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Latest Stories

October 17, 2025
Flash Fiction L Christopher Hennessy

The Moon Is A Wanderer Too

The rain came down like broken glass and the city was a wound, bleeding light and exhaust and the smell of food frying in oil that’s been used too many times. I was walking nowhere, which is the only place I ever go, and the streets were full of saints and…
October 17, 2025
Mystery Stories Brittany Szekely

The House On Wren Street

Notes: A mother rebuilding her life after domestic violence uncovers a chilling secret in her new home Isla didn’t notice the house was watching her until the second week. At first, it was just creaks in the floorboards, the way the hallway light flickered…
October 17, 2025
Flash Fiction L Christopher Hennessy

Pee Girl Gets The Milk

He met her on a Tuesday, the kind of Tuesday that feels like a leftover Monday, stale and gray and hungover from the weekend’s sins. Her name was Lita, or maybe Rita, or maybe she just said that to keep things simple. She had a cigarette halo, a ring of smoke…
October 17, 2025
General Stories Matias Travieso-Diaz

Lie To Me More

La vida es una mentira; Miénteme más,Que me hace tu maldad feliz.(Life is a lie; Lie to me more,For your wickedness makes me happy.)Armando Domínguez Borras, “Miénteme” (bolero) Out of a habit ingrained over fifty-odd years of hard work, Timmy McFarlane got up…
October 17, 2025
Flash Fiction Syed Hassan Askari

The Unseen Listener Of Moscow

It was 11:55 p.m. when he stepped out of Moscow’s Lefortovo Metro Station. His whole body ached; his legs trembled. His eyes were sleepy. He felt surrounded by unknown souls, all in a hurry to reach their destinations. He looked at the disappearing faces for a…
October 17, 2025
General Stories L Christopher Hennessy

Rearranging The Brain Furniture

She called herself Lark, though her name was probably something dull like Emily or Claire. She was nineteen, maybe twenty, with a face that looked like it had been drawn in charcoal, smudged eyes, a mouth that never quite closed, and hair that hung like wet…
October 17, 2025
Flash Fiction L Christopher Hennessy

FCAWF

She called herself Moth and said she liked the way they flew into flames without flinching. Her real name was Emily, but that was buried under layers of eyeliner, cigarette burns, and a voice that could cut glass. She was thirty, somewhat immature, vindictive…
October 17, 2025
Science Fiction Stories Kashif Imdad

Femtoria

In a dystopian future, the world had transformed into a society that was unrecognisable to those who had lived in the previous century. The nation of Femtoria stood as a beacon of prosperity, A female supremacist regime, had risen to power, enforcing a strict…
September 27, 2025
Flash Fiction Syed Hassan Askari

Half an Hour to Fourteen

Last night she lay on her bed with a curly-haired doll close to her chest. She was looking at the clock hanging over the door. Only half an hour was left —her life’s digit would turn from thirteen to fourteen, a change that felt like a heavy blow to the…
September 27, 2025
Romance Stories Nelly Shulman

Till We Meet Again

“Would you like more coffee?”The server in the orange apron lowered the pot, but Cath muttered, “No, thank you.”Her voice trembled, and the server busied herself with the next table. Outside the window, fog enveloped Waterloo Bridge. The morning was quiet,…
September 23, 2025
Flash Fiction Leroy B. Vaughn

Another Farewell To Arms Reunion

We were sitting in a little café in Wickenburg Arizona eating lunch when my wife looked at me and said, “I can’t believe you’re actually going to this reunion after you told all of your buddies that there was not a chance in hell that you would go.” “I know…
September 23, 2025
General Stories William Kitcher

A Political Solution

The Rt. Honorable Leader/Head of Council/First Governor/Chief Minister/Premier/President/Chancellor/First Minister/Party Secretary-General entered his office, and looked out the open window. It was a beautiful sunny cool day, and the cherry blossoms shone in…

"A woman phoned at two this morning asking for Dennis," Tracy said to her friend.

"Dennis?" Laura's brow crinkled. "Who's that?"

"That's what I wanted to know, but she hung up." Fear hit Tracy once again. Lunch ruined, she pushed her Fajitas away and gulped water to quell quick tears.

Laura cocked her head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine.” Tracy waved the server over for a water refill and a To Go box. “It’s just that I was looking forward to a nice hot bath when I got home. You know: dim lights, soft music and enough candles to light a cathedral.  Except on my way here, Jeff called saying he has to work late, again, and I'll have to take the dog to the vet." She twisted her wedding band. “He's certainly been ‘working late’ a lot the past few weeks.” She swallowed hard and dabbed at the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

Laura finished chewing a salsa-laden chip. Brow creased, she said, "You’re the only person I know who can put two and two together and get forty!”

“What?”

“I’m just saying. Your face is blotchy, you look like you’re on the verge of tears, and you’re drinking water like a dehydrated camel. You’re obviously not fine! You think Jeff’s working late is somehow connected to that phone call this morning, don’t you? You’ve probably concluded he’s having an affair and ‘Dennis’ is some code word he said to use if a woman answered. I’ll bet you’ve imagined him packed and gone already, huh?”

Tracy’s vision blurred as she again reached for the water glass, hating that Laura knew her so well.

“Remember that time you made yourself sick with worry because you thought Jeff was falling for his assistant?” Laura asked in a soft voice then took a swig of her Strawberry Margarita. “When are you going to realize Jeff's a totally different person than that lousy ex of yours?”

Tracy's head jerked, eyes widened.

"Come on,” Laura said, face filled with compassion, “I’ve never seen a man more in love with his wife than Jeff is with you. You've got to stop assuming he’s going to hurt you the way your ex did or one of these days you’re going to push Jeff right out the door. Haven’t you heard of self-fulfilling prophecies?"

Laura softened her words with a squeeze of Tracy’s hand.

“I just,” Tracy said then cleared her throat. “I just don’t think I could handle going through that pain a second time. Losing Jeff would kill me.”

“I know,” Laura said, “but think about what I said.” Then she deliberately changed the subject.

 

***

After Tracy dropped the dog off at the vet that evening, she mulled over Laura's words again. What if she’s right? What if I’m so afraid Jeff will hurt me, too, that I’m pushing him away?

Instead of driving home, Tracy picked up takeout – for two – then drove to the insurance building where Jeff worked. When she stepped off the elevator on Jeff's floor, the place was quiet and dark except for his office. A feeling of loneliness crept over her when she realized her husband was the only one there. Seeing his desk covered in paperwork, concentration tensing his rugged features, she stopped. And here’s proof that his late-night sessions have nothing to do with another woman and everything to do with providing for his family. How could I be so stupid?

"Hi," she said a minute later. Her heart felt so heavy, her voice was barely above a whisper.

Jeff looked up and broke into a wide grin. "Hey, babe, what a nice surprise," he said, voice tired.

“Didn’t you hear the elevator bell?”

Jeff raked his fingers through his hair. “No. I guess I was really concentrating on these papers. Luckily for me, you’re not some nut job here to do me in.” He grinned then, eyes lowering, nodded. "Hmm, what have you got there?"

"I thought I'd bring the man of my dreams a little Chinese," Tracy said, emotion softening her features.

"Wow," Jeff said, "how'd you squeeze him into that tiny bag?" Tracy rolled her eyes and giggled, remembering how Jeff used to come up with silly little jokes a lot. Her face sobered. When did those lighthearted moments stop?

“What’s wrong?” Jeff’s eyes held concern as he rounded his desk.

“Nothing,” Tracy said, eyes glistening. “Not anymore.”

“Good!” Wrapping his arms around his wife, Jeff nuzzled Tracy’s ear.  "By the way,” he whispered, “have I told you today how very much I love you?"

 

Bio: April is a sucker for romance. Hopefully you are, too.

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