Short Story

By Julian S Parker Part 1 - Le­ga­cy 7:49 PM be­fore the in­cit­ing in­ci­dent. “Read it again.” I tight­ened my grip on the pa­per. “Are you se­ri­ous?” “Le­ga­cy... come on.” I shook my head. “‘Come find me there. In our spe­cial place. Signed, Jamyra.’” A pause. “Wow.” “What?” “I knew it. You’re crazy.” Jago laughed. “And Dave? He liked you. Kept ask­ing, ‘Is your sis­ter still sin­gle?’ Must be a cop thing- maybe a brotha thing.” “Jago, can you be se­ri­ous?” His chuck­le

By Tejas Gupta I start each morning the same way, unlocking my office door at exactly 7:58, two minutes before I need to be anywhere, two minutes to prepare myself. Routine is idolized here, not in worship or prayer, but in the way the lights flicker on at exactly 6:30, in the identical breakfasts of grey porridge and through the guards’ boots echoing like a ticking metronome. Even my coffee tastes institutional, like the beans have been infused with the same disinfectant tha

By Peter Ellis Evaristus sat in the corner of his new home’s local cafe; its inner walls were lined with oak wood and the windows stretched from the floor to the ceiling. There were a few people dotted around the chairs and tables, a few young parents, and some older folk reuniting based on their slightly elevated volume of conversation. Apparently, cafes were quite popular in “modern times”. Hades had informed them that these “modern times” were several thousand years beyond

By Varna Rajeshkannan My eyes fluttered open. The twilight shined right through my square window. Judging by the light, it was 6 pm. I always woke up at this time, in this house  I groggily reached for my favourite gold-framed glasses on my bedside table. People told me that the gold frames brought the color of my eyes out. But I could never reply ‘thank you’ or smile. Slowly, I slid off the bed to open my window. I loved the feel when I let that sudden gust of autumn air cra

By Yashna Jalan First, everyone was needing me to figure out what the jars were for, then, they wanted to investigate the plethora of glass shards and now accusing me of coercing substance abuse! I’m just a cleaning staff, in this ultra-posh retirement home!  I sit in the HR office with the HR lady, the charge nurse, and my boss, Mrs. Stevens, who’s the head of custodial services. Everything is done by committee at the retirement community where I work in the assisted living

By Dave Hite Eyes closed . Deep breath . Exhale . Repeat . The calming repetition of the routine usually casts a drowsy film over its eyes; utter nothingness latching on to its existence. Tonight brought cracks with the growing darkness, though. The now muddled heap could no longer ignore the pressing emotions that threatened to overtake it. They couldn’t cry. There was no release since it was not human; couldn’t feel the ease tears would bring to its damaged soul. An argumen

By Marcus Jones Tony's up and ready to go to school today,   excited that there's an assembly this morning. He's washed up, dressed and out the door with his bookbag. During the ride on the school bus he and his friend are going over the possibilities of what their grades might look like, which they're going to see after the distribution of the third report card for this school year next week. Tony's not a bad kid, just hyper active a lot, ADHD will do that. When there's gonn

By Miriam Gosu Oh Evi. Sweet little Evi. The name is dull on his tongue, but his eyes glow when the syllables meet his lips. Poor, naive, sweet, little Evi. How unfortunate she was to approach that very day. The sweet thing wasn’t supposed to walk up to him Wide eyed and inquisitive, so full of life, yet clueless all the same. Empathy was her undoing, and when she spoke those first words, that first ‘Hello’, her life was destined to end. For without joy, there is no life. On

By Foo Yee Ching (Althea Reese) Chapter 1 My Maiden Encounter With a Piano Singapore, 1986 My mother pressed the alarm as we stood at the metal gate of her friend’s two-storey terrace house at Serangoon Garden one Saturday afternoon in June. My small hand nestled tightly in my mother’s other hand. The house stood before us, its white walls stark against the deep maroon roof. I felt a slight flutter of apprehension as the metal gate with ornate floral carvings creaked open, an

By Christian J. Farber On Love After decades of thinking, experiencing, longing, and searching for love, I am coming to peace with this most challenging of emotions that we all endure. The labor of love is actual and confusing by its very nature. If it were easy to figure out, it would result in something less desirous, and we would seek something else. That is not the case here: the complexity of our love draws it deeper into our hearts and creates a thirst we cannot satisfy

By Timothy Aaron Udy Reality is not a place. It is a ritual. It is an emergent tapestry, coded in layers—by consciousness, for consciousness.  And the more one wakes up, the more clearly one sees that everything… everything… is code. Not metaphorical code. Actual living, breathing syntax, spoken through the geometry of time and the sound of light. The SourceCode, as I’ve come to name it, is the divine programming language of existence. A sacred script that governs not only ma

By Julie Makhoul Synopsis: Let’s follow Jazmine—   a girl who wears thunder like pink roses and lipstick—   as she poetically writes her way through the trials and tribulations of life.     From broken promises to sacred awakenings,   Jazmine’s voice rises through the cracks in her world,   unfolding in verses that shimmer with resilience, rage, and grace.     Her journey is mythic, her truth unflinching.   She is unnamed, but never unseen.   A phoenix in lipstick, a unicorn

By Larry W. Bumpus Jessup Collins was at the still since before the sun came up. He had it fired up and was making some corn liquor. Jessup had been making ‘shine since he was a boy along with his daddy and granddaddy. The recipe had been perfected by Noah Collins, which was Jessup’s great granddaddy and handed down from father to son. Making ‘shine was a tradition in the Collins family. It had been going on beginning with Jessup’s great-great granddaddy Josiah Collins. ‘Shi

By Dominique Scott How can I apologize if I don't know what I'm apologizing for? We were supposed to be thick as thieves but here we are. You've said "I Do" and now going to welcome in new life into the world. But I've never got to say "congratulations" or "I thought that was in the air." No, you announced it to others and I've heard from them. Someone who claims I was a best friend, the colors showed when wedding came, I overcompensated for a lonely heart. Jokes were made an

By Dominique Scott I just got back into town for vacation and I decided to go see my grandad... He's been keeping to himself even since we lost grandma two years ago. Everyone haven't been coming around like they used to... When she was alive and they have no idea how heart breaking it is to grandad. He has to live in this home that he shared with his wife for years and now it's quiet. Nobody to cook, dance, fight, or garden with anymore. I pulled into the driveway to see him

By 袁襯玉 Yuen Chan Yoke “亚军是。。。倪敏小姐！” 当掌声响起的当儿，上台领奖的倪敏并没有特别的兴奋。这次会馆所举办的《现场华文写作公开赛》的颁奖典礼上，她的父亲已无法像以往一样和她分享这项荣誉。 在倪敏的心目中，父亲是一个典型节俭、沉默寡言的人。他待人接物友善、慷慨解囊。他从不喜欢为自己多添置几件新衬衫或鞋子却对社会较不幸者有颗側隐之心，常做慈善募捐。虽然年过六旬，只受过初中教育的他，仍旧在闲余时与倪敏好学不倦地切磋文学作品，使倪敏在耳濡目染下与写作结下不解之缘。自从小弟获得了驾车执照后，一家人租车出外游玩的日子更频密，感情融冾。 倪敏万万没想到与父亲的缘分竟然如此短暂。一切的一切，如影随行，一幕幕烙印在她的心砍里。她直眨眼睛，忍住眼眶里晃动的泪水，无声地哭泣着。。。 X        X.       X.      X.       X.       X 去年的十月下旬，向来甚少病痛的父亲突然向倪敏倾诉他的腹部有间歇性疼痛，并且带有便秘的征兆。闻后，倪敏和母亲迅速带他给医生诊治。 经过医生的临床诊断，父亲患的只是肠胃疾病

By Anna Nemeth Juniper had such a lovely time with her new present grandma and grandpa had given her for her birthday. Mother said now juniper you're getting older and need to start looking after yourself more. Juniper wasn't sure what mother was saying but nodded her head anyway .Your lovely present from grandma and grandpa may be of help though you will need to keep them safe and with you at all times. Juniper smiled there in her hands were several cards with pictures on th

By Javishkar Reddy There are many things in this world that look the same, no matter what city you are visiting at the time. Like the way a thin string of mozzarella cheese hangs in the air just before someone lifts a slice of pizza up to their mouth. That string is always the same, wherever you are. But her smile, at the end of that slice, that’s something completely different. It hides just behind the freshly seared crust; her teeth revealing a mischievous glimpse of who sh

By Nur Dinie Asfa The rustling of leaves would have probably frightened any other woman sitting in the forest alone, but that was not quite the case for Princess Emilia. She had come to look forward to the sound, knowing it usually came with a certain someone. She turned to face her beloved, who carried a basket and the smile she had come to adore. "Your Highness, I apologise for my late arrival. I had some last-minute duties to attend to." "I thought we agreed to drop the fo

By Debasree Maity Suruwaat ki sree ko pyaar ka paata kabhi nahi tha -Phir zindagi mein ata hain 20’s ki paadhav - yeh bataiye aap saab ne pyaar kaab kya??20’s ke baare kuch bataon main - woh teenage wala time hota hain na jaab maan zyaada behek ta hain….  kya kahoon doston,Woh waqt jab dimag ka GPS bhi confuse hota hai!Maan kahin bhaagta hai, tan kahin ulajhta hai,aur sapne – woh toh bina helmet ke race lagate hain!phir 20’s ke sree ko pehli baar pehla pyaar huya (pehla nasha