The old church sat at the edge of the town like a forgotten prayer—its stone walls softened by moss, its steeple leaning ever so slightly toward heaven. Most drove past it without a second glance, but inside, the echoes of hymns still clung to the air like smoke after a candle is blown out.Miriam remembered […]
It started with the smell of smoke.Eleanor shifted in her sleep, her senses pulling her slowly from the haze of dreams into something sharp and real. At first, she thought it was just the heater—old and stubborn like everything in the parsonage. But then came the faint crackle, like dry paper curling at the edges, […]
No one noticed him at first.He stood near the edge of the boardwalk, barefoot, arms crossed, the sea wind tugging at his frayed hoodie. Tourists drifted past with sunburned shoulders and dripping cones of mint chip and cherry swirl. No one gave a second glance to the man with full-sleeve tattoos who hummed a tune […]
The rain had been falling since morning, steady and cold, drenching the streets of the small town where Hannah lived alone in the weathered house with the blue shutters. By afternoon, the gutters were full and the sky was a heavy slab of gray. Hannah didn’t mind the rain; she rather liked it. It made […]
She sat in the back pew, fourth from the end, always on the left. No one knew her name.The church was half full most Sundays, more on holidays, but she was always there before anyone else, wrapped in the same gray wool coat, the collar slightly frayed. Her hands, thin and veined like roots beneath […]
It was the last place Mark expected to hear the Word of God. Cold wind snaked through the alley as he pulled his collar higher, rushing past the piles of damp cardboard and the stink of rotting takeout. The city had a way of swallowing dignity. He wasn’t sure why he still took this shortcut […]
He hadn’t eaten in three days. The last thing he remembered was the rust-colored glare of the sun off the alley dumpster, and the burn in his veins as the needle went in. That was yesterday—or maybe two days ago. Time was hard to hold onto when you were this deep in it. The world […]
The front gate hung crooked, as if too tired to stand upright any longer. It creaked mournfully when Daniel pushed it open, the wind catching the iron just right. He hesitated. The sky above him had turned the color of old bruises, and the trees whispered things he didn’t want to hear. Still, he stepped […]
It was a golden October afternoon when the guests began to arrive, laughter tumbling down the stone steps of the old chapel like scattered petals. Emma stood near the front doors, straightening the hem of her bridesmaid dress for the fifth time, trying not to think about how tight her chest felt. Her sister, Claire, […]
It wasn’t the rain that made the funeral feel colder than it should have. The sky had been weeping since dawn, a slow and steady drizzle that draped the cemetery in gray. But it was something else — something quieter and heavier — that made every breath catch in Clara’s throat as she stepped behind […]