixteen year olds Ricky Douglas and Thomas Brooks lived in the same apartment complex in addition to attending the same school. Despite being neighbors and seeing one another pretty much…[...]