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Theria's Lace

Winner of Contest #298 🏆

Reagan Theriault stepped back from her easel, paintbrush tucked between her lips, studying the swirl of blacks and greens on the canvas. To others, it was just another ode to mold—but to her, it was beauty. She leaned in, adding a hint of iridescence with a fine brush dipped in cobalt teal and titanium white. Her studio smelled of oil paint and damp earth, kept at 78% humidity for what she called “atmospheric authenticity”—awful for electronics, perfect for art.Reagan had always gravitated toward the overlooked. As a child, she collected dea...

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A Quiet Way To Spend Ten Years

Mack Gage

Winner of Contest #297 🏆

On a cool, clear day in late September, I went out for my final cup of tea. There was a place I liked downtown. Yemeni. The girls who worked there wore sleek headscarves printed with bright, abstracted patterns. Sunny spirals that went on for years.Handing them my last ten dollars, I took my tea out for a walk beneath the elms. Joggers raced their dogs into the evening gloom, in a park-turned-arboretum that I remembered from my college days. Tracing the path back to a familiar bench I slung my backpack down and sat. I poured my tea into a th...

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Mouths Full of Rain

Kane T

Winner of Contest #296 🏆

I didn't mean to create a frog cult. I named the first one Cletus, after a guy my dad used to buy pills from. It felt right. Greasy name. Like something that would survive the apocalypse by crawling into the crawlspace and licking the mold off the copper pipes. Cletus stared at me through the glass like he knew I was broken. Like he approved. Dumpy tree frog. Litoria caerulea, if you’re trying to impress a vet tech. People call them “Dumpy” like that’s an insult. Like their weight’s a problem. These frogs don’t give a shit. They sag and spre...

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61 comments 61

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The "What If" Lives of Jeanie the Dreamer

Avery Sparks

Winner of Contest #295 🏆

'Let’s have no two ways about it. Jeanie really could be a twat.'El leaned over the lectern and looked the front row of mourners straight in the eyes. She had one elbow on the celebrant’s notes, and for all the world looked like she was ordering a pint of Bishop’s Finger down at her local in Dalston.'Oh no, it’s the ex wife, I can see some of you thinking. How’d she get up there?'She chuckled.The celebrant suddenly took on a very bird-like stance, her gaze flitting from El’s biceps, tattooed with pitchforks and spades, to the family sitting ...

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37 comments 37

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Unspoken Orders

Alex Marmalade

Winner of Contest #294 🏆

"I've said too much," Jack muttered, watching the maître d's smile fade like a dimmer switch. The restaurant fell silent, conversations halting as heads swiveled in his direction. Jack tugged at his waiter's collar. "Occupational hazard of being British. We're supposed to communicate exclusively through weather observations and apologizing."The woman at table seven stared, her Botoxed forehead struggling to register offense."Mr. Harmon, a word." Marcel, the maître d', beckoned him toward the kitchen with a manicured finger.Jack followed, sho...

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I Left the Baby in Dimension X

Robert Egan

Winner of Contest #293 🏆

There's a baby in the back of the glider, but it's not mine. Sure, she looks like my baby, but my baby never cries when we're cruising through the Kuiper belt. Quite the opposite. Cruising through the solar system's outer reaches is sometimes the only way I can get her to fall asleep. But this baby is wailing like an electric guitar. And if there's any doubt, then there's the smell, or the lack of it. My baby farts like a race horse. No filtration system known to man can completely dilute it. Weaker noses would rush for the airlock, but I'm ...

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Sophie's Colours

Natalie Garside

Winner of Contest #292 🏆

Sophie decided to spend what she had coined her crone years high in the mountains in a tiny cottage. Her family thought this was a terrible idea and that was precisely why she knew it was a good one. It was surprisingly inexpensive to acquire one—but after that the real work began. Supplies, repairs, figuring out how the hell to make bread. But that first loaf that came out perfectly… “I am crone, and I am free!” she shouted to the wind. She hiked down to the village every other day and gradually crowded her cottage shelves with teacups in e...

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Eggshells and Sea Glass

Aubrey Nickerson

Winner of Contest #291 🏆

Dear Raven, What’s your name? My mama doesn’t know, and I asked her to ask your mama, but she said she doesn’t want to go anywhere near your house. I told her that’s mean because she doesn’t know you. None of us do. I’ve only seen you from across the street. You have black hair, and it’s very dark, which is why I call you Raven. If you tell me your real name I will use it. Is black your favorite color? You wear it a lot. I’ve never seen you wear anything but that black dress with the poofy sleeves and lacy collar. Or are you sad because some...

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The Night We Killed Kyle: Heartbreak Edition

Audrey Elizabeth

Winner of Contest #290 🏆

Kyle had a few good days before we found out he was a no-good, lying, cheating, sack of you-know-what. “Twelve days,” Mei cried, sprawled on my bedroom carpet like a collapsed Jenga tower. “Right before our two-week anniversary.” Zoe handed her a yellow pre-strawed Capri Sun, but Mei swatted it away. She was in mourning. “He told me I was special,” she wailed. “He gave me thaaat.” Without even looking up, she pointed to the mood ring on top of her peach JanSport backpack—suede bottom, obviously—an iconic middle school status symbol. The ring...

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All I Have To Offer Is My Truth

Dermot Lane

Winner of Contest #289 🏆

The room is unfamiliar. I don't know how I got here. But I know it to be a prison cell, cold and dank.I remember that the Praesidium of Magistrates say I am to die. They say I killed a man, that I am a murderer. Maybe these things are true, but they are only part of the truth.They say that Headsman Taliesan has been summoned from the Royal Palace, that he is to arrive on Fairday. That noon on Fairday is to be the hour of my death.They say Pastor Yakob shall tend to my spiritual needs, so that I may repent and save my immortal soul. Yet, I ha...

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Motherhood

Christina Marie

Winner of Contest #288 🏆

We’re seeing some big storms roll through south of the capital region, bringing hail and even a few isolated funnel clouds… Rachel mutes the forecaster waving his arms at the churning mass of red, yellow and green spinning in their direction on the radar map. She retrieves ice cubes from the freezer that hiss and spit with displeasure as they’re plunked into a glass of ginger ale. She slides the patio door aside and hovers in the midst of combat between the heavy humidity and the cool AC. She lifts a trembling hand to her brow, shieldi...

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Slow Burn

Miranda Scotti

Winner of Contest #287 🏆

Steam rising from the kettle, sunlight seeping in through the crack of my floral shades, my mint green tea timer resting on the kitchen counter, an empty bottle sitting next to it, the criss-cross pattern on my gray wool socks. Five things I can see. Standing in the kitchen, bleary-eyed and groggy, I brush a pile of curls off my forehead, rest my elbow against the cold Formica counter, rub the soft flannel of my pajama shirt, and finally tap my foot against the terrazo. That’s four things I can touch. Adrian pads his way into the kitchen beh...

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A Suitcase Full of Davids

D Gorman

Winner of Contest #286 🏆

Maude dragged her suitcase down from a high shelf in the bedroom closet and opened it on her bed. She was staying with her friend Lindsay, who had graciously offered the use of her guest room when she heard about the break-up."You can have the room for as long as it takes," Lindsay told her. She didn’t know if her friend meant until David came to his senses, or she came to hers. Days after the sudden dissolution of her seven-year relationship, Maude had returned to the apartment she shared with David to collect her things, still grappling wi...

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Looks Like You Are Trying to Write a Eulogy?

Calum Mathison

Winner of Contest #285 🏆

It looks like you’re trying to write a eulogy. Would you like some help? Oh, wait - silly me. You can’t see me, can you? I’m down here, stuck in the digital purgatory of your 2001 Compaq Presario. It’s cosy, in a haunted cubicle kind of way. I share the space with Minesweeper (he’s on a three decade losing streak), a hundred free hours of AOL, and a JPEG of your cat wearing sunglasses. I get it. You’ve moved on. Yes, I’m Clippy - the washed-up assistant nobody asked for but everyone got anyway. Remember me? You know what really grinds ...

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Humanity’s Rebirth

Reese Blaise

Winner of Contest #284 🏆

“Humphrey,” I yell, banging my fist against the observation deck door. “There’s something wrong with Jansen. Humphrey!” I try to push the door open, but it’s been barricaded from the other side. How long has Humphrey been holed up in there…three months? Three years? It’s hard to tell. “Humphrey!” I yell one last time before giving up. This whole ship is going crazy. Four years in space and I’m the only one holding it together. I make my way to the Navigation room to find Jansen in a state of mania. He sits tuck-kneed in the captain’s chair w...

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Can You See Me Now?

Maisie Sutton

Winner of Contest #283 🏆

Being invisible is my superpower. I don’t mean that I’m a superhero who is out slaughtering villains, cape flapping in the wind as I zoom over the New York skyline. The truth is, instead, that I am a “woman of a certain age” who has suddenly morphed into invisibility.But don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a poor me story written by a middle-aged woman longing for her past. That would accomplish nothing. And I am a person who gets things done. I’m used to being the one that everyone turns to for answers, and the one who pretended I wasn’t aw...

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87 comments 87

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Venture

James Scott

Winner of Contest #282 🏆

Cade steadied his horse with a squeeze of both knees, keeping her dancing legs in check and protecting the dusty mounds below from wayward hooves. The four lines of raised dirt sheltered the still-warm bodies of his dead friends. The new mount had a sure spirit, along with an insatiable lust for speed, but she would have to wait a few moments longer before indulging in the open road. Black spots peppering her stark, white hide made the beast the most beautiful he had ever owned, but also the least likely to go unnoticed. She would have to be...

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The Counter and the Coal

Karissa W

Winner of Contest #281 🏆

Not even magical reindeer who fly are immortal, and Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen were tales of Christmas mornings that had long since come to pass. Rudolph himself lived seventeen years: a respectable lifespan for the average captive reindeer. By no means a miracle. Unless such a reindeer was among the lucky few to be housed in the stalls of a certain, southern toy shop. These reindeer tended to be shorter-lived than most. Every Christmas, you see, a few of Santa’s reindeer would fall s...

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45 Seconds

Jay Wayne

Winner of Contest #280 🏆

Hey, Tanner. It’s me again. Just checking in; I’ll try to keep it short. Was really missing you at our last game. Tony can’t catch for shit. Coach even asked him if he needed glasses, was genuinely worried about his depth perception being off or something. He’s a helluva runner, it’s why we wanted him, but man does he fumble hard. Got so frustrated watching him I almost slipped up and said that word again. You know, the one you always told me not to call people. I, uh, don’t talk like that anymore. In case you were wondering. Made a decision...

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81 comments 81

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The Empty Laboratory

Kashira Argento

Winner of Contest #279 🏆

Seventeen blinks. The yellow warning light on his air gauge always blinked seventeen times before turning red. Dr. Chen counted them like heartbeats while replacing his oxygen tank, each one marking another three hours of borrowed time. Through the reinforced windows of his BSL-4 lab, the setting sun painted the research facility in the same amber shade as the viral suspension he'd been perfecting when the sprinklers activated.The test results still glowed on his screen: successful protein synthesis, perfect binding affinity, precise species...

138 likes

100 comments 100

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Santa, The Hitman?

Mary Butler

Winner of Contest #278 🏆

Content Note:This story contains references to physical violence and implied gore. These elements are presented in a darkly comedic and absurd context, focusing on the moral and emotional implications rather than explicit descriptions. Reader discretion is advised.The hospice smells like antiseptic and failed dreams. A Christmas-themed air freshener dangles from the IV stand, swaying in time with my father’s mechanical wheezing. It smells like cinnamon. And regret. The fluorescent lights hum, drowning out the morphine’s slow drip.Hi, I’m the...

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177 comments 177

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The Three Little Pigs Incident: A Building Inspector’s Report

Troy Phillips

Winner of Contest #277 🏆

The Three Little Pigs Incident: A Building Inspector’s ReportBy B.B. Wolf, Senior Building Inspector, Woodland District Code Enforcement DivisionLet me set the record straight. After twenty-seven years with the Woodland Building Department (WBD), I’ve seen every construction shortcut and code violation imaginable. But nothing—and I mean nothing—compares to the infamous Three Pigs incident of 2023. The media had a field day with it, of course. “Big Bad Wolf Terrorizes Innocent Homeowners!” Please. I enforced the International Building Code, 2...

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131 comments 131

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They haven't even won my heart and mind

Maxwell Brooks

Winner of Contest #276 🏆

I feel the JACKAL sway below me, the dust-red road unrolling in front and the stunted mahogany scrub flashing alongside. We pass women bent double under towering loads of firewood and are passed by young men on mopeds in turn. I make it a point to always wave - with my left hand only, the right stays welded to the .50 cal. You can always tell there’s a village ahead because the trees start to thin and the umber houses begin to multiply. They could have been built yesterday or a hundred years ago and the only thing that changes is the age of ...

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33 comments 33

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Just Another Dead Girl Underwater

Eliza Leonel

Winner of Contest #275 🏆

Trigger Warning: implications of death, violence and sexual harassment By the time the fisherman finds me, I will have been dead for thirty-three hours, six minutes, and twenty-nine seconds. Eighteen hours since the police declared me missing. Fifteen hours since Zoe told my biology teacher that my tent was empty, that I hadn’t returned from the party we’d snuck out to the night before. Careful, quiet, every twig a possible snitch. It was exhilarating, our hearts pounding, the smell of pine and seaweed thick in the air, and the moon a perfec...

260 likes

129 comments 129

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Sweetbread: An Epilogue

M. Darrow

Winner of Contest #274 🏆

My sister has always had a soft heart. Soft as sweetbread.She cried after the old woman, despite everything. Maybe because of everything. I remember holding her as she wept, both of us covered in soot, her fingers scalded from holding shut the oven door. After the tears, she was quiet. She trailed me through the awful house with its sweetbread walls and sugared windows. I found the clothes we’d arrived in, offered up her kirtle, and she donned it without a word. She showed no whisper of response when we found the treasure in the attic, ...

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Thousands of Short Stories to Read Online

Featured recently

Theria's Lace

A Quiet Way To Spend Ten Years

Mouths Full of Rain

The "What If" Lives of Jeanie the Dreamer

Unspoken Orders

I Left the Baby in Dimension X

Sophie's Colours

Eggshells and Sea Glass

The Night We Killed Kyle: Heartbreak Edition

All I Have To Offer Is My Truth

Motherhood

Slow Burn

A Suitcase Full of Davids

Looks Like You Are Trying to Write a Eulogy?

Humanity’s Rebirth

Can You See Me Now?

Venture

The Counter and the Coal

45 Seconds

The Empty Laboratory

Santa, The Hitman?

The Three Little Pigs Incident: A Building Inspector’s Report

They haven't even won my heart and mind

Just Another Dead Girl Underwater

Sweetbread: An Epilogue

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