Hasnain Shah
Bio
"I write about the little things that shape our big moments—stories that inspire, spark curiosity, and sometimes just make you smile. If you’re here, you probably love words as much as I do—so welcome, and let’s explore together."
Stories (75)
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The Thing I Never Said to My Mother
The Thing I Never Said to My Mother By Hasnain Shah I have rehearsed this conversation a thousand times in my head. In every version, my mother sits at the small wooden table by the window, the one with the faint burn mark from a long-forgotten cup of tea. Sunlight slants across her face, catching in the silver threads of her hair, and for once, she looks smaller than I remember. In some versions of the scene, I am calm. In others, I am trembling. But in all of them, I finally say the thing I never said.
By Hasnain Shaha day ago in Humans
You Don’t Recognize Yourself in the Mirror Anymore
You Don’t Recognize Yourself in the Mirror Anymore By Hasnain Shah At first, you don’t notice. You stand in front of the bathroom mirror like you have a thousand times before — toothbrush in hand, hair messy, eyes half-lidded with sleep. The light hums faintly above you, flickering just enough to feel wrong but not enough to bother you. You watch yourself rinse your mouth, spit, wipe your lips with the back of your hand.
By Hasnain Shah2 days ago in Fiction
The Thing My Younger Self Would Never Believe About Me Now
The Thing My Younger Self Would Never Believe About Me Now By Hasnain Shah If I could sit across from my younger self—the one with scraped knees, trembling hopes, and a heart that bruised too easily—I think the first thing she would do is stare at me in disbelief. Not anger. Not disappointment. Just a kind of stunned, wide-eyed confusion, like she’s looking at a plot twist no story ever prepared her for.
By Hasnain Shah2 months ago in Humans
The Christmas Tree That Waited
The Christmas Tree That Waited By Hasnain Shah The Christmas tree lot looked different every night—brighter, emptier, more excited. Families wandered between the rows of pine and spruce like treasure hunters, calling out to each other as they held up branches and compared shapes. Children tugged their parents’ coats, laughing as they searched for “the perfect one.”
By Hasnain Shah2 months ago in Art
How I Learned to Forgive Someone Who Never Apologized
How I Learned to Forgive Someone Who Never Apologized By Hasnain Shah Forgiveness is a strange thing. It arrives slowly, then all at once—like the smell of rain before the storm breaks, or the quiet settling after a long, angry argument. I used to think that forgiveness required two people: the one who hurt and the one who was hurt. I thought the door stayed locked unless both hands turned the key.
By Hasnain Shah3 months ago in Humans
Dial 999 for Your Future Self
Dial 999 for Your Future Self By Hasnain Shah It started with a sticker on the inside of a bus shelter. The kind you usually ignore—cheap print, curled edges, probably someone’s attempt to advertise miracle weight-loss pills or forbidden streaming sites. But this one caught my eye because it said only four words:
By Hasnain Shah3 months ago in Fiction
What I Learned Working With People Who Were Dying
What I Learned Working With People Who Were Dying By Hasnain Shah I didn’t expect the first lesson to be about shoes. During my first week working in hospice care, I walked into Mr. Callahan’s room—an eighty-seven-year-old man with lungs that rattled like windowpanes in a storm—and the first thing he asked me wasn’t about his medication, his pain, or his breathing.
By Hasnain Shah3 months ago in Humans
Why We Fear the Life We Actually Want
Why We Fear the Life We Actually Want By Hasnain Shah We like to imagine that the biggest battles we face are external—money, time, responsibilities, circumstance. We tell ourselves that if we had just a little more courage, a little more energy, a little more clarity, we would finally step into the life we dream about. But the truth is quieter, more unnerving: the thing we fear most is often the life we say we want.
By Hasnain Shah3 months ago in Psyche
