A Fresh Start
The sky is dark. Pitch black. Except for the twinkling stars that blanket it. Constellations shine brightly and my eyes trace the sky, searching for them. A small breeze brushes…[...]
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My Magnolia
Magnolia was at her favorite place. The familiar grains of sand sank between her toes like the touch of a friend almost forgotten. Her wish had been to return to…[...]
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A Blind Shepherd’s Light
The countryside was bleak, leeched of any color it might have kept in ancient times.Sarkis blinked against the harsh grays of the morning and wished the bleached sun would burn…[...]
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The Meadow
It shook its branches — scattering sparrow feathers and faintly yellowed leaves — and pressed its roots deeper into the earth, searching for pockets of moisture. Its crown, warmed by…[...]
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End of Eternity
Content warning: Mental health. Physical violence. Abuse. I winced as I healed an oak tree. The tree showed me glimpses of "The War of Shadows." The final war. I saw…[...]
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The Accidental Auction Bid
Rowan McCrae didn’t mind doing hard work.He minded being told to “smile pretty for the ladies tonight” by two separate grandmothers before eight a.m., but the work itself was fine.He…[...]
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“What’s up, Doc?”
"What you are experiencing is a range of complex emotions. Here is a script, something to take the edge off your distressing feelings. Take that to the pharmacist, after you…[...]
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Dr. Lethargy and Joe
You can learn how to crochet granny squares on YouTube, and you can memorize a recipe to make a peach-infused Sex on the Beach. You can master bleaching your hair,…[...]
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The Negotiation
1:30amIt’s raining. Not the kind that feels cozy and comforting. It’s a storm. No one in Los Angeles knows how to handle it. People cancel plans. The city grinds to…[...]
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Looking through the window
Gary Stevens always hoped for a happy future, a happy wife, and happy kids. Every 20-year-old’s dream in the 1940’s. He met Laura in an unconventional way, but he knew…[...]
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Medusa’s Lonely Quest
I knew the date was over the minute he asked if my snakes were “poisonous”. Ignoring the fact that snakes are venomous, not poisonous, that question is always followed by…[...]
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Failure to Connect
Elaine kept the lights off when she got home because the dark made the apartment feel larger. Outside her single oval window, the planet Sera-9 glowed in bruised shades of…[...]
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Promises Kept
It was a Tuesday evening when the wind stopped blowing. It hadn't stopped for nine straight days, scouring everything it touched with dark sand. For nine days, James had been…[...]
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Stranger in a Strange Dating Scene
“I’d thought you’d be taller.” “I’m not really looking for a floogian right now.” “Do I look like I date Terrans?”“YOU DARE PROPOSITION ME, EARTHLING!?”“✡︎□︎◆︎🕯︎❒︎♏︎ ◻︎♋︎⍓︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♐︎□︎❒︎ ⧫︎♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ⬧︎♏︎⬧︎⬧︎♓︎□︎■︎📪︎ ❒︎♓︎♑︎♒︎⧫︎✍︎”“Sorry,…[...]
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Before We Were Selected
On this planet, love was no longer private. It had become administrative. Not because emotion had disappeared, but because survival had made it inefficient to leave partnership to chance, or…[...]
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An accidental miracle
Ships Log; date unknown, time unknown.I've landed on a planet that, until today, didn't exist on any of our charts. It wasn't supposed be in our path to DL261. We…[...]
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the pink moon that night
I once saw the most beautiful woman on earth. Sadly, I was not on earth that day. I was looking at her, feeling dazzled, but my seat was on the…[...]
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Splendid Isolation
On the fourth night, the curtains parted and the show began at last. Patiently, he sat there with two companions. A tumbler half filled with amber liquid and a small…[...]
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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…[...]
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Lost and Found
Eli looked across the table at her sister and let the quiet secret spill from her lips, “You don’t know how many times I wished I were more like you.”…[...]
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AMONG THE DYING STARS
AMONG THE DYING STARS The last Sunset on Earth The sky above New York burned gold and crimson beneath a veil of smoke. From the rooftop of her apartment building,…[...]
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Not Without You
As I stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the waves crashing below, I thought of you.Long, wavy brown hair with that reddish tint that only appeared…[...]
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The Heart Always Knows
The Heart Always Knows My best friend Lorelei and I are both writers, for me lifestyle features for a city magazine, for her freelance stories for many outlets. We always…[...]
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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…[...]
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Sometimes, in a fairy tale…
Once he sent her a Valentine. They were in third grade, and he made it himself. He cut out the construction paper, and he glued the lace on the edges,…[...]
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Letters to Petersburg
Letters to Petersburg “Your mother was right, the view in Lauterbrunner is indeed beautiful. I see why you were so eager to finally start travelling. Such a beautiful village for…[...]
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Here for You…
"Cruise, relax, relax....." Tanith told herself, as she tried to glide around the wedding reception unnoticed. Since this was a same sex wedding, between two newly wed husbands, Tanith had…[...]
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Mic and Mandy
The street below Mandy’s apartment smelled of wet concrete, cigarettes, and flowers left too long in a vase.Midnight dragged its black gown across the city.Mic stood beneath her third-story window…[...]
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The End of the World in Her Eyes
When somebody dies, you always hear about the light leaving their eyes, but all I saw in her eyes was the brightest blast of white light. I was watching the…[...]
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Letters to a Lost Love
January 1, 1990 Dear Love,I keep thinking that I miss you, but you’re not you anymore. And I can’t miss who you were, because then I wouldn’t be me. Then…[...]
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Curtains or blinds?
Charlotte decided work was slow today. Slow enough to warrant a glass of Pinot Grigio or two at the wine bar on the corner. Slow enough that she somehow stumbles…[...]
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So I Need To See You Again
When the glitter in the snow shifted from the dusting of sweet silver that marked the reluctant truces that fell with night into the golden drops of daybreak, the storm…[...]
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The Reception
HenryThe flowers were beautiful, laid in artful arrangements on each of the small tables. The bride and groom were lucky there was no breeze, unless the flowers had been glued…[...]
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“Sam’s Secret”
CW: Some sex, fraud, arrest Natalie and Judith saw themselves as independent college students aiming to be more than just girls. Natalie dreamed of becoming a talented writer and a…[...]
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One Final Play
Tick. Tick. Tick.There is a heaviness in the air. A tension so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. A dull one. It’s only the clock that stirs.…[...]
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The Day I Chose You
‘Futures were forged through the blood of past hands, though such a path was beyond mortal choice. Death awaited all, but only some could await death—and even then, only a…[...]
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Square Pegs and Round Pegs
“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked. He spoke the question more out of habit than a desire to know the answer. Angry, abusive, and avoidant parents had severely stunted his emotional competence.…[...]
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The chaos we are
Patience has never been one of Ava's traits. Even back then, when she was just a little kid, finding her way from one orphanage to another, she had those huge…[...]
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Darling, Pass the Knife
Chop. Chop. Chop. The knife slammed against the cutting board, getting just a bit louder with every strike. The cadence and the wet squelch that followed had Daniel picturing a…[...]
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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…[...]
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Ex Jalapeño
"Be back in a minute," Denton called. Bree slung her purse over her shoulder and waved alas he disappeared into the surrounding aisles. No response. 'Maybe he didn't see me.'…[...]
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Grimoire Mishaps at the Library of Baba Yaga
Rule #438 of the Library of Baba Yaga: Damaged books will be finedHecate, grant me peace. Aradia clasped her pendant, running her thumb over the serpent’s ridges, as she gingerly…[...]
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The Egyptologist’s Dream
The Egyptologist’s Dream-P. C. Bland- Ernest listened to the sleet plinking against the glass of the upper half of the library’s front door. He was trying to decide whether to…[...]
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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…[...]
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Chronicles of a Limerent Object
1.He hadn’t meant to idealise her, to put her on a pedestal, to overwhelm. Radiant, she was. She drew people in, shook their hands, pulled up chairs for them. Are…[...]
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A Matter of Time
Hey. My Mum’s dying. Wanna date me? Yeah, it’s not one I’d start with either. So I haven’t. Mum told me, anyway, not to put my life on hold just…[...]
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Draw Like Dad
Before cancer took his mind, my dad could draw with colored pencils like no one else. It is true. Others have said so that he was the best. I have…[...]
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Where she left me
She paused longer than usual, frosting bag in hand and lip tucked between her teeth. It was the same look since the beginning. I hated it when she paused. Everything…[...]
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I, Dinosaur
Over the past year, I’ve come to a quiet, unavoidable conclusion: my profession is over. Not struggling, not fading - over. Finished. And here I am – not exactly young…[...]
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Death is the Monkey Butler
SENSITIVE CONTENT: Illness, death, grief ------------------------------------- The crystals were everywhere in the house suddenly. I woke up on Tuesday and they were just there. Ranging from a pale yellow to…[...]
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The elegant Mr.Pepper
The Elegant Mr. PepperHe lay there, dead. My dearest friend, Mr. Pepper. I had lived with him for fifteen years, and now I stood above him like a statue drowning…[...]
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A Hand-fed Albatross
In a half-light room, Aziz goes up and down and murmurs. He stretches his arm, takes out his hand from the long sleeve of his woolen sweater, and scratches his…[...]
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Gods Are Cruel
Hope regains consciousness to the scent of smoke, incense, and blood. The first thing her senses register is that overpowering reek of oud and metal. The second thing is the…[...]
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Memories at the table
It was some time ago when I was here. When was it? Six, seven, eight years ago, I think.This is a familiar table with a familiar empty vase on it.Where…[...]
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Tears on a Canvas or I’m Your Grief, Honey
There I lay on the bathroom floor. I had no more sobs, no more tears to let fall. I had watered those yellow tiles for endless eternities, flooding them with…[...]
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Pale Blue Dots
It was a rainy afternoon. I was walking down the alley, on my way back home. Everything was just as usual, nothing interesting, nothing that would sparkle the slightest bit…[...]
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The Flowers Died on Monday
The Flowers Died on Monday The flowers died on Monday. They were lilies, my mothers’ favourite. She called them sophisticated and they were the flower form of a beautiful woman.…[...]
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Love in a Bottle
She hates this. She hates that she’s not satisfied. Being satisfied would mean that she’s enjoying her life, and she’s not. It would mean that everything is fine, and it…[...]
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They were never there…
I was meant to be famous, trust me. Stars were meant to be fighting to carry my name. Books were meant to be written - holding the story of Liam…[...]
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Lost Irises
*Note: Story contains references to mental health, grief, loss, and self-harm. The azure skies descended into a blaze of bronze, copper, and Chardonnay that stained the cotton candy clouds above…[...]
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Trying to Remember
There was once an author by the name of Harold Farmel. He was a lifelong author who enjoyed writing stories that fascinated readers for over four decades. Among his creations…[...]
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The Clockwork Crow
I’ve always had a fascination for other animals. While God may have bestowed upon us a beautiful large head, he gave the other creatures of the world equally important and…[...]
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The Weight of a July Blue
In the textbooks, July is a riot of aggressive color. It is the scorching, unforgiving yellow of the midday sun. A light so bright it flattens the world into two…[...]
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Gray People
Murray walked out the door and into the late afternoon. Early-evening winds jogged over the blasted topsoil of the parking area; its black surface dominated by itinerant veins of oily…[...]
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Black and White
Instinctively, as she had every morning since he left, she reached across the bed. Her hand searched the empty space where he should have been, fingers brushing only cool sheets.…[...]
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The Piece of Pork
My mother was five years old when hunger taught her what dignity could not.Hunger has a sound.It is not loud. It does not scream the way pain does. It whispers.…[...]
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A Flickering Ember
PROLOGUEThe forest of Aethelgard ran on a special kind of energy. It wasn't electricity; it was Silver-Spring water. This glowing, metallic liquid acted like a battery for the trees. Without…[...]
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You’re blue like the ocean
I woke up early that morning, aware of the weight this day carried, just like every year. I left the house at dawn, when the sky, which had been a…[...]
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Remember Tauberun
Mila Hoffman never believed in ghosts. Not until Tauberun.Rumors said it was a lively place, once. The baker always had fresh bread ready in the mornings. The buttery scent of…[...]
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Black and Blue
Charlie looked out of the window and scowled at the scene that lay beyond the confines of his house. This was a habit. All of it was a habit. That…[...]
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A Little Blue Heart and a Vial of Nitroglycerin
What if liking never becomes loving? For Mary, love was a forbidden subject. Grief, though—that was a subject we shared. She was a widow, and I was a widower.Yet for…[...]
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The Achromatic Room
The curtains hang the way curtains do when no one remembers choosing them. Someone chose them once — she might have, even, in a different life, the one where she…[...]
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The Purple Dress
She remembered the colour over everything else. Not the smell of the bedroom. Not the sound of passing cars outside. Not even the shape of his face. Just the purple.…[...]
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Black is the Night
It was nearing the noon hour when the sheriff rode up to my house in the hills of Twin Peaks.With a surprise look, I asked him, “What can I do…[...]
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Where the Golden Flowers Bloom
The sole of Elise’s boot nearly skids on the slippery moss, the path overgrown and damp from years of neglect. Not many hikers use it anymore, despite its once popularity.…[...]
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The Red We Share
It’s 7:59 a.m. when I go into Momma’s room. I’d woken up from a bad dream, but my sisters aren’t awake yet, Riley still snoring through the darkness and Anna…[...]
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The Color of Grief
I crushed the cigarette in the ash tray on my desk as I reminisced on the world that once was full of light, hope, dreams, and color. My God there…[...]
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End of Bouncy Pink Life
End of Bouncy Pink Life By Will Willoughby Once upon a time, two bouncy boy toys lived a wonderful life on the shady porch of a sunny house facing a…[...]
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Life and Color is like Wine and Cheese
Life and Color are like Wine and CheeseFather was always a mystery. I see him occasionally in my dreams: wearing a bowler hat, carrying a black briefcase and the inevitable,…[...]
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Sunrise, Sunset
SUNRISE, SUNSET Susan W. Hudson Fifty nine thousand, two hundred and two (59,202) is the number of sunrises and sunsets an American female with an “average lifespan” encounters in her…[...]
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The Carnival Slept
My waterlogged boots made dull thuds against the grounds of the lifeless carnival. The thuds were where idle chatter, victory bells, shaking coaster bars would have been. They buried the…[...]
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Where the Sun Goes to Hide
"Tell me a secret, Beni."Beni only half-noticed what had been said to him. His mind was caught elsewhere, somewhere scarlet and bloated. He glanced across at Aminata, and the departing…[...]
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What Colour is Genocide?
Based on the true story of the Khojaly Genocide As an internally displaced child from Karabakh, I was seven when I learned that colours could disappear. I learned about that…[...]
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The white shadow
The sun shines on my hands as I open the little book, the one that starts with a simple drawing of a boa constrictor eating an elephant, the one my…[...]
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Paint it Back
Winston Montag sat in a corner of the small cafe, staring down at his weathered hands in mute shock. His left hand gripped the grey paper cup, welcoming the familiar…[...]
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