-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

July 08, 2025
General Stories Michael Barlett

Dance Of Death

CHAPTER ONE 1940 Chief Inspector Kenneth Langford offered the Commissioner a crisp salute, and then walked back through the labyrinth of passageways to his own small office. Langford was a member of the London Metropolitan Police, commonly referred to as…
July 08, 2025
Poetry Markus J

The Winter Blues

the winter blues has a grip on me, all so tight Its icy tentacles wrap around me and squeezes freezing my fingers and toes with its nasty frostbite staving off the cold is a battle, an endless fight it brings forth an assortment of nasty diseases The winter…
July 08, 2025
Horror Stories Sushma R Doshi

Deliverer Of Messages

A loner in my childhood, my scrawny and weak figure prone to being bullied by sturdy and robust boys, I tended to wander around places frequented by few. Those curvy roads which fell into darkness after evening without street lights, the area near the pond…
July 08, 2025
General Stories L Christopher Hennessy

With A Side-Eye I Cherish

for Brittany ma amour Up to my neck in sadness for something just out of reach and she came along and fired up my life with kisses and the physical. The moment I looked into her eyes I didn't want to share her with anyone else and keep her all to myself. In…
July 03, 2025
Poetry Markus J

The Days Of Future Dreams

the days of future dreams the flames once rose high thinking our lives would end up supreme thinking our future seemed a far of dream but in the end nothing is what it seems many times the winds of changed has blown this way one minute we`re lapping the cream…
July 03, 2025
General Stories L Christopher Hennessy

Bad Girl

Part 1I lost the entire manuscript when I assassinated my laptop with sauvignon blanc as I rubbed the lower back of a woman who dozed drunk on my bed, sweating. She was crazed, somewhere between screaming and lying about the orgasm. Bree was a miracle to me,…
July 03, 2025
Horror Stories Nelly Shulman

Black Is Our Colour

“I swear she could have been you. Look! This girl is your long-lost twin.” Fi nudged me, and I smiled. “Never had or wanted one.” I stood up. “Let’s go, or the bargain hunters will clear the shelves before us.” We dived into the vintage emporium across the…
July 03, 2025
Poetry Markus J

The Transformation

"I need a brake" words that twisted my heart- shattering the dream that we would never part. I asked myself 'what ever did I do wrong? sad, gloominess could`ve easily been my song. I wouldn't let the anger and misery grow or cultivate- uprising feelings I…
July 03, 2025
Flash Fiction Benoit

Jae

It was Jae’s birthday today. She turned eight. What a beautiful sunny girl! Hyo planned a surprise or two; Li, his wife, did too. Birthday cake, a puppy and … Don’t forget, they grinned just before he drove off. Traffic was intense. A long call came from…
July 03, 2025
General Stories Matias Travieso-Diaz

Fear

Leandro stood outside the Kroger, leaning forward as he shivered in the early March dawn. He hated this moment: the cold, the fatigue, the feeling of helplessness, the anticipation of another day ahead at his degrading job picking collard leaves under the…
July 03, 2025
Horror Stories Mihko Askiweno

Found You

Panic gripped her as she staggered up the steep, rocky incline, breath coming in jagged, shallow gasps. Sweat streamed down her face in torrents, her hair clinging to her forehead and cheeks in disheveled clumps. Her legs trembled with exhaustion, molten fire…
July 03, 2025
Poetry Markus J

Lost On The Path

But alas; sometimes I think we've lost our way- too many strayed opinions...one too many a survey. Walking on the road ahead, just following the herd of sheep- with a hypnotised mind, wide awake yet very fast asleep. While yelling...join the team of the…

‘Park here,’ Leo said, ‘We’re early and I’d like to sit in the sunshine for a while.’

Michael parked the car in one of the empty bays and went to purchase a ticket. When he got back to the car Leo was standing by the door grinning broadly. 'See!' he said.

‘You’re holding on to the door,’ Michael said, ‘You're cheating.’

‘Huh.’

Michael walked round to Leo’s side, gave him his arm, shut the door, and they walked together to a nearby bench. Leo sighed as he sat down, resting himself against the back of the seat, his cool fingertips seeking out the warmth of Michael’s hand. They sat quietly, Leo with his eyes closed, letting the sun shine through the paper-thin skin of his eyelids.

‘What can you see?’ Michael asked him.

‘Pink.’

‘How do you feel?’

‘Fine,’ Leo said, ‘Really, fine. Just a bit tired, you know.’

‘Yeah.’

Leo said, ‘You don’t think we should be doing this, do you?’ and when Michael leaned over and kissed him on the side of his cheek he said, ‘You don’t think there’s any point.’

He opened his eyes. ‘Do you?’

Michael smiled, shook his head.

‘Just stubbornness, on my part, I think,’ Leo said. ‘Just seeing it through to the end.’

‘Remember that time,' Michael said, 'when I asked you, if a runaway truck mounted the pavement and was hurtling toward you, would you get out of the way?’

Leo laughed quietly, ‘And I said, No. I’ve got right of way.’

Michael smiled at the memory, ‘You are stubborn.’

‘We’ve had some arguments.’

‘More than some.’ He checked his watch.

‘How long we got?’

‘Plenty.’

‘I’m not quick on my feet at the moment. Not like I used to be.’

‘I’ll give you a head start.’

Leo sat enjoying the sun for a while longer, then he said, ‘Put your arm round me.’

‘Cold?’

‘No. Well, a bit, maybe.’

‘Ok.’

He wrapped his arm around Leo’s thin shoulders, pulled him closer, fixed his woollen hat closer round his head. ‘That better?’

‘Mmm.’ Leo rested his head on Michael’s shoulder. ‘I never thought it’d be like this,’ he said. Then he said, ‘It feels good.’

‘Does it?’

‘We have souls, you know.’

‘So you keep telling me.’

Then he said, ‘What you going to do, without me?’

‘Don’t keep saying that.’

‘I’ll miss you. And I’m sorry.’

Michael stayed quiet, biting his lip a little, willing away the tears. ‘Don’t. Please don’t apologise.’

‘I haven’t always been kind to you. I’ve been demanding.’

‘It’s alright.’

Leo shifted to get comfortable, pushed closer to Michael. ‘You’ll feed Spud? Take him for walks?’

‘Every day. Yes.’

Leo shuddered. A long sigh.

Michael pulled him a little closer, said, ‘Maybe we should get a playmate for Spud. It’s cruel to have a dog by itself in the house. I’ll get Triona to come by twice a day, walk them both. Or maybe I’ll cut down my hours at work. Won’t need the money if you’re not spending it all on stupid toys and clothes and holidays.’ He laughed to himself. ‘Maybe sell up, buy an old VW. Travel.’

Leo relaxed in his arms, his head a soft weight, eyes closed, his face gently creased against his shoulder. Michael straightened the edge of his hat again, tender. His breath caught and sobbed, just once. ‘You’ve gone then?’ he asked, voice soft.

Then he sat for a while, staring ahead.

After a few minutes he moved to let Leo lie down on his side, pulled his legs up onto the bench, knees bent, arranged his body neatly, patted his clothes straight and rested his face on his hands. He stood back, looking down at Leo, and his brow knitted, his mouth formed a rictus of silent grief. ‘You didn’t finish the treatment,’ he said, ‘I thought you saw things through to the end. I thought you were the stubborn one.’

Then he said, ‘I love you, you know,’ to Leo’s quiet form. ‘I love the bones of you.’

And he knelt on the ground beside him, fingertips touching his face, his silent tears falling onto Leo’s cool skin.

End

James. www.jamesross.media 

 

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