Flash Stories

The Unseen March

hamed Jan. 15, 2025, 6:15 p.m.

In the quiet town of Pine Ridge, where the roads were dusted with memories of a slower time, the protest felt out of place. Pine Ridge was a town that barely made it onto maps, let alone news headlines. But when the world’s rage over police brutality ignited, it didn’t stop at the boundaries of the big cities. It seeped into small towns too, to places like Pine Ridge, where people might not always raise their voices, but when they did, it was hard to ignore.

Samantha was the first to show up, walking alone toward the town square. Her sneakers kicked up the dirt as she glanced at the empty street. It felt like an impossible thing to do in a town where everyone knew everyone else’s business. She wasn’t sure how this would go, but after months of scrolling through the news, watching videos of people whose lives …

My First Story

ahmad May 1, 2024, 5:58 a.m.

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 hit the highlighter in her hair – it was like a sunset exploding in a highlighter factory.

My stomach did a weird flip, and I swear my notebook started sweating. This wasn't normal. Jessica had been my best friend since kindergarten, the kind of friend who shared her Dunkaroos and helped you cheat on pop quizzes (shhh, don't tell Mom). But suddenly, Dunkaroos seemed, well, childish. Now, all I craved was the courage to ask her if highlighter sunsets happened to everyone or just me.

The bell shrieked, jolting me back to reality. Jessica, ever the blur of sunshine …

The Last Shift

hamed Jan. 14, 2025, 4:46 p.m.

Lena wiped the sweat from her brow as she worked the assembly line. The familiar hum of machines filled the factory floor, a sound she had grown accustomed to over the years. She had been here for almost a decade, assembling parts for the latest consumer electronics. The work wasn’t glamorous, but it paid the bills. She had a steady routine—wake up early, put in her hours, and go home. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep her small family going.

Her coworker, Greg, was a different story. He had been with her from the beginning, both of them starting as apprentices when the factory was first built. But Greg wasn’t like Lena. He had always been more tech-savvy, always tinkering with things in his spare time. He had taken night classes in automation and robotics, working hard to learn the skills that kept him one step …

Behind the Headlines

hamed Jan. 12, 2025, 6:10 p.m.

The fire had been creeping for days, but it was the wind that pushed it over the edge. It swept through Malibu, westward toward the coast, and within hours, everything was in its path. The usual red alerts on her phone were now constant, a chorus of emergency messages flashing across the screen.

Jamie Lee Curtis looked at her phone, her hands gripping the edges of the screen as the latest evacuation order came through. She’d lived in Malibu for years, and though she’d faced fires before, this was different. This was real. This was not just another scare, but an unstoppable force.

She moved quickly through her house, grabbing the essentials—her purse, a few family photos, and the keys to her car. But in the back of her mind, a question gnawed at her: What do you take when you know you might lose everything?

Her husband, Christopher, was …

Love Amidst Chaos

hamed Jan. 18, 2025, 4:50 p.m.

The air was thick with tension as the debate raged on. Julian sat at the podium, eyes sharp, voice unwavering as he tore into his opponent’s policies. He was the youngest senator in the country’s history, ambitious, idealistic, and—until tonight—certain that his ideals were the only ones worth fighting for.

Across from him, Elena clenched her jaw, her fingers curling around the microphone. She was no less fierce, a rising star in her own right, a staunch conservative who had spent years building her platform on a foundation of discipline and tradition. They had been on opposing sides for as long as either could remember.

Tonight’s debate was the pinnacle of their rivalry. The country’s future hung in the balance, and they were each determined to emerge victorious. The public had been eagerly awaiting this moment, with polls and news outlets predicting an intense showdown.

Julian’s eyes flicked to Elena’s, …

The Eternal Night of Queen Yalda

hamed Dec. 20, 2024, 2:07 p.m.

In the ancient lands of Persia, beneath a sky strewn with stars and the glow of the full moon, the people of the empire gathered to honor Yalda Night, the longest night of the year. But few remembered the true origin of this sacred night—a tale of love, sacrifice, and defiance against the forces of darkness.

Centuries ago, Queen Yalda ruled over Persia with wisdom and grace. Her hair cascaded like the ink of midnight, and her eyes shimmered like the distant stars. It was said that she was blessed by Anahita, the goddess of water and fertility, who had gifted her with a voice that could calm raging storms and a heart that burned brighter than the sun.

In Yalda’s time, the shadowy div, Ahriman, sought to plunge the world into eternal darkness. Ahriman despised the light, for it revealed his weakness. He waged war against the heavens, sending …

The mortal world is not worth worrying about

khayam Feb. 1, 2024, 8:25 a.m.

ای دوست بیا تا غم فردا نخوریم
وین یکدم عمر را غنیمت شمریم

فردا که ازین دیر فنا در گذریم
با هفت هزار سالگان سر بسریم

O friend, come so we don't worry about tomorrow
And let's take advantage of this once in a lifetime

Tomorrow we will pass this mortal world
We are equal to seven thousand old years people

Story:

He was a philosopher, and he loved wisdom. He loved to think, to question, to learn. He believed that wisdom was the essence of life, the way to understand the world, the way to transcend it.

She was a poet, and she loved beauty. She loved to write, to rhyme, to sing. She believed that beauty was the essence of life, the way to appreciate the world, the way to enjoy it.

They met at a tavern, drinking the same wine. He was searching for the meaning of life, she was celebrating …