Excerpt
Winter Series 2025 - When the Sun Forgot Us for a Moment (PART II)
That morning, the Sun hesitated; it did not announce itself with disaster or spectacle. There were no sirens, no collapsing networks, no urgent alerts vibrating in pockets. Light simply arrived differently, spreading across the city with an unfamiliar patience, lingering on rooftops and sidewalks as if it were deciding whether the day truly needed to begin. People noticed the change not with panic but with intuition. Coffee cooled untouched. Footsteps slowed. Conversations stretched into pauses that felt intentional rather than awkward, as though time itself had loosened its grip just enough to let the world inhale.
By José Juan Gutierrez 2 months ago in Fiction
Auroras Beyond the Last Forest - Mysteries of the North Pole
The journey toward the North Pole did not begin with coordinates or maps, but with a forest older than memory itself. The Taiga Forest stretched endlessly beneath a sky that never fully darkened, its snow-laden trees standing like quiet witnesses to centuries of travelers who had come seeking answers rather than destinations. This was not a forest that resisted passage - it tested intention. Every step forward felt deliberate, as if the land itself required certainty before allowing anyone deeper. It was here that the travelers gathered - not heroes in the traditional sense, but beings shaped by curiosity, patience, and winter’s discipline. Among them walked humans wrapped in layered wool and belief, forest spirits whose footsteps left no imprint, and small luminous fair folk - fairies - whose wings refracted the pale light into soft prisms. Even the wind seemed aware of them, slowing its breath as they advanced northward.
By José Juan Gutierrez 2 months ago in Fiction
The Bolivia Mystery
Kaira brushed the unruly strands of her strawberry hair back behind her ear before putting both hands back on the table. She leaned heavily over the maps and ancient pieces of text spread out over the thick oak desk. Her coffee cup sat in the upper corner, leaving rings on the edges of the papers and at different points in the cup where the remaining contents rested for hours at a time.
By Leah Suzanne Dewey2 months ago in Fiction
Nightmare Man Monologue
I didn’t start off as a villain. Can I really be called a bad guy if I only kill off worse bad guys? I mean, I don’t think even Mother Theresa could have argued for the men I killed. The world is certainly better off without them. Though I suppose it isn’t unreasonable to say the world might be better off without me, too. But I don’t think that’s possible anymore.
By Leah Suzanne Dewey2 months ago in Fiction
The Shift
“I hope it’s not meaningless to apologize because I am so sorry,” I whispered. Her heated breathing faltered for a moment but she said nothing. Soundless tears dripped heavily from my eyes but I followed her instructions and continued walking out of the house.
By Leah Suzanne Dewey2 months ago in Fiction
The Lovers' Folly
The midst of a battlefield is a terrible place for a revelation. That was the second thought I had when cannon fire began echoing across the plains from atop our battlements. The first was the ball in my throat knowing we were firing on the approaching army of Prince Caerwyn.The revelation? Despite all the hurt, and the pain, and the loss, I was still damnably in love with him.
By Vic Mousseau2 months ago in Fiction
SEASON 8 - Whispers from the Lantern: The Keeper's Lament
Chapter 15 The silence was a palpable thing, a heavy blanket that settled over the entire coast. Aris and his team stood in the now-calm lantern room, a profound sense of exhaustion washing over them. The Keeper was gone. The drowned were gone. The mournful lament was gone.
By Tales That Breathe at Night2 months ago in Fiction
Company’s Coming
“That witch come up right outta that creek there. I seen it with my own eyes. It like to spooked me something fierce, the way she come walking up that riverbank, with fog slipping off her shoulders all slow-like. She had weird eyes, not even a color exactly. They just looked straight through me on up the path, like I wasn’t there atall.” Braxton Hicks hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans and elbowed Jim in the ribs. “God’s honest truth.”
By Harper Lewis2 months ago in Fiction
The Museum of the Lost Girls Life
Marie Wildapple spent the first ten summers of her childhood cradled in Veilwood Valley — a place where the air always seemed to shimmer with secrets, and sunlight slipped through the leaves as if it had somewhere important to go.
By waseem khan2 months ago in Fiction
