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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.…

In Tamil Nadu, there was no general entrance examination for admission to medical studies four years ago but the general entrance examination called KEET has been in force form the last four years.

This makes it difficult for many lay people to enrol in medical college. Facing this choice for many is a challenge. However one can join the medical course only if they have cleared the exam.

Manikkam arrived at the police station. Upon entering to the police station, the police station writers sighed and asks 

"So when was the exam for your daughter ?"

"Yes sir two days to write," he replied to the station writer , and went to his seat and sat down.

Only the body of the manikkam was sitting on the seat and his thoughts were all rippling somewhere. He was also counting on his daughters future in anticipation for the exam that sudar going to write again.

Manikkam could not even notice the petitioner who was standing in front of his seat holding the complaint in his hand for a long time. He was sitting in such a deep thought.

His Nearby constable Lakshmi calls 

"Sir, sir .. there is something wrong with him? Come on in, take a look and make  enquiries” Even constables voice fell on the ears of the manikkam so slowly as if someone was speaking from a deep well. It took him a while to get back to that normal situation.

While  manikkam was getting  petition from the petitioner and  reading it. Suddenly there was a feeling of being in his throat and he drank the water from nearby water bottle while he was swallowing, he could not drink the water and exhale abruptly, when he has  cough and the water dripped all over the table.

The pain occurs as if something is tightening his neck. He goes into a coma and returns to mild sobriety. The guards all came near to manikkam and relaxed him.

The manikkam couldn’t sit in that seat above it and something kept urging him.

He told the police inspector and drove home with his two-wheeler from the police station. When he reached home, he could not park the bike properly at the door. He tilted the cart down in a stumbling block. He entered the house  door entrance that was  lower to his height.

A little tap on his forehead rubbing his forehead with one hand and feels dizzy. Couldn't notice anything exactly. Wife makes him set aside.

"Why are u so early?"  She asks Nothing fell on manikkam ear when he heard that, only darkness in his eyes a faint murmur of ear-piercing echoed in his ears.

His wife would ask him for a long time. No questions fell on his ears, faintly he knew his wife and suddenly only a twinkle in the eyes of the manikkam flowed and he slowly opened his mouth.

"Where is  sudar?" He asked.

"She hasn't come out of her room! since morning?" As soon as the answer came from Sudar's mother, Manikkam got up slowly and started knocking on the door of Sudar's room. For a long time no response from sudar. That environment made the manickam mind set even more vague.

Sudar's mother began to cry. It is a guard quarters. There are families of guards nearby. Hearing the noises coming from the house of  manikkam, the nearby friends started entering into the house one by one.

"What's the matter sir?"

Manikkam replied "The door of this room makes trouble   Papa sudar were reading in side. We shouted for a long time .. Papa didn’t open the door?"

They decided to break the door, a hard hit. When the door starts to open slowly, the mother of the sudar starts screaming  Manikkam has never seen her daughter in such a condition. sudar was always Bloom’s brightly like a lamp. When it opens darkness appears inside the room.

she tightens her neck through the ceiling fan using her shawl, she was wearing.

Only when he saw his daughter hanging motionless with a cloth around her neck. Any father can’t tolerate that one moment of their children that one moment, when he sees in the distance, his daughter who gave birth to this world surrounded by darkness. Manikkam grabbed her legs and screaming aloud.

Sudar…… sudar….”his eyes were full of tears Of love.

The mother of the sudar hits on her head and began to scream as much as the world could hear. The mothers scream was not only heard by the rulers and the kings of justice.

The neighbourhood of the sudar were doing the work for the funeral of her. When they received the body of  sudar after post modem from GH. 

They put  Sudar on a bench and poured water on her head and rubbed yellow on her face. Such a gloomy face. Manikkam had never seen his dear like that before so brightly and when he saw that face is full of yellow. He started to crack even more.

When Sudar’s mom saw her daughter  was lying like a wood but her face was blooming. She screamed with her Subconscious.

Aw.… oh you my god, Where are you going from now on .. Let us all go, Who are we going to live for. ”

What a blessing we have lost  of you. Our life is immovable.”

"Alas, my princess not even have a word to say in the morning,  I will no longer hear anymore. You have orphaned us who is going to sleep on my lap anymore. ”

"Come and lie down on your mother's lap you my darling .." She put the immovable sudar on her lap and sang a lullaby.

Kamani Sudar, how we will be without seeing you?

Where will we be?

We will wait forever

You’re smiling mother

All the flowers that fell on yours laughter

They Dropped out to the way of for your grave ward

We will wait forever

Let us sleep forever.

You are the one who spoke the language of a kid.

We were watching the language of speech

Not a word  today

Grave chariot is waiting for you.

We will wait forever, my dear.

Let us sleep forever.”

Tears welled up in the eyes of everyone present as they listened to the song. She hugged her daughter tightly while singing the lullaby and kissed her all over her face.

Sudar's mother's throat is dry, Tears from her eyes. All her worries were that the tragedy of not being able to get her dead daughter back was turning her hearts in.

While they were all crying for the sudar outside. The notebooks she used on the desk  where she was reading.  Through the opened  window wind blows. The pages of the note-book turned  something in the letter of bloodshed in the past.

"Dad, Mom I would have gone too far away from you. when you read this the absence of mine is in this note. I have a hard time… Dad.

I can't write this KEET (killing Eligibility entrance test) the expectations of you on mine were killing me, I can't  achieve our dream.

You people were having a big dream on me I don’t want to spoil. 

My death was not a suicide. It was a murder committed by the government, the judiciary and the rulers.

If only one choice would decide the mortal life of the students We do not want that choice.

From Anita sister to still with me thirteen students have died  till now. The government and the rulers who are burying the students' future in this country are ruling in graveyards.

Mom, Dad .. I'm leaving. I can not live among them. Excuse me, I'm tired.

I am sorry, I am tired.”

The wind blew through each side of the pages, with painful lines on the end.

Sudar was taken to the yard with everyone’s painful mourning.



The End

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