“I’m worried you’ll forget me.” I bury my face into his neck.

Easing me out of our embrace, he wipes away the tear that escaped my eye with his thumb. His smile isn’t mocking — it’s warm, comforting, and somehow brighter than the fear in my chest.

“What if you forget what I sound like?” My voice wavers.

“I’ll call your phone every night. And when you don’t answer, your voicemail will soothe me...

***Laura***

“So I heard something…” Clara teases us.

Sydney sits next to me with wide eyes. She loves gossip more than any other girl at this school. Half the rumors here were started by her.

My sandwich is the most interesting piece of gossip as far as I am concerned. I keep to myself. And I love my food.

“Go on,” whines Sydney.

Chuckling, “Okay, well,” Clara clears her throat. “I heard t...

James sits at his desk, leg bouncing. When the phone finally rings, he’s halfway through the door. His hello is a sigh of relief.

Tall enough for pro ball, built like ambition in a tailored suit — James walks like the sidewalk was made just for him. One woman thought she could climb him like a tree. But James sees himself as a short man, capable of being taller.

The height of the city beats do...

“Once, I went to kill a man,” he starts.

Tate has been my friend and coworker for all of two weeks. I couldn’t tell you his real name, if his face had surgery or not, or if his style is his or a chance to throw me off his true self. I know nothing real from the man I call Tate — except his stories.

Those have a weight of truth so heavy, I’ll be forced to leave them behind forever. Today will b...

(This is a long one)

*****Vaelric*****

Silver threads pulse beneath the ground, guiding me toward the Thalrix, a gnarl of teeth and claws that slips between realms like a whisper.

Wind whips my hair free from its tie.

I am a breath of air, racing through the forest after the creature who stole from me. The leaves pulse with green thread energy, lighting my path. It smells cold, alive, and elect...

And I once heard someone say that people fall in love with people whose darkness they recognize.

But he was illuminated.

Clumsy and awkward, I was the opposite to him in more ways than darkness.

Dancing with me was how we met — at an outdoor party where I stepped on his feet.

Everyone was watching and judging, but he held me close and laughed as if I weren’t causing him pain.

Forbidden, ...

Most people see Theo Blake as the grumpy bookstore owner downtown — but they’re addicted to his shop. The atmosphere is cozy and warm, the coffee tastes like the perfect morning cup, and the books are everything you could hope for.

Maggie Bloom is the divorced new hire navigating a mid life crisis in her late twenties. She names her plants after authors and dog-ears her paperbacks. Maggie is the...

The last straw was the rain.

That morning, coffee spilled

Down my favorite sweater -

Which I shrunk to squirrel-size

In the dryer.

Three rejection emails.

My hair demanded chaos.

Sadie, my dog, gave me

The side eye, like she knew.

So I went for a walk.

Because why not?

The universe already hated me.

What could it do next?

My umbrella snapped.

I left it on a bench.

I’d barely made it...

Her house was always cold

She would shiver as she tiptoed

Across the floor at night,

Fearing the sound of footsteps.

His house was always warm

He would laugh as his brother

Made a joke and danced like a fool;

Their joy often woke their parents.

She spent her evenings hiding, alone,

In her room doing homework,

Purposefully marking a few wrong.

Too many A’s equals too much attention.

He spent h...

Adventure was always on my mind growing up. My parents had to hide their laughs as I hung up motivational mountain posters in my bedroom. They took me everywhere they could, but I never went alone. That changed on my twenty-sixth birthday.

They gave me a fixer-upper blue van that took six months to repair and two more months to make it clean and cozy. And then I said my goodbyes and started my fi...