family

"I Can't Catch My Voice"
It did not begin with a clear diagnosis. It began with a sweet memory of her. Her mental illness arrived slowly enough that, at first, it seemed like ordinary aging. She misplaced things. She repeated a question she had asked only minutes before. We laughed sometimes with kind intent, the usual way families do when something petty goes obviously wrong. It was comfortable then to believe that nothing serious had begun.
By Lori Armstrong18 days ago in Fiction
A scintilla of hope
I felt the frigid shards sear into my flesh the second I opened the door. The cold was vicious, the wind bitter. Snow was still falling, its intensity somewhat abated since the morning's fall.
By Marie McGrath18 days ago in Fiction
Fear Controlled Me for Years — Until That Day. AI-Generated.
I didn’t know when fear first moved in. It didn’t arrive like a storm. There was no dramatic entrance, no single moment I could point to and say, that’s when it began. It came quietly—like a draft through a window you forgot to close.
By Peter19 days ago in Fiction
I Stopped Waiting for Opportunity — I Started Creating It. AI-Generated.
I used to believe in timing. Not in the mystical, poetic way people write about in books, but in the practical, almost superstitious way that keeps you still. I believed the right moment would come, like a train pulling into a station—predictable, inevitable, meant for me.
By Peter19 days ago in Fiction
Circles
She thumbed through the yearbook until she found his face. Circling it with a red sharpie, she remembered a time she’d do the same to her friends, her crushes. Harmless pre-summer fun.
By Matthew J. Fromm19 days ago in Fiction
The House With One Lamp On
A literary fiction short story about estrangement, memory, and returning to the edge of a beginning without resolution. By the time Mara turned onto Bishop Road, the rain had thinned to a silver mist, the kind that did not so much fall as hover, as though the sky had forgotten whether it meant to finish what it started.
By Flower InBloom19 days ago in Fiction
City of plague:A New Yorker’s pandemic chronicle Pt 18.
One evening, my phone rang unexpectedly. The caller ID showed the name Mr. Li, president of the Southern Hometown Association. I knew him well. He was a respected figure in the Chinese community—calm, thoughtful, and never someone who called without a reason.
By Peter19 days ago in Fiction
City of plague:A New Yorker’s pandemic chronicle Pt 17.
Directly across the street from the building where I worked stood an old commercial property that had quietly witnessed decades of Manhattan’s restless life.
By Peter19 days ago in Fiction
Something Borrowed. Top Story - March 2026.
Hey, everybody! For those of you who don... ah, who are we kidding? Who here doesn’t know me? Geez, Mom! The stink eye already? I remember – short and sweet!
By Cristal S.19 days ago in Fiction
The Haunting of Lyndsey Baker
For 22-year-old Lyndsey Baker, it was a turning point very early in her young wrestling career. She debuted for Mavens of Combat, a women's wrestling promotion that has operated for 35 years, just 18 months ago, but she has already gained a lot of steam and is looked at for contention for MOC's World Championship. Everything was coming up so quickly for Lyndsey as her career was just getting started.
By Clyde E. Dawkins20 days ago in Fiction
City of plague:A New Yorker’s pandemic chronicle Pt 16.
The sky that morning looked as if it had sunk into a deep gray abyss. Then, without warning, the rain began. At first the drops were scattered, but soon they grew heavier—big, bean-sized drops pounding the pavement with relentless persistence. The rain fell harder and harder until the entire city seemed swallowed by it. It had already been raining for an entire morning, stubborn and unyielding, as if the storm had made up its mind not to leave.
By Peter20 days ago in Fiction
City of plague: A New Yorker’s pandemic chronicle Pt 15.
During the long months of lockdown, when people were asked to stay home to avoid the virus, the city seemed to lose its heartbeat.
By Peter20 days ago in Fiction