Two days passed as I remained at home, eagerly anticipating the publication of the article at the week’s end. In my free time, I threw Louis’ gifts away and watched television. On Thursday, to my surprise, Louis called. The urge to confront him about the incident at the nail salon and Bouncing Boba grew. With ...

Later that day, I returned to the newspaper’s office; we agreed to meet in person to discuss my story. The other employees had the rest of the week off, and despite how suspicious it seemed, they jumped at the chance to relax. I sat at the conference room desk and waited for Miss Billings. All ...

After crying for an hour, I calmed down to pay the technicians and drove home. My heart still ached the rest of the afternoon and into the night, and only a pint of chocolate ice cream comforted me until I fell asleep. It wasn’t a restful sleep. I found myself in a nightmare of a ...

When I left the office, I spent the day driving and shopping around my Los Angeles neighborhood to forget everything Miss Billings told me. I couldn’t shake the mental picture of Louis with that other woman, no matter how hard I tried. When it hit seven o’clock it became unbearable. To satisfy my curiosity, I ...

Many of us were encouraged to have fun and explore our imaginations in our early years. We scribbled, finger-painted, and sculpted Play-Doh. Our imaginative powers were used to construct make-believe worlds only we could see. However, fine arts and music were often considered extracurricular activities during school. But a lifelong pursuit of artistic endeavors is ...

My husband, John is horrified and is bombarding Juji (my sister) with too many questions. All  because she is pregnant. What is she doing? Does she not comprehend they enter their teenage years? Crave cars and demolish them? Drive you bonkers? We have lived through raising three children. John was not a happy camper during ...

 Content warning: This story contains Restricted (R) content, including intense violence, physical abuse, and trauma. This story is written for an adult audience. Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, as none of the content is my original work. The characters are created by Stephen King and J.R.R Tolkien. The content belongs to MGM and ...

Every rock I kicked asideEtched her moon-washed shadowAcross the distant sky Every stone I bounced over the wavesMirrored her olive eyesWithin my bleary dreams Every sod of earth I walked uponResurrected her memoriesWithin my lonely heart And with every phase of the daylight moonThe frozen rivers in my weary soulBegan to thaw

“W-What is this?” I stuttered. “Louis is not the man he appears to be, I’m afraid.” Miss Billings sighed. “He’s done this before with other coworkers.” She tucked the photo in her pocket and stood beside me. I sat dumbfounded by what Miss Billings said, but my mind urged me to keep believing in Louis. ...