Fantasy

Its Been One Year
It's been one year since you left me for good, one year of heartbreak. I still live here in the house by the beach, the beach you always loved going to. I remember you used to grab my hand, while we ran along this beach as the world faded around us. You were a master with the waves making it seem you had them under your control. I haven't been back to your beach since the day you left me for good, though today I ponder going back. After some time of thinking I put on my black sandals, and put on your favorite shirt of mine, the one you said made me special. As I walk out the door onto the steps down to the beach, the memories come flooding in. Every day, every night, every special moment on this beach comes back to me. I slowly pick up the sand, twist it through my fingers as it falls back to the earth. It’s still as warm and soft as it was the first day we came here though it seems it lost its golden color the day you left me for good. I lie down making the earth my bed and sit there for what seems like hours not caring what happens next, just daydreaming you were back. That's when I saw a golden necklace in the distance, it wouldn't have been enough to get me up from my bed. But this necklace was shining a special kind of gold, I just had to see it. As I get up and dust sand off my shorts and T shirt, I realize what this necklace truly is. It's the one I gave you, the day before you left me for good. It's still got our photograph embedded inside the middle, our agreed favorite one, with the words I love you like you love the waves. I can’t believe I'm holding this in my hands, this feels like some unseen dream but this is real. It's here golden as ever just like the day I first got it for you. They said your stuff was lost, though maybe you left them to the sea, the same sea I once believed you could control.
By Christian Sanchez11 days ago in Fiction
What A Clown. Top Story - January 2026.
I heard of the jokester in town. My staff was afraid to share the tales, for they knew the stories infuriated me and punishment was my expertise. I inflicted many types, and excelled at using sharp objects and heated “instruments.”
By Andrea Corwin 11 days ago in Fiction
The Wickfield Husbands
I thought I was lost, when I suddenly saw the sign, Wickfield Rhode Island, and I turned my wheel to exit the interstate. I felt butterflies in my stomach, as I didn't know what to expect. However, I was on my way to the job interview of a lifetime, and I was elated and apprehensive all at the same time.
By Susan Payton11 days ago in Fiction
2. The spell that turned land to darkness. Content Warning.
Blake. His name, a whisper in my mind. A single word that seemed to rattle the very essence of my beating heart. My bones turned fluid, and I could barely stand, could barely breathe. The air felt drier somehow. I needed to escape this place, but the rope bit into my skin, marring my wrists and making me bleed. I could almost taste the iron on my tongue.
By Minou J. Linde12 days ago in Fiction
Berganashio - Chapter 30
“We’ve almost made it back to the mountain range where the giants live!” Jovie said. She had fluttered down and was hanging onto one of the giant’s large legs. She was near Queen Finyellë now.
By Rowan Finley 12 days ago in Fiction
In the Dark
Icy blue eyes stared at me through the darkness. The fact that I could see these eyes so clearly in the darkness sent shockwaves up my eleven-year-old spine. I had just woken up from a rather intense nightmare, incidentally about some creep that was watching me at the foot of my bed. ‘’I can see you,’’ I whispered.
By DJ Robbins12 days ago in Fiction
The First Echo
Once, the world was alive but silent. Beasts roamed, flowers blossomed, and streams meandered without knowing their time-worn fate. Each living being was like an apparition, seeming to carry on in life's cycle but never genuinely living.
By J.M.12 days ago in Fiction
The Whispering Lantern
In the heart of Eldermoor, a village eternally wrapped in fog and silence, time seemed to stretch like the shadows that spilled across the cobbled streets at dusk. The cottages leaned into one another, their chimneys curling gentle spirals of smoke into the gray sky, but the true mystery lay beyond the village’s edge: the Lantern Tree.
By Omid khan12 days ago in Fiction
One Unchecked Box. Top Story - October 2024.
"Republished" because it was the only way to add the embed for the newly recorded audio version of this story due to the Top Story badge. Plus it serves as a nice, informal announcement of the podcast's revival for another season (go subscribe!):
By Stephen A. Roddewig13 days ago in Fiction
The Sheriff
"Move aside. I say, move aside!" My deputy barks at the crowd. "It's the sheriff," people whisper. "Move, make way." I usually hate when people whisper like this - like I'm dangerous, like I'm going to harm anyone for standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
By Noelle Spaulding 13 days ago in Fiction
Once Upon a Crime. Top Story - January 2026.
The courtroom is a stiff, municipal box. The kind of place where people argue about fences and parking violations. The witch sits at the defense table, hands folded, expression neutral.
By Kristen Keenon Fisher13 days ago in Fiction
Kings
He stood Majestic, strong, magnificent of stature and regal in grace. King Mazzula's keen eyes survey the grassy knoll overlooking the serene valley of his kingdom. The scene is bathed in the warm, golden light of the setting sun, casting long shadows across the landscape. The king's eyes sparkle with intelligence and wisdom, reflecting the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings. In one's vivid and poetic imagination, this is a painter's canvas, a painting with meticulous attention to detail and a touch of whimsy. Soft, diffused lighting enhances the magical atmosphere, creating a sense of wonder and tranquility.
By Antoni De'Leon13 days ago in Fiction