Flash Stories

The House That Breathed

hamed Jan. 15, 2025, 4:25 p.m.

The walls of the house whispered at night. Not loudly, just a faint rustle, like leaves brushing against each other. For the Patel family, it was another adjustment in the long list of changes since moving to Eden Grove, the world’s first entirely sustainable community.

“This house is alive,” Priya said one morning as she stood in the kitchen, watching the sunlight filter through translucent panels made from recycled algae bioplastics.

“It’s not alive,” her husband Ravi muttered, tinkering with the waterless composting sink. “It’s just... interactive.”

Their ten-year-old daughter, Anya, skipped into the room, her bare feet making no sound on the bamboo-graphene flooring. “It is alive! The walls breathe, remember? It’s how they clean the air.”

Priya nodded absently. The house’s organic insulation did filter carbon dioxide, and the solar tiles hummed faintly as they harvested energy. But it was more than that. She could feel the house, …

The Contrast

hamed Jan. 14, 2025, 5:09 p.m.

It was 9:00 a.m. when Olivia’s Zoom screen flickered to life, revealing her well-lit office corner, complete with a potted plant in the background. She smiled, adjusting her headset as she settled into her ergonomic chair. The company’s quarterly meeting was about to begin, and she was ready—after all, this was the kind of work she had dreamed of when she graduated. Remote, flexible, well-compensated. She checked her emails while waiting for the others to join, juggling deadlines for multiple high-paying contracts, all from the comfort of her minimalist apartment in the city.

A ping interrupted her thoughts. It was a reminder about her call with the client in California, the one that had promised to double her rate if she could help them build a marketing campaign for a new AI product. Olivia grinned. Opportunities were endless in this new economy. She had a digital assistant to handle her …

The Final Stretch

hamed Jan. 16, 2025, 5:20 p.m.

The locker room was silent, save for the rhythmic hum of fluorescent lights. Emma sat on the bench, staring at her running shoes, their neon laces glowing faintly under the harsh light. The weight on her chest felt heavier than her legs after a grueling sprint.

Outside, the stadium roared—thousands of voices chanting her name. Emma. Emma. Emma.

She closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise. Tomorrow’s headline was already written: “Emma Carter: America’s Golden Girl.” The pressure pressed down like a vice. Everyone expected her to win, to shatter records, to be perfect.

“Five minutes,” a voice called from the doorway.

Emma nodded without looking up. Her coach had stopped giving pep talks—she didn’t need them. Or so everyone thought.

Her phone buzzed on the bench. A text from her mom: “You’ve got this, sweetheart. Make us proud.”

She wanted to scream. To throw the phone against …

The Weight of Days

hamed Jan. 12, 2025, 5:11 p.m.

Marcus stared at his reflection in the coffee shop window, barely recognizing the man looking back at him. Three months unemployed had left dark circles under his eyes and a permanent slouch in his shoulders. His severance pay was running thin, and each rejected application felt like another brick added to the weight he carried.

He pushed open the door, the bell's cheerful tingle a mockery of his mood. All he wanted was the cheapest coffee they had—a small luxury he still allowed himself.

"Marcus? Marcus Chen, is that you?"

The voice cut through the coffee shop's ambient chatter. Marcus turned to find David Torres, his old college roommate, rising from a corner table. They hadn't spoken in what—five, six years?

David's smile was exactly as Marcus remembered it: wide, genuine, brightening his entire face. "Man, what are the odds? Sit with me!"

Before Marcus could make an excuse, David …

The Last Scoop

hamed Jan. 16, 2025, 5:26 p.m.

Ellie Harris leaned against the cold glass of her office window, staring at the city below, a sea of moving lights and fleeting faces. The newsroom behind her buzzed with the usual chaos, the hum of phones, the tapping of keyboards, and the quiet tension of deadlines looming. But today, something felt different. Something was breaking.

Her editor’s voice crackled through the intercom. “Ellie, we need that piece by five. It’s a big one. Our readers are eating it up.”

Ellie swallowed hard, her fingers resting on the keyboard without moving. The story was ready, but there was a problem—she knew the facts didn’t quite add up. She’d pieced together a report about a major tech company’s recent scandal, but her sources were shaky, their credibility questionable. The company had deep pockets, and their PR team was already spinning their narrative in the press. Ellie had a choice: to publish …

A Flower in Space

hamed Jan. 16, 2025, 6:05 p.m.

The hum of the spacecraft’s systems was the only sound as Commander Emma Harris and her crew drifted silently in the vast expanse of space. They were millions of miles from Earth, orbiting in the silence of the cosmos. The distant stars and the swirling blue of Earth below seemed to mock the stillness of their confined world.

Emma sat by the small hydroponic garden, her gloved fingers gently adjusting the life-supporting system that nurtured the tiny flower growing in its container. It was the first successful plant to bloom on the station, the culmination of months of experiments and failures. The flower, a simple zinnia, was the first testament to life flourishing in the vacuum of space.

“Can you believe it?” Lieutenant Marcos Alvarez’s voice broke through the quiet, his voice soft yet full of wonder. He floated nearby, his gaze fixed on the delicate petals that had slowly …

Pearls of the Moon

hamed Jan. 19, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

Amihan had always been drawn to the sea. Since childhood, the salty air and the endless blue had whispered to her in ways that words could not explain. Her father was a pearl diver, his weathered hands skilled at plucking the treasures from the deep, but it was her mother who had taught her the secret of the sea's magic—the delicate balance between what the ocean could give and what it could take.

When her lover, Bayani, was swept away by the storm, she found herself at the shore every night, staring at the horizon where the moonlight kissed the waves. She had been unable to breathe properly without him beside her, and every waking moment felt hollow, like a pearl with its core missing.

One night, as the moon hung low in the sky, she felt the sea stir, the ripples weaving an ancient song. Beneath the water, something …

The Text Message Mix-up

hamed Jan. 9, 2025, 5:26 p.m.

Sarah stared at her phone in horror. The message she'd meant to send to her best friend about her boyfriend's terrible cooking had just gone to... her boyfriend.
"OMG, he made dinner again. Pretty sure this chicken is still clucking. Send help! 🤢"
Within seconds, her phone buzzed with his reply: "I can hear it too! That's why I ordered pizza. Check the kitchen counter. 😘"
Confused, Sarah walked to the kitchen. There sat two large pizza boxes and a rubber chicken toy making clucking sounds when squeezed. A note read: "Thought we could both use a laugh after my last cooking attempt. PS: The rubber chicken is probably more edible than what I made."
She found him in the living room, grinning. "You knew I'd text Jenny about your cooking?"
"Honey, everyone texts their best friend about my cooking. I just beat you to the punchline this time."
Sarah picked up the rubber chicken and …

Remould

khayam Jan. 25, 2024, 10:44 a.m.

گر بر فلکم دست بدی چون یزدان
بر داشتمی من این فلک را ز میان

از نو فلکی دگر چنان ساختمی
کازاده به کام دل رسیدی آسان

If, like God, I had the ability to create the world
I would destroy this world
I would build such a world again
that man can freely reach his heart's content

Story:

She was a dancer who had a dream. She wanted to perform on the biggest stage, to dazzle the audience, to impress the critics. She had a talent for movement, a grace for expression, a flair for style.

She practiced every day, every night, every chance. She auditioned for every show, every role, every opportunity. She worked hard, she improved, she progressed.

But she also faced a lot of rejection, a lot of disappointment, a lot of frustration. She faced a lot of competition, a lot of pressure, a lot of stress. She faced a lot …

The Doll

sara Jan. 27, 2024, 8:57 a.m.

Anna loved dolls. She had a big collection of them in her room. She liked to dress them up, comb their hair, and talk to them. She treated them like her friends.

One day, her mother bought her a new doll. It was a porcelain doll with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pink dress. It looked very pretty and delicate. Anna was very happy with her new doll. She named it Lily and put it on her shelf with the other dolls.

That night, Anna went to bed and fell asleep. She had a strange dream. She dreamed that she was in her room, but it was dark and cold. She saw Lily sitting on her shelf, staring at her with a creepy smile. She heard Lily's voice in her head, saying:

"Hello, Anna. I'm your new friend. I want to play with you. Forever."

Anna felt scared …