Stream of Consciousness

Hollywood Hils
1 —When I was a little girl, my home wasn’t exactly a welcoming place. My parents argued all the time and completely forgot about me. The only thing that could take my mind off reality was the movies on TV. They transported me to another world… sometimes a horror movie, other times a western, a comedy, a drama… whatever. And it may sound silly, but watching those movies on the small TV screen made my eyes light up and made me truly happy, even if only for the duration of the movie.
By Cesar González Torres12 days ago in Fiction
Fragments of a Perfect Whole
Today. Ritual. Morning begins. I count steps. Thirteen movements create my sanctuary. My colleagues whisper about precision controlling my existence.
By SUEDE the poet13 days ago in Fiction
Craftation in the Garden of Literary Delights
In the garden of earthly delights where beauty meets debauchery. That’s where we sit and discuss it all. Craft without catharsis. Our protagonist thought long and hard about the prospect. I imagine them — or us, if you envision yourself as one of them — waiting like those in that play of waiting and existentialism. We’re always waiting, and even when waiting doesn’t explicitly carry emotion, it’s there. How do you remove the release necessary to create something others will connect with?
By Paul Stewart13 days ago in Fiction
The Shape of What She Didn't Say
I. Catalog She did not tell him she found his laugh too loud for restaurants. She did not correct him when he introduced her as his girlfriend to his mother, though they had been on four dates and she had not agreed to this.
By Destiny S. Harris14 days ago in Fiction
Marshall's Observations
Marshall watched seagulls and crows playing in the wind among pink-tinted cloud beds that slowly turned gray as the sun hung at the sea's horizon. He used his iPhone to focus on the reflections in the water and snapped a photo. He liked the result; it showed a butterscotch sun sitting on the water below a pink cloud, with the ferry in the foreground.
By Andrea Corwin 14 days ago in Fiction
Born To Run
He watched the embers waltz skyward with the campfire tendrils, mixing and twisting until they all faded to black. Despite the warmth of the evening, he felt a shiver run through his shoulders that felt so much older than the candles at last weekend's birthday party indicated. While he appreciated everyone’s attendance, he stole every glance at the clock, counting down the moments until they left and he could depart.
By Matthew J. Fromm14 days ago in Fiction
The Inverse Calculus of Us
"The clock has struck three, the coffee is cold, and the shadows are beginning to speak. Welcome back to the desk of The Night Writer, where the stories are brewed in the dark."
By The Night Writer 🌙 15 days ago in Fiction
Craft Over Catharsis
Okayyy, craft over catharsis, craft over catharsis.... What do they mean by that? Why don't I get it? Is it a language thing... is that why I have such a hard time understanding this challenge? Or am I just stupid? A fraudster? A swindler? What word am I looking for?
By Cristal S.15 days ago in Fiction
The Golem
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WRITER’S NOTE: The golem originates in Jewish folklore as a figure formed from clay and animated through sacred language. Created for necessity rather than companionship, the golem exists to protect, labor, and endure. They are believed to be emotionless.
By Jesse Lee16 days ago in Fiction
Past Lives. Content Warning.
War made for odd couples. To Private Jim Mclellan, Sepp seemed a good man; better at least than some of the monsters he heard stories of deeper into the Reich. Real monsters. This Sepp almost reminded Jim of his uncle; the one from Wisconsin he met a few times at Weddings.
By Matthew J. Fromm16 days ago in Fiction
The Ghost on the Map: My 2,000-Mile Journey to a Paris That Isn’t There
If you type "Paris" into Google Maps, the algorithm will dutifully drop a pin on the City of Light. It will show you the winding Seine, the star-shaped sprawl of the Place de l’Étoile, and enough crêperies to feed a small army.
By George Evan17 days ago in Fiction
Beyond Twilight.
Twilight arrived before I realized the day was ending. The light didn’t vanish all at once; it thinned, softened, and shifted into something quieter. I stood there watching the sky change, and it struck me how familiar the moment felt. Not because of the colors, but because of the slowing. The steadiness. The sense that something was closing without drama or regret.
By Novel Allen18 days ago in Fiction