Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Humans.
Love: What Is It?
If you ask a young child what love is, they will say it's the feeling mommy or daddy gives you, or the way it feels to eat a warm cookie from the oven, the feeling you get when you hug your favorite stuffed animal or the way you feel about any kind of animal. If you ask a young married couple, they will tell you the feeling you get when you're with your other half, the feeling you get when you talk about them or spend every moment surrounded by them. If you ask an elderly couple, they will tell you it's the feeling that you get every time you look into the eyes of your lover; the feeling of their presence in the room with yours. But, with all these different definitions on love, what actually is it?
By Megan Eason8 years ago in Humans
You Don't Know Love until You're in Love
I myself have thought I have been in love many times in my life. Every time I got into a relationship I thought I was in love. That's why whenever I do feel love I tend to question wether I really do or did love that person. Love is a very complicated emotion, not easy like sadness or fear or even hate. Growing up the media pushed onto me as a little girl that I am a damsel in distress and that I need rescuing; my handsome prince will come along and I will fall in love. You can imagine my disappointment when I reached the age of my favourite Disney princesses and still had not felt the feeling of ones true love. Life isn't like the movies and stories you hear a learn to love as you're growing up, and most people, me included learn that the hard way. A friend once told me "You don't know love until you're in love."
By Casey Lewis8 years ago in Humans
Dressed To Impress
Pulling her pale blue dress further up, Clare awaited the arrival of her friend, nervously checking herself. She adjusted her feet in her heels, crouching down to ensure they filled the black shoes. Standing up, she pulled her dress again, unaccustomed to its lack of shoulder straps.
By Barry Allen8 years ago in Humans
The Mock Life – Chapter Two
I'm home. I haven't even been out of the house that long and I feel like I've vanquished a great demon. I find my bed, I find my nook, and my head rests gently on the pillow and I feel comfortable. I sense her. Before she even says my name, before her stench wafts in, before she breaks in like the shittest cat robber ever. There she is, the overwhelming figure of matronliness (or lacking of) lurking at the end of my bed for the second time today. Two times more than I would have preferred. She tells me that Janet her therapist has told her that maybe that I need to hear she loves me more. The Thug began seeing a psych a couple of years ago when she self-diagnosed that she was having a midlife crisis, obviously only me, my father and Janet knew this. I'm aware I sound cold, but she's just really fucking annoying. Like if you don't know someone like her you just won't understand. So then she sits. She sits on the end of the bed, she asks me how my day way, feigns some general interest and then she blindsides me. We are not an open family, we don't have family meetings or discuss our feelings the closest we've ever got is when my great aunt Marie died and my dad gave me a quick hug and a pat on the back. We're not emotionless, we are just not like this. She asks me if I'm a virgin. I feel my jaw literally drop a little and my irises widen three centimetres. This is not what we talk about. This is not who we are. Even the Thug can recognise my disbelief and slight nausea.
By Ellen Brooking8 years ago in Humans
Dear Mr. Half Smile
This is to you, the person I never really thought I’d be writing this to at 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s a regular Los Angeles morning in November. A little brisk, but lovely without the rain. Today, our oldest child asked me if I still loved you. I smiled at her, gave her a hug and said, “of course, I do. He gave me you.” Which was the truth but also lead to me sitting in my pajamas in that brisk cool air out on the patio, writing this, coffee in hand.
By An Ex-Wife8 years ago in Humans
Is Cousin Marriage Really All That Bad?
Oh, this is going to be a fun one – I can see some of you squirming in your seats already! And that's the thing, isn't it? Cousin marriages are a bit icky, a thing to be mocked or pitied, in Western culture at least. You might wonder why we even need to explore this topic, I mean, it's just a bit gross, yeah? Who'd ever want to marry their cousin? Unless they live in a trailer park, amirite? Well, I grew up in a place where those sorts of jokes were common, so maybe I'm the right person to break this one down. Let's begin by looking at the legal situation.
By Katy Preen8 years ago in Humans
Nightmare Online Dates
When I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me with a fifty year old actress from the Big Bang Theory, I packed his things and started dating again because ain't nobody got time for that. I found myself overwhelmed by the plethora of dating apps at my disposal, it felt like when I'm at the grocery store and I'm in front the hundreds of thousands of pressed juices and I'm having a micro anxiety attack over what vitamins and minerals I need. I ended up downloading the most popular apps and began my search for the guy I could wear matching shirts with and take cute Instagram pics.
By Rose vasquez8 years ago in Humans
Hey, Love
It is early January and the rain has passed. The air is crisp and faintly moist, giving my cheeks a slight flush. I stand outside my house waiting patiently, but nervously. I had not seen my best friend since summer. I missed his child-like spirit and joyful mannerisms. I missed his smile and curious exuberance. Finally, he was home and he could not have arrived at a better time. My life seemed to be falling apart and I craved that unchanging optimism he carried. For some time, he had been my inspiration. He lived life in the moment and cherished every second as if it was his last. He could care less about what tomorrow had to bring; all that mattered to him was the present and the embracement of opportunity. I, for one, did not carry the same optimism. I teetered on the edge of pessimism and cynicism and held onto resentment like no other. I was either stuck in the past or panicking about the future. “Typical cancer,” he would always tell me sarcastically. As I waited for him to pick me up, I thought over our past and wondered what I meant to him. There was an unmistakable attraction, anyone who saw us together could feel it, but nothing was ever acted upon. Maybe I needed him as a friend and so did he. Maybe we were too polite to overstep boundaries.
By Blue Dream8 years ago in Humans
Toxicity
You exhaled. Your face is sunburned and freckled. I watch as the wind whirls your blue hair around, hitting your face like microfine whips. You smile at me, ripping grass out of the earth and watching it fly away. We are family, more like sisters than my own flesh and blood. Laying on my chest feeling roaring heat resonate on our skin, I have never felt more alive than when our hearts beat to the same rhythm.
By Alastor Kommer8 years ago in Humans
