Modern Short Stories

My new dance teacher had a rhythm that was impossible to resist. I thought I'd explored the depths of my desires with Jenny, Sophia, Claire, and Lisa, but my education in passion was about to take a mesmerizing turn. When Jenny introduced me to her friend Marisa, a captivating dance teacher, I was drawn into a world of movement and seduction. Marisa offered me a free private class, and with the encouragement of Jenny, Sophia, Claire, and Lisa, I stepped onto the dance floor. What I found was far more than just a lesson in dance. Marisa's graceful movements and intense gaze taught me the art...

Have you ever asked “What’s it all for?” or “Is my life enough?” Jack finds himself back at the local pub after another monotonous day at work asking himself these very questions. From an outside perspective, Jack has a good job and a supportive family, but somehow it’s not fulfilling his true desires, which has created a deep sadness. Seeing Jack’s hopelessness, the bartender, Lloyd, suggests a short story for him to read about a cowboy going through similar struggles in wanting better for his family and his life. Jack is not much of a reader, but finds some solace in ...

Fantasy fans, rejoice! Seven years after writer and editor Robert Silverberg made publishing history with Legends, the acclaimed anthology of original short novels by some of the greatest writers in fantasy fiction, the long-awaited second volume is here. Each of the best-selling writers represented in these selections from Legends II returns to the fantasy universe he or she made famous throughout the world.

The life of actor, choreographer, and musician Columbus Short has been punctuated with trauma that extends well beyond the plot lines of his previous role on the hit series Scandal. Short has lived many lives packed into one - from a family filled with turmoil to tumultuous love affairs and enough scandals of his own. But somewhere in the middle, Short’s realization that there has to be a better way comes into full view.

When Rip Van Winkle disappeared in that old colonial tale, was his over-worked wife suspected of murder? What about Cinderella—did she get on in the castle like everyone said, or was that fairy tale just fiction? These questions and more in the mystery of faulty expectations and quirky twists. Stories include: EVER AFTER: When the fairy tale ended long before intended, Cinderella wasn’t the only one without a happily-ever-after. ALL THE LUCK: Things went from good to perfect when she won a honeymoon trip with a raffle ticket . . . except for what happened next—is she suspect, or ...

Like the creation myths they supersede, the revelations of science are seared into our collective imagination through storytelling. From Archimedes' bath to Newton's apple, vivid accounts of scientific discovery help us understand the principles behind each theory, and add to the larger narrative of how the universe works, and how we came to be here. This anthology draws out and distils science's love of narrative from a wide range of scientific disciplines, weaving theory into very human stories.

In this captivating collection of stories by the author of Ballet Shoes, there are auditions on stage and antics on ice, trips to the pantomime, holiday adventures and laughter shared with family and friends. Charming, heartwarming and funny, this collection will bring joy to listeners of all ages. Originally written in the 1940s-'60s for annuals, magazines and the radio, these stories have never been collected before.

Fantasy fans rejoice! Seven years after writer and editor Robert Silverberg made publishing history with Legends, the acclaimed anthology of original short novels by some of the greatest writers in fantasy fiction, the long-awaited second volume is here.

If you’re a thirty-year-old, Southern male from a Christian family and have never brought a girl home to meet Momma, then you must secretly be up to no good. And if you also happen to be an only son with five older, happily married sisters, the pressure to find the one and only love of your life is like digging through a pile of leaves for the pin to the grenade you’re holding. Those were the first two lines of the first video post of Mark Griffin’s to go viral, and his popularity has steadily risen over the two years since. He decides to use his platform to find someone to share ...

Modern Technology: Erotica for Geeks is one of four books in D. L. King’s Short Story Collections series. King is a font of femdom (though, one of these stories is not in that genre). Be that as it may, these stories all have a technological edge. Have you noticed that “kinky” and “geeky” often go together? If you fall into this subsection on the Ven Diagram, this is the book for you.

An exploited child worker in the silver mines of Bolivia finds an ally – but at what cost? A young woman's affair has terrifying repercussions when her lover's wife dies. A sailor's wife takes her communion with Nature a little too far…From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor; from a new home with a sinister secret, this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.

Today is the day I marry a complete stranger. I don’t know anything about him as he was matched with me by the producers of the dating TV show, Marrying a Stranger. As I walk down the aisle, I am shocked to find out he’s white. As a black woman, I never expected to marry a white man, however the more I get to know him, the more I fall for him. Our wedding day was beautiful, but our wedding night was even hotter. This steamy BWWM interracial romance is 3,500 words long and is for mature readers only.

The time is the early '80s. The characters go to the same schools and eat at the same restaurants. Their voices enfold us as seamlessly as those of DJs heard over a car radio. They have sex with the same boys and girls and buy from the same dealers. In short, they are connected in the only way people can be in that city.

Mark is coming off a bad breakup, and he's just moved across the country. Dating is the last thing on his mind...at least, for a while. But it's lonely in a new city, and Mark starts thinking about finding someone. It's his lucky day, as he finds an auspicious flyer for a strange matchmaking service calling themselves Bird and Stone. Making his way through a grueling screening process, Mark finds himself set up on a date with two women, Emily and Sandra. A mistake, surely, he thinks. But no. Bird and Stone arranges harems, and Mark is about to jump into a world he's never even considered. ...

I.L. Peretz, the acknowledged "Father of Yiddish Literature", captured the essence of Eastern European Jewish life. He wrote of the magical quality of kindness, and the bitter fruits of blind faith.

With this, his first collection of stories, Raymond Carver breathed new life into the American short story and instantly became both the recognized master of the form and one of our best-loved fiction writers. Carver shows us the humor and tragedy that dwell in the hearts of ordinary people; his stories are the classics of our time.

More than 24 hours of Druids, dragons, demigods, and danger fill this modern Arthurian epic omnibus set! Legacies are forged through sacrifice.

This collection contains: "Idle Thoughts on Babies"; "The Schartz-Meterklume Method"; "A Photographer's Day Out"; and more.

This collection includes all three novels in The Shadow Changeling Series, a Colin McCool Junkyard Druid spin-off series set in M.D. Massey's Druidverse® urban fantasy setting. If you enjoy dark urban fantasy books featuring haunted antiheroes in the tradition of Snape, Walker Boh, and Constantine, you'll love this story about a shadow wizard who's searching for his long lost human family.

What if the real horror isn’t the ghost… but the truth it reveals? In this chilling collection, ghosts don’t just haunt—they unravel mysteries, distort reality, and change lives forever. From eerie whispers that hide sinister secrets to spectral encounters that shift the fabric of existence, each story will keep you guessing until the final, haunting twist. Inside, you’ll find: A forgotten house that never existed… or did it? A reflection that moves just a little too slowly. A babysitter who realizes her job might last forever. A missing roommate who was never supposed to be ...