Top Voted Realistic Fiction

Wisps of smoke curled on themselves to form overdrawn punctuation over people’s heads. Catey frowned at Julia and said, “Put that out. You know I hate the smell of cigarettes.” Julia used her free hand to flick her brown hair out of her... (more »)

She’s never been this cold before. Not the type of cold that aches in your feet and causes convulsions in your jaw; the type of cold that jams up your mind, like a song set on repeat with no power or volume dial to make it stop. Really cold.... (more »)

I am standing on the corner, hesitant, waiting for the beauty that maybe will come for me. Vulnerable, perhaps, behind my black glasses and pearled ears, zits and braces. The cars whiz past me, carriages smoothly gliding, and I watch the people. I... (more »)

The knitting club meets at the women’s center every ­Friday. Today they are working on ­pastel-colored baby socks. The women clink metal needles and grumble about their husbands, ex-husbands, and rheumatic pets. “Charlie forgot to... (more »)

A kid. That’s all I am to him: Trapped in my ­under-developed body. I want to scream, but my mouth is dry. *** His words drown together, lost somewhere between his mouth and my ear, until she nudges me. “… However, Ms. Lock, we... (more »)

The eyeliner makes the dark circles less pronounced. The lip gloss hides the trembling. The ponytail conceals missing patches of hair. The Abercrombie sweater covers bruises. I might look at bit thinner, but everyone will ask about my new diet. My... (more »)

It took me 15 years and 364 days to turn 16, three tries to pass my driving test, and several months of nonsense to finally earn the right to drive on my own. It takes a song and a half to get out of the school’s hellish parking lot at the... (more »)

The first death on your watch isn’t even your fault. You’re just one of the many interns who rush to the bedside when the code is called, peering at the doctors crowding around. As the patient gasps and chokes, you too gasp and choke as each... (more »)

The final shot ricocheted off a tree. “No one showed up.” “It’s a Thursday. People are working late or studying.” “So should I just stick to Fridays from now on?” “I’ve gotta get going.” “Um, yeah, me too.... (more »)

The first officer is a detective from Madison – kind of makes me feel special, that he’d come all that way for me. His name is Bradish or Broadish, something like that, and I like him, but he makes me nervous. Mr. Ray had said that even if we... (more »)