-The best stories on the web-
Read or link to over 1000 stories listed under Stories to the left.
Submit your short stories for review as a Word document attached to an email to: Read@Short-Story.Me

Latest Stories

January 28, 2025
General Stories Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

Old Addictions In New Bottles – A Modern Retelling Of Rip Van Winkle

Mental gymnastics is no fun fair, and Rip Van Winkle had lost his mind. Certainly, It would help here to elucidate on the events that led to his losing his mind. Rip Van Winkle, after some wild tantrums from his wife, had left his home into the rocky fields…
January 28, 2025
Horror Stories Cecilia Kennedy

Photo Album For A Ghost

Wild owls hit my window at night. I have a floodlight on, outside, because someone has followed me home, and between the owls and the nightly invasions, I can’t sleep. A door, slamming shut in my dream, wakes me up because it’s real. I steady myself, breathe…
January 28, 2025
Crime Stories Jason Smith

Cinnamon Pine Cones

“I guess they found him.” Liam thought. He'd been expecting it ever since Ben had died. The city’s finest had turned out in force, the flickering lights lit up his living room. He'd seen the first police car arrive. The police officer had repeatedly knocked…
January 28, 2025
Horror Stories Alejandro Casas

Death

It had long weighed on the child’s consciousness that the illness and malaise of his early years had transformed his parents’ faces. His close brushes with death, both physical and metaphysical, had often reinvigorated his desire to live. Yet constraint,…
January 28, 2025
Flash Fiction Ben Macnair

Crossword

The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the vibrant autumn leaves that crunched underfoot. In the heart of Maplewood Park, where the air was tangy with the scent of fallen leaves and the laughter of children echoed in the distance, a solitary…
January 28, 2025
General Stories Michael Barlett

Incapacity

Chapter One A sharp rap on the door has awakened me abruptly from a troubled sleep. I automatically swing my legs over the side of the bed and reach for my robe. As I stagger from the bedroom, I have no immediate recall of the events of the previous evening,…
January 13, 2025
Flash Fiction Ben Macnair

Everything’s Funny Until Everyone Stops Laughing

The neon lights flickered like a thousand laughter-filled memories. Charlie Chuckles stood backstage at the Laughing Lotus, an iconic comedy club, nervously fidgeting with his signature red bowtie. It had been months since he had last performed, and the…
January 13, 2025
Romance Stories Caroline Bickovskii

Jack And His Country Romance

The delicate red flowers were brighter than usual. Their petals reminded humanity they were part of a wider, more beautiful world. Few people stopped to admire the sheer beauty around them as they rushed from one place to the next. Jake was one of those rare…
January 13, 2025
General Stories Yuan Changming

Retreating

He is already tired out, but what on earth is really good about living? What’s the meaning of life, if any at all? He doesn’t know since then, but he has been haunted by a strange or ineffable lethargy that renders him apathetic about everything and…
January 13, 2025
Flash Fiction Benoit

Sanuk

Synopsis Spoil the children. Mai put her head down and started to cry. Everything was going wrong. Her university tutor told her she would fail, unless her work improved greatly. But creative writing was her strength, wasn’t it? How can this be? The concierge…
January 09, 2025
Poetry Emanuel Diaz

Across The Abyssal River

Beneath a sky of ebon flame,Where trembling stars whisper her name,Two hearts did yearn, a bond profane,Bound by sorrow, love, and pain. On one side stood a maiden pale,Her raven hair a mournful veil,Eyes like dusk, where shadows weep,Guarding dreams that…
January 09, 2025
General Stories Jim Harrington

What If

What If. . . Jolene and I rode into unknown territory uncertain of what to do. The top was down on my Dad’s Pontiac. Music from Star Wars blasted into the chilled air. Weathered faces standing in parched fields turned our way as we drove through tribal lands.…

Lainie sat staring at the unopened envelope. She let out a long sigh, sliced the package open, and slid the contents out onto the kitchen counter.

Three hours later, envelope in hand, she entered the restaurant looking hotter than a jalapeno. Dark curls swept up off her neck, her dress of champagne-colored lace blended with her creamy skin. She turned every head in the place … except two.

Lainie strode over to a booth where a man and woman sat in close contact, quietly conversing. When her husband looked up, Lainie watched the color drain from his face. His eyes widened, and he sputtered, “Lainie! Wha … what are you doing here?”

The woman he was with turned questioning eyes on Lainie.

So, the rotten bastard didn’t bother to tell you he’s married, Lainie thought.

Her face was filled with disgust when she looked back at Tom. “I’m certainly glad I insisted that prenup infidelity clause apply to both of us. Thanks for making this easy.”

“Now wait a minute, Lainie. Margo and I were just having a business dinner … an oversight meeting, that’s all. There’s no reason for you to jump to the wrong conclusion, baby.”

Margo gagged on her water. When she recovered, she glared at Tom. “You didn’t mention you were married. I guess this really was an oversight meeting!” She picked up her purse, slid out of the booth, turned and headed for the door.

Sweat trickled down Tom’s temple, but he was a lawyer, a man used to talking his way out of anything. Just as Lainie expected, he put on his most charming grin. His eyes slid from her face to roam the curves of her body. “I’ve never seen that dress before. You look fabulous tonight!”

Did he really think he was so irresistible she’d forgive him no matter what? Lainie realized in that moment there was no denying she’d married a scumbag.

She squared her shoulders, glared, and said, “Tell it to my attorney.”

“But, honey, you don’t understand …”

“Don’t ‘honey’ me, Tom,” Lainie interrupted. “And I understand more than you know.” She dumped the photographs on the table, some of them landing in the unfinished dessert.

Tom spewed his wine.

Lainie picked up one of the pictures and gave it a glance. “Even I have to admit Margo looks pretty sultry in that red bra and panties. And look, your hands are all over her.”

Tom stuck his finger between his neck and shirt then tugged as if someone were strangling him.

Lainie’s eyes filled with sadness. “Unfortunately you’re not going to be able to talk your way out of this one. It’s over, Tom.”

0
0
0
s2sdefault

Donate a little?

Use PayPal to support our efforts:

Amount

Genre Poll

Your Favorite Genre?

Sign Up for info from Short-Story.Me!

Stories Tips And Advice