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Short Fiction
 2 min

Mud Bath

Ryan Seller

I toss my soiled clothes into the sink; I'll deal with them later.
I'm too impatient to wait for the water to get hot, so I hop into the freezing spray.
I shiver.
I'm strong though. I can ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Daze

Danny White

I had never felt loneliness like the loneliness I felt in that room. There was nobody else, just me and my thoughts. My terrible, nerve-racking thoughts. And I couldn't go anywhere. My hands were ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 4 min

If Mental Illness Were a Place

Sarah Lindsey

Who are you?

Well, I'm... well my name is Two, actually. It's kind of a long story. Well... I'm broken, you see. That's where my story begins. My brain isn't made like the others. That makes ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

The Bank of Flesh

Tim Zhou

A couple of miles down the decrepit villages and a few minutes walking along the white gravel path, you will see a weirdly inclined mountain crowned in thick vegetation. If you were to climb to its ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

For the Love of Aphrodite

Teresa Murphy

Some spend their lives in search of Aphrodite. Day after day they waste their hours seeking a goddess to soothe their weary hearts.

The quest for a perfect Aphrodite is a fruitless one ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 2 min

Residue

Max Carter

They were 40 minutes into their 50-minute session and were still stuck in the same place as when the two started. Taran tugged at their collar while they talked, sweating from nerves and the gradually ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

The V Word

Lai Wei

The last time I heard the V word was when my dumb friend Will said it in front of my wife. He was coming in to borrow my toolbox and overheard the stupid argument we were having, and of course, being ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

Cockatoo

Ashley Chang

Grandpa always hated the cockatoos. Called them oversized flying rats, never mind that they were a goddamn national treasure, but nothing came between that old man and his garden. In Iran, he used to ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Rust

Kayal Udaiyar

The rain started not soon after the fifth birthday of Zara's daughter. An endless pouring of blood that came from eternally gray skies forced everyone into their homes and afraid for what was to come ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

There's a Noise in Your Brain

Fritz Ruppert

It was already far too late.
I had never meant to be out here at this hour, but I'd been having trouble sleeping, like all these recent nights. Something about sitting there, awake, in the bed ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 4 min

Pumpkin Pie

Hannah Rose Swenson

Philandros heard the thundering beast before he saw it. He sauntered across the street as if he had all the time in the world, then turned to glance at the bus as it passed a few feet away. Leaves ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 4 min

Like White Bed Comforters

Emma Holmes

He flinched as his ears were hit with a sudden monotone message that blared over his car speakers, much louder than the soft voice of the podcast host. "You have two new messages from ‘Magz': ‘Let us ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 1 min

Figs and Lace

Aliyaa Pathan

Without all the furniture, the house collapses like flesh without its bones, shaped only by my breath. I cross my arms, holding off a chill, and move into the little space that used to be a dining ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Every Last Kiss

Katherine Bliss

Madaline turned around to look back at me as we reached her front door. Her dad would be waiting up just on the other side but we were back well before curfew. I leaned down to lightly peck her lips ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

Sixty Eight Seconds

Grace Stroup

Momma was late again today, so I spent the afternoon on the curb outside school, staring at this one ant carrying a piece of dirt the size of his body on top of his head. It started raining so I just ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

In the Woods

Emma Gerden

Elias was the one to first see the body — he was the one to fall off his bike. Skidded in the gravel and tumbled to the ground, scraping up his elbow — "A squirrel ran out in front!" he protested, and ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Starstruck

Jayden Harris

Nineve could talk to water. She'd been 5 when her gift had come to her, and everyone in her coastal town had rejoiced at having another water speaker. Like many who went through speaker training, he ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

Home Bound

IsaBella Sztyber

Alone. All I've ever known is loneliness. Hours, days, weeks, they all merge together after a while.

At least it is bright, the sun shines through the blinds in this desolate house, but that ...  [+]