The man leaned against the chipped edge of the breakroom table, glancing at the clock. Lunch break was ticking by, and his childhood best friend was late—same old Jake, always running on his own time. They’d been inseparable since kindergarten, classmates through college, two sides of a coin. But life …

His arms encircled her neck, his forehead pressed against hers. Up close, his eyes searched hers, as if pleading to find the same desire mirrored back. I don’t love him, she thought, does he even realize?

He didn’t. His lips found hers, insistent, hungry. She kissed him back, but it …

Ethan nearly dropped his coffee when he saw him.

Across the café, a man sat alone, flipping through a book with the same lazy concentration Ethan had. Same sharp jawline, same unruly dark curls. Even the same nervous habit—tapping his fingers against the table in a steady rhythm.

It was …

The elevator doors slid shut with a soft chime. Lisa exhaled sharply, wiping a tear before it could smudge her mascara. She had just ended things with Jake, and her heart still pounded from the argument. She tapped the button for the lobby, ready to leave it all behind.

Then, …

Ethan folded his arms as the psychic, an older woman draped in violet silk, traced circles over a worn deck of tarot cards. The air smelled of incense and something older—like dust and secrets.

“This is nonsense,” he muttered, but curiosity kept him in his chair.

Madame Celeste only smiled, …

Eliza felt the sun caress her hair, turning the silver strands into gold. She smiled as she hung the silk lanterns on the porch, their soft light reflecting the warmth in Michael's eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "You look beautiful, my love," he …

Anya felt a pang of loneliness as she watched the couple walk by. They were holding hands, smiling, and laughing, oblivious to the world around them. They looked so happy, so in love.

They were not human.

They were Synths, hyper-realistic humanoid robots that had taken over the role of …

The Betrayal

Tom and Lisa walked home from school, their backpacks heavy with books. Tom had a list of groceries to buy for their mother, who had given him some money in the morning. Lisa, his younger sister, had a different idea.

"Tom, can we buy some ice cream? Please, …

I didn't expect this feeling to hit me like a dodgeball to the gut during Mr. Johnson's epic history lecture on, like, the bubonic plague or something. Jessica, who usually doodles unicorns with butterfly wings in her notebook, was taking actual notes. And for some reason, the way the light …

She found the letter in her mailbox. It was written on a fine paper, with a delicate handwriting. It was addressed to her, but it had no name or stamp. It was a love letter.

She read it with curiosity and wonder. It was full of compliments and confessions. It …

The January air in Atlanta was crisp, carrying the faint scent of pine from the hills beyond the city. In a modest two-story house on Auburn Avenue, the cries of a newborn broke the stillness. Alberta King leaned back against the bed, her face glistening with sweat and tears, but …

"Voices of the Fire"

The fire tore through the canyon like a predator unleashed, but in its shadow, three lives intertwined.

---

The Veteran:

Edith stood on her porch, gripping the bannister as the sky turned orange. At seventy-eight, she had seen fires before—three, to be exact. But this …

The moon hung low over the desert, its pale light illuminating the rugged silhouette of a lone rider. His cloak, tattered and worn, bore faint traces of royal embroidery—symbols of a past long buried. Forty years had passed since the prince, Ardeshir, had been cast out by his uncle, Mehrdad, …

The Eternal Boredom

He had lived for over two hundred years. He had seen everything there was to see. He had done everything there was to do. He had no more dreams, no more goals, no more passions. He was bored out of his mind.

He was not alone. The …

He had always wanted to be a writer, but life had other plans for him. He worked as an accountant at a large corporation, crunching numbers and filing reports. He hated his job, but he couldn't quit. He had a family to support, a mortgage to pay, and a boss …