Category: Short Stories
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Vorfreude
The joyful anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures (n) Ellie jumps up and down, her fingers itching to zip the back of the dress, her fifth dress here. She curses under her breath as she flattens and compresses her boobs flatter against her chest. Her arms ache from the muster of pulling and pinching…
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Rubatosis
The unsettling awareness of your heartbeat, whose tenuous muscular throbbing feels less like a metronome than a nervous ditty your heart is tapping to itself (n) “Parker, it’s your turn,” Parker looks up from her phone to the empty beer bottle in the cleared-out space in front of her. She looks to her left finding…
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Happy Halloween!
Enjoy a spooky little story to celebrate Halloween! In the middle of the garden, there is a pit. It is deep, and dark, and filled with bones. But not the scary kind from dead bodies. Well, maybe they are from dead bodies, you’re not entirely sure. All you know is what your eyes are telling…
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Redamancy
The act of loving the one who loves you; the love returned in full (n) Ivy slings her purse off her shoulder before collapsing on the couch. Fae bounces with the shifting weight of the cushions. She turns her head towards Ivy, eyes still glued to the words her fingers are typing. She peels her…
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Kontal-Kontil
The swinging of long earrings or the swinging of a dress as one walks (n) The sun beats hot on the back of Cosima’s neck. They pull up the collar of their short sleeve button down to cover the exposed skin. They glance next to them at their friend. The left side of Nico’s neon…
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Tarantism
The uncontrollable urge to dance (n) “Taste,” Nora says, holding the spatula towards Melody. Melody grabs Nora’s hand to bring the spatula closer to her mouth. She licks the cookie dough off the side. Her head tilts. She licks the other side. “You’re joking, right?” Nora turns her attention fully towards Melody. “What are you…
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Opia
The ambiguous intensity from looking someone in the eye (n) “Have you seen that couple TikTok trend from a while ago?” Noor asks Cameron from the couch. Cameron rounds the side by her feet with a plate of skewered fruit. He sets it down on the coffee table next to the bowl of mostly burned…
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Hidden Pain
Panic attacks are like a faulty light switch. They start like an unwarned flip of a switch, but turning it off is tricky. Sometimes, you do what you’re told, and it goes away. Other times, you do everything right, yet it just doesn’t budge. You have to go through the painful, exhausting, terrifying motions and…
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The Perfect Scene
There was rain tapping on the window. Wrestling leaves were clinging onto the trees. There was a baseball game in the sky with fireworks and home runs. The light was playing hide and go seek with us too. The flames on the candles were dancing, every pop of fire the beginning of a new show.…
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The Last Forty Minutes (Part 4)
2:22. Tyler, one of the boys who sits behind you, has walked up to Mr. Todo. He taps his shoulder after verbal cues did not catch his attention. “What,” Mr. Todo yells while turning to him. His hand barely misses smacking him straight across the face. “I-I-,” Tyler stutters. The class has erupted into laughter.…
That's All She Wrote 