A New Kind of Literary Pulse

Everything sparkled. The sun, the snow, the air, white and clean and perfect. Beautiful.
Five minutes after we made the turn from the main highway, the road leading further north to curl ... [+]

Gasp! I struggle to catch my breath as I am tossed around the raft, gripping whatever sturdy object is closest. Where am I? Why am I here? Who are these people? My head is throbbing and my arms are ... [+]

After the accident they were at my grandmother’s house, my mother and brother and sister, my grandparents and my old uncle. They wandered around the house, keeping away from my mother, who had ... [+]

The bell rang to end third period on the first day of school. I had one class left, English with Mr. Thorne. I met up with my friend Jeremy on the way to his room.
“Hey Stuart, are you going ... [+]

The fog that descended that day still clings to me. It followed me from intensive care, where the man I loved drew his last breath, to the morgue, where his body was reduced to ashes and returned to ... [+]

Devan often came to the pond when he was a teenager in the late fall or early winter. His father now allowed him to hunt on his own without his supervision, a privilege which he cherished dearly. He ... [+]

Manuel, jolted by the radio alarm blaring next to his ear, awoke with a start. His arms jerked sideways, swiping the previous night’s dinner dishes off the coffee table and sending them crashing to ... [+]

I didn’t feel any older today, but I was. The fading yellowed calendar hung from a bent nail on the wall, flipped to the month of July. The red circle around the number nine, like a bullseye, drew ... [+]

Gray, everything was totally gray, the railway steel cable, the trains passing by without seeing her, the subway, only one parked car, the sky above. A solitary universe of gray.
Like a piece of ... [+]

Marnie liked melodies. In her city room facing nowhere, the routine was the same. At night, she sang naked out the open window. It was a way to get inside. A chorus, she thought, might feel the ... [+]

"Baby, did you eat all those chocolates?"
A pile of wrappers swept out from under the bed stared at the child. She blinked and smiled beatifically.
"Not me, Daddy."
"Sweetie, if you ... [+]

Chloe and Emily have been friends for nearly three years, they flat share, both work for the university, and share the journey into work - in Emily's car. Chloe isn't a morning person, but Emily has ... [+]

For any casual onlooker, they painted an idyllic picture. Sitting close by, hands clasped, eyes locked - two people so in love with one another that they were blind to the world.
He held he ... [+]

Tony straddles the rail. “All aboard!” He straightens his conductor’s hat. Pumps his chubby fist just above his shoulder, “Toot, toot.”
Miles away, the westbound train’s whistle ... [+]

Joshua.
He likes me, but I don’t like him because his fingers are always cheesy. He pulls up his socks too high and is always breaking bones.
When he was in a body-cast I used him as ... [+]

“Nem, come here.” My mother bent down and held out a box. “You’re growing up, so I thought it was time for you to have this.”
I took the package from here and slid the lid off. The ... [+]

Why does the concept of extraterrestrial life feel so alien? What if I told you that my father lives in Mars, a small town in Pennsylvania? Is truth really stranger than fiction? Are you certain? ... [+]

Jason asked his dad if they could build a tree house.
“That will be a lot of work,” Dad said. “Where should we build it?”
“Oh Dad,” Jason scoffed. “There’s the perfect tree fo ... [+]