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The Color of Magpies

By Nikki Lower

2

15 min.

18

She was fine. She didn’t need any help. She just needed to try harder.Kneeling on the grated metal floor of the conservatory, Magatha could feel the faint, ever-present whirrings and rumblings that kept the giant spheres of House in illogical motion ...

Semper Romanus

By Christopher Jones

2

21 min.

14

At the edge of Roman power, a yearlong struggle with the invading Carthaginian horde leads to division within the halls of Saguntum, Rome's farthest outpost.

The Billionaire Mentor

By Deb Goodman

2

8 min.

11

A billionaire explorer and a suspense novelist at a dating retreat? Too bad their relationship is fake.

A Quest

By Gerrit Stainer

1

16 min.

16

An old story: a young man on a journey. Even a small errand can take on the meaning of a myth.

Lightness

By Gerrit Stainer

0

28 min.

24

Thirteen is too old to be talking to a toy - but what if the toy is your only friend?

#science fiction

Dollie

By Miranda Renaé

3

4 min.

133

Nora had a love-hate relationship with her job, the smells of a campfire, and fresh dirt being the love. She sat down on a log at the edge of the fire, watching her clients, the bright lights of their phones, and orange spikes of the flames highlight ...

Shall We Dance

By Sandra Walls

1

7 min.

64

The tenement flat was on the first floor. It was a room and kitchen with a separate toilet. Not one in the middle stairwell of the close like some tenements in Glasgow.Me and my three older cousins were in the bed recess, they were sleeping already, ...

#realistic fiction

Frost Under A Bright Moon

By Caren Hahn

4

16 min.

124

Winston Kingsley's hollow life of luxury drives him to find purpose in rescuing struggling nonprofits. But when he visits an old Victorian home-turned-sanctuary for troubled teens, he learns that not all of his beneficiaries want his help.

Mistress Mary

By Caren Hahn

7

16 min.

213

It's bad enough helping her aging mother-in-law sort through fifty years of clutter. But when she finds an antique doll that takes the nightmare to a new level, Mona is ready to call it quits. The doll, however, has other ideas.

Headless

By Cass Weldon

6

13 min.

223

Indigo dismounted her motorcycle with carefully unhurried speed. The moon overhead was bright and silvery, and the noise coming from the house was happy—chattering voices and scattered laughter pouring out from golden glowing windows. The autumn nigh ...

Spooky

By Rae Sterling

4

10 min.

344

It was the day before Halloween that I found her on my doorstep. She was just too adorable, a tiny black kitten with huge green eyes just sitting on top of the Jack-o-lantern on my porch like some sort of Halloween postcard. I was supposed to be leav ...

Blog Entries of the Brokenhearted

By Stephanie Van Orman

4

29 min.

241

The wind blew the grass in waves that rippled like the waves of the sea. The tombstones didn't bend to the wind. She couldn't see him, but in her mind, he was there.

The Librarynth of the Lost

By Taya Okerlund

4

14 min.

363

An evil assassin is plotting the death of Fairy's crown prince. The princess will have to get her hands dirty, making some sketchy bargains, just to protect them, but the traitor is closer than you think.

How I Saved a Planet!

By Stephen Quatro

1

17 min.

111

The next town we encountered was Maryville. I suggested that Qarl and I split up for a bit to try to find the others more quickly. Qarl agreed, ducking down a side street while I continued up the main thoroughfare into the center of town. Something s ...

Avril's Phoenix

By Michelle Harris-Genge

5

5 min.

290

Avril Bale has it all, which makes her ill-prepared for a tragedy that rocks the foundation of her security and sense of fairness. Avril’s Phoenix probes why bad things happen to good people in an emotional, uplifting journey following heartbreak.

#realistic fiction

Fat Man Blues

By Richard Wall

6

4 min.

598

"Hobo John" is an English blues enthusiast on a pilgrimage to present-day Mississippi. One night in Clarksdale he meets the mysterious Fat Man, who offers him the chance to see the real blues of the 1930s.

Dragon's Fury: Chapter One

By Brian Meeks

3

5 min.

197

From out of the mist it flew... ...a dragon bent on revenge and hungry for power. Who will stop him?

Tethered

By Crystal Brinkerhoff

22

5 min.

698

The bodies wouldn’t sink. His muscles ached and his back screamed at him. Dragging the corpses into the ocean had been much harder than he’d expected. Heavy with salt water, his crew uniform clung to his body and trapped in granules of sand that chaf ...

Ghost Music

By Antoinette McCormick

2

2 min.

123

An unexpected inheritance unleashes an unimaginable horror.

Green Eyes

By Tijana Popov-Trnovac

0

1 min.

78

When a shy and anxious Dean meets 'larger than life' Damien Jones and the sparks fly, none of their lives will ever be the same.

The Demise

By Jess Peters

0

21 min.

109

I woke up in a cold sweat with panic surging through my body. It felt like the walls were closing in around me and endangering me making me feel as if I was afraid of my own shadow, but I knew I was better than that. It wouldn’t happen. I will not fa ...

Deus Ex Mechina

By Zach McClellan

2

16 min.

127

A dark figure crashed through the window of the saloon into the dusty street, releasing a grunt of pain. Jeers called out after him as he scrambled away. “Teach that slimeball a lesson, Sloan!” “He’ll think twice about cheating!” “Wow, he had to have ...

Red Wrath

By Gerhard Gehrke

3

9 min.

166

I was sitting in a bar, brooding and thinking about superheroes. There was a special on the news all about them. The large flat-screen televisions mounted on the wall should have been showing the Mets game. Instead we got a fawning comedian whose fil ...

#science fiction

Ultimas Drake

By MIchael Young

2

9 min.

85

Meckule fidgeted in his ceremonial attire, wondering whose name he needed to curse for coming up with such fickle clothing. Not for the first time, he wished he had been born in the Dorian Clan instead of the Scarlatti. Then, he would have been broug ...