Psychological

The Shelf Between Us
Every year, a mother writes a birthday card she never sends. When the letters begin to answer back, forgiveness arrives too easily—and hope becomes something she’s no longer sure she should keep.
By Erica Roberts 4 days ago in Fiction
The Load-Bearing Walls
1. Inventory The building is rectangular. The street-facing façade has six windows, evenly spaced. Two are bricked over, though no record explains why. The door opens inward, left hinge. The lock works but is rarely used.
By Alain SUPPINI5 days ago in Fiction
Tuesday at Six
Insults were her only amusement. If I were to bring anything now, it is the beauty inside me. Within. No? Don’t I bring enough? For a man, it seems not. Yet, still, there’s a bucket in my hand. No toilet that I could flush; yet, without security, I don’t bring enough.
By Caitlin Charlton5 days ago in Fiction
Tea Time
Like every morning, Ester watched as trembling hands lifted the robin’s egg blue teapot and poured the amber liquid into a matching teacup. Louis’ hands were wrinkled, weathered, calloused from years of work. She still loved holding those hands across the small kitchen table as they talked. She remembered doing it for fifty years, the hands had changed but they felt the same. It was a good day when she could think back over the years. It was better in the mornings. The fog of sleep when she woke up lifted and she remembered his name, but in a couple hours it wasn’t guaranteed.
By Raine Fielder5 days ago in Fiction
Where Do You Go When the Story Doesn’t End?
Sometimes stories end because the book is actually finished. Others abruptly stop because the reader has fallen asleep. But sometimes the story keeps going simply because it's developed a mind of its own, leaving you to keep turning the pages without noticing.
By Shannon Hilson5 days ago in Fiction
The Train That Only Stops for Regret
No one buys a ticket for the train that stops for regret. You find it when you are already tired of pretending you don’t have any.
By Imran Ali Shah6 days ago in Fiction
The Mastermind
They called him, Mr. Mastermind. His duties were simple, he was to visit different places around the world and deliver his message, of his Master Plan.
By Susan Payton6 days ago in Fiction
The Golem
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WRITER’S NOTE: The golem originates in Jewish folklore as a figure formed from clay and animated through sacred language. Created for necessity rather than companionship, the golem exists to protect, labor, and endure. They are believed to be emotionless.
By Jesse Lee6 days ago in Fiction
Vision of Amaya. Content Warning.
Amaya woke suddenly, the ice cold grip of early morning air ripping her out of a nightmare. All was quiet. The sun had not yet bathed the hills in its light. The birds were silent, waiting for the sunlight to reach across the world and warm their feathers. Dawn was still a couple hours away.
By Madison "Maddy" Newton6 days ago in Fiction
Past Lives. Content Warning.
War made for odd couples. To Private Jim Mclellan, Sepp seemed a good man; better at least than some of the monsters he heard stories of deeper into the Reich. Real monsters. This Sepp almost reminded Jim of his uncle; the one from Wisconsin he met a few times at Weddings.
By Matthew J. Fromm6 days ago in Fiction
Monday Mornings. Content Warning.
I awoke on the floor on a Monday morning. A chunky pile of puke lay directly beneath my mouth, slowly creeping toward the heat register. That could be bad.
By Chris6 days ago in Fiction
From the Desk of the Literary Coroner
From the Desk of Literary Coroner: Today’s Intake On my desk arrived an intriguing manuscript titled The Five Stages of Damnation — Quinque Gradūs Damnatiōnis.
By Paul Stewart7 days ago in Fiction