Popular stories

  • Pain Changed Us

    Aug. 10 2016

    I put my pieces back differently after we left each other shattered.

    So when I see you again my heart races but not in the same rhythm.

    When you speak, I hear your words but your voice is different.

    When I try to talk, almost everything…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • The Eye in the Drain

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Crisis Bonding

    Three strangers crouched around a small fire, warming their hands. Despite that earlier two of them had come to the third's aid, they were keenly aware they weren't friends but momentary allies; strangers linked by their strangeness. None of them were su…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Don’t Look Down

    I walked through your ear drum

    Headed straight for your Parietal Lobe

    Deliciously discordant echoes bouncing

    Through the hallways of your soul

    .

    I strolled into your Frontal Lobe

    Music wafting in louder from

    Somewhere beneath your bleeding heart

    I glance…

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Hairy Legs

    After lunch we had recess. As we exited the doors, most excitedly bolting for the best kickball and the honor of choosing their teams, a small group of boys hung back behind me. I was walking, not running.

    The yard teacher had stepped into the middle of …

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Shock

    The heavily-rusted sign over the garage read "HAL'S AUTO REPAIR", and the address above the front door, which read "462", was missing bottom half of the 2. Spraypaint coated the lower half of the decaying brickwork on the ground floor wall.

    Hard Drive ho…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • A Lot to Process

    I read until the words swam before my eyes. I found myself spinning the promise ring I kept on a chain around my neck. Dayne, where are you? I prayed. Please, be safe.

    "Find anything useful?" Harlan leaned around a freestanding shelf, awakening me fr…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • a cloth airplane, aloft!

    A flight of fancy.

    I was walking listlessly one day and passed someone's private boat in their driveway. The boat was covered by a tarpaulin, light blue. I've seen cars, motorbikes, and even buildings covered with cloth, too, at times. For their protectio…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • Elements of Us All (2)

    Have you ever wanted to fly?

    Well let me tell you how to jump.

    The weightless and dragging feeling.

    When will the wind catch?

    Do I want a bird, plane or Aladdans carpet to catch me?

    Which could save this moment?

    I didn’t want to fall through air, but soar…

    Posted 6 years ago
  • When Looking Up

    I looked up at the sky & saw a belt of densely packed stars banded across the blackness of night. The galaxy they represented felt so far away, though deep inside i logically knew that i was a part of it.

    I wondered where exactly I fit in, though & the a…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Carving Post

    I said nothing to the god, merely turned my back to it and stepped to the golden post from which the spectre of death continued to emanate. The fleshing blade was still in my hand, and using the curved tip of that sanctified steel, I drew the point along …

    Posted 8 years ago
  • Postmaster

    In the entrance hall of the building, Beckton stayed as flat as possible against the wall and risked a look out of the open doors.

    It was chaos. Cars were on aflame, filling the otherwise overcast palette with fiery yellow and rich orange tones. He could…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • The Hearth of Harm

    Candle scent and fire warms

    Blankets soft and cheerful talk

    Sweetened words and loving arms

    Safe indoors from winter's walk

    Eyes grow heavy

    Sleep's embrace

    Lulls us to another place...

    ...

    Wake

    alone

    to muffled snores

    House has gone to bed

    All asleep b…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Twelve Word Entry Challenge 3

    Looking both over her shoulders and glasses, she raised her penciled eyebrows.

    Posted 10 years ago
  • The Glow

    They'll hear

    The pounding heart inside

    My chest

    Always beating

    Never rest

    And my breathing

    Hoarse and gasping

    Terror rasping

    From my throat

    Fire burning

    In my face

    From what she wrote

    They'll see it flare

    They'll see it there

    And I, betrayed

    Can't hide a…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Human Factory

    I want to stop feeling.

    As much as I have become aware that humans are not machines, that there is an element to our existence that exceeds simple mechanical repetition, I have never more wanted to embrace the cold hard unfeeling metal and soulless drive …

    Posted 9 years ago
  • To Be Your Muse

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Firefly

    Far from cities, streets or cars

    In a dark and silent mood

    Roger sees a thousand stars

    Exit suddenly a wood;

    Fireflies dance before his eyes

    Light and bright like magic sparks:

    You can see that Roger cries.

    Posted 7 years ago
  • My Betty Part II

    When he turned 100, the town wanted to honor his war effort and asked him what he wanted. “I want to see my Betty again” was his reply. With an outpouring of love, the statue of the woman in her young wartime years was built, just as he remembered her. Un…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Heavy Landings

    Story is marked as mature

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Smoke

    He licks his lips in anticipation, ignoring the searing pain of his torn tongue and the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Carefully he reaches forward with both hands and takes hold of the box, gripping the top four corners between his thumbs and foref…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Creeping Doubt

    I wonder if I'm unwanted. Am I the problem? I've always tried to make things better but I feel like I'm trying to keep the heart beating on a dying Clydesdale. Substitute any other majestic animal you want. For me the Clydesdale carries mass and dignity i…

    Posted 7 years ago
  • The Red Box

    The box rests on a small, round table, perfectly centered on its rough surface. The man who purchased it stands across the room, leaning with one shoulder against the wall, staring at the box without really seeing it, lost in contemplation. Before him lie…

    Posted 9 years ago
  • Unfamiliar Ceiling

    A glint of dark light. A pitch-black night sky, if you will, crisscrossed by dark galaxies, stars, constellations, darker even than black...

    Nick awakens with a full-body shudder, and the monitor starts beeping furiously. A moment later, the pain hits h…

    Posted 11 years ago
  • Only In Our Dreams

    She came to him in a dream, like she always did. She was assigned to him and the dream state was the quickest avenue of communication between realms. She didn't usually have any sort of proper message for him, she was just there to, essentially, comfort h…

    Posted 9 years ago