Romance Short Stories

Can-Can Wonderland

What does that even mean? When I thought of the can-can I thought of the scandalous scarlet skirts whipping back and forth on stage showcasing ebony heels and a little…[...]

The Seed

Chunk was popping off in my ear about the rain, his voice heavy like he just ran a block. I paid him no mind. My shades were on, and I…[...]

The colours in the dark

Whispers swirl, and colours whip past me. These strings and flashes of light are rushing somewhere. They wisp and float into the dark where I can't see. I pull and…[...]

Dearly Dear

Form me to you. dearly, I am sending this letter to finally write back to you. I am sorry. I know it took me a while. But you know how…[...]

Aphelion

It was beautiful, and Eric hated himself for thinking so, hated the way the magma flowering across the Pacific looked like the roses he used to steal from gas stations…[...]

The Tether Between Us

“Why does a cosmonaut need a gun, Papa?” The corner of his father’s mouth rose. He followed Pavel’s gaze back through the museum doors to the display case holding the…[...]

Jamestown

Everything about the decision made sense but the living of it. When your children and your grandchild all live within a few minutes of each other, you move wherever that…[...]

Constellations Between Us

“I remember,” the voicemail whispered. Nova Carter sat frozen on the edge of her bed as those two words filled the tiny apartment bedroom she shared with her little brother.…[...]

First Kiss

What could have been. After the kiss, I was shocked. I expected: love, a future together, a boyfriend. I imagined us together. I thought back upon our conversation, and the…[...]

A Worm in Three

My dad always said the best time for fishing is right before sunrise. On summer vacation we'd drive up to the family cottage for a week of rest and relaxation,…[...]

426: Fade to Black

426: Fades to Black While in a coma, I dreamt about things that had happened on this date throughout my life; although I didn’t know it was a dream, it…[...]

Drew

It was the changing light, not his hunger, that first alerted to the lateness of the hour, although with his hyperfocus now broken, he was suddenly acutely aware of how…[...]

The Diary That Chose to Write Itself

22nd Jan, ‘22. Yes, my mom is a hostess. No, my mom is not an oversized magical dog, like Nicholas says. First and foremost, Nicholas is a nitwit. Do dogs…[...]

the girls

Smoke. It’s wafting off the incense I’ve burned in my room, doing a beautiful dance in the air, defying all standards of expectation and twisting through the air in unique…[...]

Growed Up

This was to be the most important day of Fudmul Schruck's short life: the day he performed the Ritual of , the day he formally changed from being a kid…[...]

The Golden Boys

Pyranus and Tarng were cousins who faced the challenges of childhood together – bullies, girls, and boring instructors in their learning cohorts. Their upcoming 15th birthday marked the age of…[...]

on a wingless plane

Studies. Research. Accolades. I decided to take a breather from hunting down the mob who stole my friend and concentrate a little on what's actually in front of me. Exams.…[...]

How Long Is Forever?

"How far away are the stars?" Daphne gazed into the dark sky and wondered aloud. It was a perfectly clear night in August, two weeks left of summer vacation. Her…[...]

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 green of…[...]

In Memory of Aggie

Cimarron, Oklahoma; April 1937 ”Well, Rudy, shall we spend the next ten minutes chewing the fat, or would you rather I just get the truth over with?”I don’t reckon that’s…[...]

A Pagan May Day Festival in the garden of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water

"Good day" echoed thru the huge stainless steel room. White lights glared off the the shiny floor and walls. Stale air hung still, smelt metallic. A crowd of women, silently…[...]

Excalibur Totallly

Let me just say this upfront: being embedded in a rock for an unspecified number of years is not the glamorous origin story people think it is, at all.Yes, I’m…[...]

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…[...]

Artemis and the Country Boy

My favorite place in the whole world is a clearing on the other side of Rainwater Creek. To get there I must balance on a fallen log suspended across the…[...]

Good Grief

My mother is gone. As I sit beside her lifeless, but not-yet cold body on the third floor of St. John’s General in these first few minutes of her death,…[...]

Premonitions of Everyone Else

Dear Katherine, I’ve always hated those people who name their diaries. I swore I’d never do it. You’re just a book. But the name Katherine has just been in my…[...]

33rd and First

She had lived thirty-three different lives, yet she was still an absolute failure. “No, wait. That came out wrong.” Spencer groaned, removing his metal frames to rub both temples.But it…[...]

Reds

Back then, the soles of our feet were always pitch-black, and our skin still had enough elasticity to rebound after each sunburn. The heat was so intense that it nearly…[...]

Trigger Warning: This story contains references to child sexual exploitation, domestic violence, bereavement, and alcohol abuse. Reader discretion is advised. Shamrock green grass blanketed alpine peaks pointing to bright blue…[...]

About the Colour Pink

Sally had always loved the colour Pink. The walls in her room were blush Pink; her pillows were coral and raspberry, and most of her clothes were too, in fact,…[...]

Paper Wings

Ren commands the paper into intricate folds. The amber sunlight streaking through the window by his desk illuminates the softness of his dark eyes. Serious. Meticulous. Inspired. His collection of…[...]

Orange

such a powerful color and the usage of it varies for many reasons.The government have prisoners to wear color orange to show embarrassment and misconduct towards society.This humiliation is towards…[...]

Green With Envy: The Turning of a Friendship

“Grover?” I asked, looking at my friend and noticing how content he looked lounging from under our favorite willow, his arms crossed behind his head.“You know I hate that nickname,…[...]

Boone’s Farm Regrets

I’m pretty sure we can all remember the first time we got drunk. For some, the over consumption seemed fun. An exciting experience that made the next adventure in drinking…[...]

Dino

I’ve always had a bit of a thing for dinosaurs. From my very first school trip to The Natural History Museum in the early 70’s where, I gazed open-mouthed at…[...]

Sir Eddard Covington Marsh Puff-Puff the Fourth

The branches scratched his arms as he climbed. He could hear Mrs. DiLeonardis below as she yelled out in a raspy voice. “You’re not there yet, he’s further up. More…[...]

The Queen of Victoria Avenue

I didn’t tell my mom I was adopting a dog, because when she was six, a dog bit her, and she’s been deathly afraid ever since. I don’t really like…[...]

The Joke Is On Me

My name is Jayla Jennings. My story started when I was nine years old and the experiences I had have lasted a lifetime mixing love, fun and family. It all…[...]

From Ashes to Love

I remember the moment I became a man. Not in the way other men remember it. They might remember it with a first kiss, broken bone, winning the ball game,…[...]

Unspoken silence

Mara kept the blanket folded at the end of her bed, the edge lined up perfectly with the seam of the mattress. The pillows were stacked in the same order…[...]

The Missing Piece

I pull the box out of the garage because the dogs need to go out. That was my excuse. The truth is less organized. I let them into the yard…[...]

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…[...]

The Glass Man

The sky is escaping to the ocean.Pouring itself back to its most comfortable form in sheets. The ocean rages, reflecting the sky in even darker blues and greys. The sky…[...]

Penguins in Aruba

Jamie has never professed to be a writer. He’s not very creative, and honestly, his sister tells enough tall tales for the both of them. He lets his sister handle…[...]

Heartfelt

Abigail's eyes landed on Roselynn Rosas and the percussion section in her chest went crazy. She stood to the side of her window. Cream colored curtains fluttered in a warm…[...]

Literally, Human (The Shape of My Heart)

Koong, kwang, koong, kwang… Perhaps the very first sound I heard in this world, inside my mom’s belly, was my own heartbeat. As weird as it sounds, I often imagine…[...]

Merlion Dreams

31st of AprilToday is April 31. I still can’t believe it! They really changed the dates. But if you think about it, it makes so much sense. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime…[...]

Barn Lament

Now in the hot skies that beat against the coulter blades, he began heading almost unconsciously toward the barn. In his wake, fell stalks and husks, but the green Deere…[...]

The Trial

Fire engulfs the storage chamber. Shadows dance on the cave wall. Sage stares into the flames, counting the seconds before the chamber walls would give in. Time dilates into a…[...]

“The Girl Nobody Came Back For”

Envy Leeown learned how to measure time by abandonment. Not in minutes. Not in hours. But in how long it took for hope to start hurting. She was ten the…[...]

Alone on the Brooklyn Bridge

The year was 2017, sometime in the fall. I had just moved to the City for work at a prestigious agency Deutsch, which turned out to be a total shitshow.…[...]

Craving a Mind

CW: Violence, self-harm, mental health Hurt. Sick. Pain. I can barely see. Every minute, I hunch over to sink my teeth into something. Something that makes me feel…alive. Good. The…[...]

The Coast

Our group was small compared to most and we called it a family. Probably because each of us, in one way or another, lacked a real one. Some of us…[...]

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…[...]

Rum Bottle Decor

She was doing very little to grab my attention intentionally, but impact often outweighs intent. Her hair was straight and still a little wet from her shower shortly before and…[...]

The Probably Not Mine Pile

Jetty told me this morning that my daughter would be visiting tomorrow. I nodded in the way that means I understand, which is different from the way that means I…[...]

A Letter to My Niece

I lost myself somewhere along the way. Along the path of wildly chasing after a figment of my mother’s imagination. My body was changing, my mind bending to the will…[...]

The Stranded Honker

I was a fool among fools in my later teenage years. Maybe everyone can look back and relate, or maybe I only hope that's the case. Regardless, I feel the…[...]

Just Paul

Left. Right. Up the stairs. Right. Paul sometimes could not remember the direction to the main gate of the apartment complex. He had only been there for three months but…[...]

Mud

My mother made me from the wet earth in her backyard. She told me how she toiled desperately late into the night, sculpting my body with the focus of a…[...]

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?…[...]

The fall

Thump. Thump.Her heartbeat deafened her to the scraping of the chair he pulled out to sit beside her. She met his eyes and her cheeks betrayed her in a flush…[...]

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…[...]

The Heartbeat Collector

We inherit more than genes from our fathers. Mine passed on his love for heartbeats. Together, we’d cruise into the city to scour used record stores to find them. Although…[...]

The Last Prayer

According to the Internet, belief is the acceptance that something is true or real, often without requiring complete proof or evidence. In other words, it is the feeling of certainty—trusting…[...]

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.…[...]

Autumns Wish

Autumn’s Wish Autumn waited until the house settled into its soft evening quiet—the kind of quiet that made the lamps glow warmer and the walls feel closer, as if the…[...]

One More Mug: Father’s Ale

"How many cups does it take to drown a man?"The stranger asks the man with an empty cup and a missing leg"Bartender, one for me."Requested by the stranger, and as…[...]

Chasing Hope

I wouldn’t say that I’ve been tossing and turning and that’s how I ended up feeling the need to get out of bed. It’s deeper than that. Something is pulling…[...]

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…[...]

Longing for my Reason

“Good Morning Handsome”… “Good Morning Handsome”. I’m tempted to play the recording one more time, but I’ve been indulging in this for 25 minutes now and if I continue, I…[...]

The grave tree

The bare November trees were hard and cold as Billy knocked his head back against one to keep from snapping at Robin. She had stopped her slow pace to stare…[...]

Awkward Silence

Ever since Abraham killed his son Isaac, things have not been the same between them. They talk less, for one. There used to be more free-flowing, spontaneous discussion about any…[...]

The picture of the cat

Brown fur. Which one would work? Lea’s fingers stroked gently over the neatly arranged coloured pencils in the box. Seeing the colours, she waited for the right feeling. A light…[...]

Debris on the seashore.

When is it too late to tell someone that you love them? My love only ever found its shape through loss; i bid every love farewell in the hope it…[...]

An Uncle’s Eulogy

“Well I’m serious, fuck this guy. Honestly, I didn’t even like this guy and I’m crying. He sucked and was a racist piece of shit” Megan said. “I spent the…[...]

A Timeless Tale

From within that great house, the greatest in the neighborhood, came the tensest of tickings from the strangest of clocks. The girl who lived in the house was only sure…[...]

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…[...]

Never Been Kissed

What is it to have been kissed?I have never been kissedAnd I never knew why.But I am now saving itFor later on in lifeI hear it is all in the…[...]

The Wrong Way Around

The first time they noticed, it wasn’t dramatic. It was a quiet correction. A worksheet returned with small red circles around letters that leaned the wrong way. A note at…[...]

When Will Someday Come?

The engine of the pretty blue car was loud and I ran my hands over the smooth leather seats. “I like your Chevy ballet, Grandpa.”Grandpa’s laugh was warm and always…[...]

Chapter 1: The Lunchroom

It was early Monday morning and an announcement from the intercom interrupted my nap. “Good morning students! This school year has been off to a great start so far. Today…[...]

Le duel pour l’amour de la ballerine

Three is the perfect number; all sides are even, and it's the strongest shape. For Kerr, Dwain, and Cecily, it was their whole childhood. They did everything together, but, like…[...]

I’d Give Almost Anything for Her

I love Ella. I don't think I understood how much until now, until there was something real on the line, and I can feel it stretching between us like it…[...]

Nevermind the Spiders

*note* while there are triggers and mention of violence there is nothing graphic. Only glanced over as reference. Never mind the spiders, they are good luck. It is the bird…[...]

Juno

The house had learned how to be quiet.Not the kind of quiet that feels peaceful; the soft, late-night kind where everything settles, but something thinner. Stretched. Like if anyone spoke…[...]

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…[...]

Matzah Brie

Mother breaks another cracker into jagged bits and stirs in the egg mixture, leaving it to soak while the burner heats up the pan. Her elbow grows a shade pinker…[...]

Second Place is First Loser

INTRODUCTION: Everyone searches for value and self-worth. And while our worth really isn’t something we should tally by success, a little winning goes a long way. Is it so much…[...]

A Car for Clowns

I thought my father owned this house, but I’ve been wrong about better things. I was wrong about how long a tomato can stay in the fridge. I was wrong…[...]

Father Said

Father said fear was a test.If your hands shook, you prayed harder. If your stomach turned, you knelt longer. If your heart beat too fast, it meant the Adversary had…[...]

Party in the desert

There was a sweet atmosphere that morning. Sunshine, with a light cool breeze. The windows were open and the white and purple kitchen curtains, were moving back and forth, creating…[...]

Garden Knight

Not all heroes carry swords—some carry watering cansThe wagon beneath Arken rattled over the ruts of the old road. But his mind was not on the road; it was up…[...]

Platold Ore

The High Elf toppled to the ground, his battle axe slipping from his grip. He attempted to stand, but with no strength left, he collapsed. “Why have you done this?”…[...]

The Stand

The sign was pretty freaking clear.Henry, Jake, and I had found an abandoned hunter’s perch in the depths of woods behind our neighborhood. We hung the sign outside the wooden…[...]

Getaway

“One day, I’ll get out of here.”“Out of where?”“Out of… this house. This city. This country. This world.” My eyes were glued to the full moon glimmering in the sky.“Where…[...]

Rhyming with Daisy

The clothes had to have been too big.Rango repeated that same sentence in silence, in the form of both an observation, and a plea, dozens of times during the drive…[...]

Roundtrip

Santo had forgotten for a second that he could breathe the air outside. Taxis pulled in and out of the lot as people loaded their suitcases. It was still cold.…[...]

This story is about tomatoes

Like every other Sunday, three contours sit on the table. The round cherry wood piece I bought at a flea market last month, is covered in dishes of baked potatoes…[...]

The Trial

Fire engulfs the storage chamber. Shadows dance on the cave wall. Sage stares into the flames, counting the seconds before the chamber walls would give in. Time dilates into a…[...]