Even as I come to the realization that nothing in this world can pierce the hopelessness that ruins every stimulus I can still come upon, I find a reliable sense of wonder when imagining how patient it has been. Its origins and its creation, its nature and its effects. This always makes me shudder with…
You are lying in your bed, the dull whirring of your air conditioner is the only thing separating you from total silence. You know, that particular silence that is so heavy, and so thick, it’s almost the equivalent of a loud noise itself? The kind of silence where you could hear a pin drop three…
When I was in high school, my girlfriend and I would go to the mall a lot. It wasn’t something I enjoyed very much, but it made her happy so I didn’t complain. Every time we went she would make us get our pictures taken in those photo booth things. You know, the ones where…
Let me start by saying that I’m no professional storyteller. I just have a story to tell. Every summer my parent’s would drive from our home in rural Lincolnshire, to our holiday home in a little village in the West Norfolk coast. I won’t say where exactly, but it was a beautiful village, a ten-minute…
I open my eyes to absolute darkness and to a stale woody smell just inches from my nose. I don’t remember being here, how I got here. I don’t even recall where I was last. My amygdala is setting off internal alarms. I’m not in full-blown panic state yet but I’m getting there. I have…
My grandfather has been acting very strange lately, and has begun sleepwalking again. For this reason it was suggested to me by my parents that I write a journal to keep myself busy, and to keep track and document my grandfather’s behavior here. They will be away in Europe for the next two weeks so…
1 Nobody was surprised when Old Man Billings disappeared. He’d been wandering off for years, blind drunk, turning up sprawled across somebody’s back porch or curled up in the bed of somebody’s pick-up a few days later. The longest I’d ever heard of him being gone was a week. That time he’d come back into…
The usual stories about MineCraft will always go to Herobrine, about how he lives and he’s a lot more than code. But have you ever wondered about the Endermen, and whether there are any secrets about them? Everyone who has played MineCraft is well familiar with them by now, and while they can be hard…
Alright, it’s working. My name is S______ and if you are reading this, then you are probably the police or some mental health professional, investigating my recent actions. Let just apologize in advance for any weird grammar errors, as I’m actually writing this on some pirated voice recognition software, and I haven’t really had time…
My little sister is thirteen now. Her name is Zoe, she has blonde hair, blue eyes and she likes pop music, fashion and other typical teenage girl stuff. I really do love her. I must have been seven or eight when she first came home. I was excited to finally see my little sister. At…
During the summer of 1983, in a quiet town near Minneapolis, Minnesota, the charred body of a woman was found inside the kitchen stove of a small farmhouse. A video camera was also found in the kitchen, standing on a tripod and pointing at the oven. No tape was found inside the camera at the…
“Can I take your picture?” Larissa sat a few feet away from me on the grey velvet sofa as I aimed my iPhone towards her. I stared at the screen intently for a moment before shifting my focus, looking over the brim of the phone at her defeated, hopeless state portrayed by bloodshot eyes. “What…
I met Alex in middle school. He was always really shy. He usually sat by himself, at least a seat away from anyone else. After a few days of class I decided to sit by him. He looked discouraged, it seemed he had forgotten his book for that class. I proceeded to hand him mine….
The first time Sasha got high, she stood face-to-face with a black bear in the backyard of her friend’s house. She was giggling while her two best friends Jade and Colt stood behind her absolutely terrified. She wasn’t sure why this was her reaction or what other drug those edible gummy bears were laced with,…
Even years later I can still remember that day. It was the first and last time I ever went out to the movies alone. The last time I went out to the movies ever. I don’t feel like I’m missing all that much really, the movies had never been a big part of my life….
Scoutmaster Tom sat with his troop around the campfire. It was their first overnight trip and the five boys were all giddy with excitement. All around them the woods echoed with the song of chirping crickets and gentle breezes. The boys roasted their smores well chatting about girls using a vocabulary that Tom deemed not…
“So what time you gonna be here?” Tyler asked me impatiently, his voice obviously frustrated. “Cause, like, the storm’s gonna hit any second and I wanna get dinner cooked now in case the power goes out.” I glanced up at the gray sky from underneath my umbrella and saw a large front of ominous looking…
“I don’t want to go to Mee Mee Linda’s anymore.” Britney’s little girl, Kristan, said as she was getting her ready to take to her mother’s house. Britney was confused by this, her daughter never had a problem with going to her grandmother’s house before. She always dropped Kristan off at her mother’s in the…
What does it take to destroy a universe? A cataclysm? Apocalypse? Do those things destroy a universe? No. We assume that the collapse of all we know is due to the effects of some fated, predicted catastrophe that strips daily life of all its rules, laws, and foundations. But that is our mistake. You see,…
The pit, the abyss, it was always there. At least, as far as I can remember. The first time I heard its call, it was subtle, almost unnoticeable. My mother was reading her pick-and-choose verses from the book, looking back up at me after each reading with an expectant look in her eyes. She tried…
Some of the most amazing paintings I have ever seen are those of Thomas Allsman. He is a quiet man in his early sixties, and he lives alone in a small old house on the edge of town. Thomas is a portrait painter, the best any of us have ever seen. Each one of his…
My encounter with black eyed kids. Please share. I’d like to know other people’s thoughts. Thank you. First, a quick intro about myself. I’m a 26 years old, male. I work at a small private college in Michigan. I’m a normal, average guy. I like hockey, HBO shows, kayaking, and hiking/camping. I have a girlfriend,…
Theists have a pernicious habit of countering non-believers with the ultimate cruelty of a life snuffed out in an instant. How can there be nothing beyond, when we are surrounded by beauty and complexity in this world? This world has afforded us a myriad of outlets and the tools to understand it or even master…
My uncle was an eccentric man. An accomplished physicist, he was at the top of his field when he abruptly decided to end his career and retire to his villa in the French countryside. His friends and family couldn’t even begin to guess what had prompted the drastic shift. He didn’t have a wife or…