Romance Short Stories

The School Topper

Initially, I’d held my head high in the deep green, silver-bordered saree I was wearing. But walking through the gargantuan crowd of hundreds of students in the school lobby, every…[...]

Safety First – A girl’s first lesson in how love reshapes freedom

They can sense our fear. Keep your spine straight. Don’t be afraid. Don’t hesitate to look them in the eye. And in the worst case, always remember to pick up…[...]

Breakfast

My ammi watches over my shoulder as I grab the Purple Heart colored pencil from the pencil holder that I keep the 150 pack of colored pencils I got for…[...]

The Wedding Pact

-- By Neelam Chohan-Jagait Chapter 1: The Dinner Party A warm drop of sweat trickled down Samira’s spine as she poured herself a generous glass of chilled Californian white. She…[...]

What I Meant to Say, Was

Fahim glanced over Samara’s shoulder, careful not to wake her. The clock had just slipped past two. Her neck rested comfortably on his arm, her breathing slow and even. He…[...]

The Delicate Straw Hut

Dawn. Tara walks to the well outside the village, a pot in her hand. Two years into adulthood, her green bangles clink as the pot bounces against the side of…[...]

The Fork

When faced with a fork, look for the twig.We had missed the twig and were staring down a deep chasm. It didn’t help that we were not talking to each…[...]

The Gravity of Being Upright

I think it had started to happen a long time back—bit by bit—but I only noticed it this morning. Gravity was dead. Like Queen Elizabeth. Both of them. Yesterday, it…[...]

Moonlight and Madness

Your eyes pour the moonlight on my path as I turn my back to you. In the dead of the night, I walk with my family, away from my home,…[...]

Letters from Lucknow, 1886

“Intercultural Book Club. Join us! Every Sunday 6pm.”The poster hung alone on a blank wall in my dorm building. As someone who had just moved in and loved novels it…[...]

The Adventures of Gavin Pepperdeck

Part 1: The First TacoApril 4th, 1995 The sky sharted on my head as I exited the cab, but when I looked up, I saw that it was just the…[...]

Athletic Geriatric

‘What the hell’s this?’ Grandad throws it – BANG - against the wall, like a punch in the gut. ‘Bloody NHS walking-stick,’ he hisses, spewing saliva and spitting sweary curse-words.…[...]

TYR’s justice

It started wth the legislative assistants, interns, and paralegals. One task by one tedious task, we gave computing power more and more to do. Introduced in 2031, legislative skill and…[...]

Photos of Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Steele sit on his home office wall. There are newspaper clippings of successful cases, headlines like “Steele Resolve, Beats the Bandits,” and “Interrogation of…[...]

Ghosts Like Hot Dogs?!

Welcome readers!As I am sure all of you know a mysterious string of food stall robberies has occurred in our otherwise uneventful town. It has been all over the news…[...]

Mrs. Warner Goes to the Bank

It could have been the cape. It could have been the long johns. It was probably the mask. What was odd was the sticker on the automatic glass door when…[...]

Author

David had never written anything good in his life. Not in his school essays, not in his postcards, not even in his diary. He had always found something to blame…[...]

Plot 42

At sixty-two, Arthur Tarmack was retired from his career as an actuary, a job he found thrillingly predictable. He was reliable as a Swiss watch. He drank his tea at…[...]

Christmas Spree

“Whirr…whirr…whirr” The alarm startled me as I walked out of the department store. I was prepared for the anti-theft alarm to sound, but each store has a distinct sound, so…[...]

Good In a Pinch

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” - Yogi Berra Milo is pacing the hallway outside the classroom after the exam waiting for the results to…[...]

You Did What?!

It’s right around the corner there. JESUS CHRIST! Where’d you get your license? A Kinder Surprise? No, stupid, Kinder Surprises are illegal. As is stealing a suitcase full of money…[...]

The Accidental Robber

There were a pair of police officers checking security over a local bank. The bank had just been robbed about five minutes prior and the two officers were tasked with…[...]

According To Tara’s Statement

Romantic comedies are bullshit. Don’t distill those ninety-minute lies into dating advice. Instead of slipping my fingers into warm, silky panties, they dangled below cold metal handcuffs. I watched the…[...]

Ocean’s 89

Virginia rubbed her gnarled fingers across the headstone that read: Bill William Williams IV1939-2002A father, husband, brother, son, and friend, beloved by all. A tear slid down her face. It…[...]

Letter Nº 14

So, do you really think what happened to me in 1860 deserves a place in a book? Fine, go ahead, but on one condition: you must not publish anything before…[...]

The Treasurer

The first irregularity was not large enough to name."It's a rounding issue," said Daniel."It's not rounding," Priya said. "Rounding does not accumulate.""It can," Daniel said."Not like this."We were reviewing the…[...]

He lived

The world didn’t end loud enough for anyone to understand it was over.No sirens. No final warning. No desperate voice on a radio telling people where to go.Just silence.Deep under…[...]

The Voyage

The Campbell's had rented a farm for several years, and it was having another great year. Their crops had always done well, year in and out. Their garden's success had…[...]

The 4:14 Man

Ring!It was 4:14am. The time when the alarm goes off and Caspar Motley-Finch wakes up.Not 4:00, which might suggest military discipline. Not 4:30, which might suggest approximation. 4:14, which suggested…[...]

I Didn’t Mean to Become Head of Operations

I didn’t mean to get involved with the world's biggest villain corporation. It just happened, the way things usually do. One small, avoidable mistake followed by several much worse ones.In…[...]

A fake accountant in the fog of Ferrara

A lady with long wavy blond hair that fell just below her shoulders and a flashy baylage A lady with long wavy blond hair that fell just below her shoulders…[...]

The Shepherdess

The Budweiser girl on the vintage clock smiled down on her flock. Like any shepherdess, she was on the lookout for danger. Her faded skin suggested she might have been…[...]

I Can Explain!

“Right, just keep on driving. Don’t mind the flaring lights and the man screaming into the cone,” the cop yelled through the megaphone. My eyes flick to my rear-view mirror…[...]

Dispensary Heist

It was 10:00pm, an hour after the cannabis dispensary closed its doors to customers. Every employee besides Emily had already gone home thirty minutes earlier, leaving her to finish the…[...]

Honed Hero

No sounds were heard, only a steady foot-pedal vibration every few seconds.Thump thump. Clay Rigby held his head inside a barrel of ice water. The sun shone on the back…[...]

The Echo Chamber

The fluorescent hum of the aisle lights was a direct vibration against Elaine’s headache. It was 11:47 PM. She was only here because she had, yet again, forgotten the single…[...]

The Invisible Monster

The overhead lights didn’t just hum; they vibrated—a cold, electric heartbeat that thrummed right through the center of Elaine’s skull. It was 11:47 PM. She was only here because she…[...]

THUMP-THUMP

[violence-gunfire-death] . -THUMP. -. “What is that thumping?” Andy said to himself. Wherever he was, it was dark. He tried to move, but it felt like his arms, legs, and…[...]

The Heist

The pale-yellow light of the porch lamp echoed over the sharp edges of the middle-aged man; his sunken eyes more telling than a book which has been scuffed and curled…[...]

Chased by the Dead

CW: violence, drug use Jack wakes up in a cold sweat, alone in an unfamiliar room. Turning on the dim bedside lamp he sits on the edge of the bed…[...]

A Grandad’s Confession To His Grandson, 1888, London, England

Here in my hand, lad, lies the letter of admission of my guilt for some very grave crimes that stumped law enforcement and scared the prostitutes of the impoverished White…[...]

Hello, Mr.Hitman

100,000 dollars. If I killed her, I would get paid 100,000 dollars.It was the highest paying job I’ve ever received as a hitman. It was so simple as well. I…[...]

Oasis, 1979

Light pours through the motel windows, creating an illusion of solid blonde, obtuse triangles that will either eat your arm or burn it off. The A/C is on, and the…[...]

A Little Salt

Trigger Warning: hints at physical/mental abuse, mention of death The sunlight streams into their bedroom.The wife, Margaret, always wakes up before her husband just as she did today.“Paul, darling?” she…[...]

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…[...]

Cause and Effect

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…[...]