Author: Vase My
Emily used to laugh at fairy tales. She believed they were for children, not for girls with coffee-stained aprons and broken dreams in Brooklyn. That changed the moment John walked into the café. He wasn’t flashy—just another sharply dressed man who liked his caramel latte strong and sweet. But that day, as she handed over the drink, he slipped her a folded napkin. Her fingers tingled as she unfolded it. “I’ve been coming here just to see you. You’re beautiful. Let me take you to dinner tonight—8 PM?” Her pulse skipped. She glanced up. He was already halfway out the…
I’d only lived there three weeks. Grief still hung on me like soaked clothes after a storm. My husband was gone, and so was the life we built together. Medical bills had taken everything but the essentials, and this apartment—cheap, cold, a little cracked around the edges—was all I could afford. The street didn’t welcome. It eyed me like a stranger. The graffiti screamed. The sirens sang nightly. And then came that day. I had two bags of groceries in each hand and was fumbling for my keys when I noticed him. Big. Towering. Built like someone who should be…
At first light, Aunt Teresa is already in the yard—hands wrapped around a weathered wooden pole, stirring her bubbling cauldron of red. The neighbors call it charming. “Old-world,” they say. Some joke that she’s secretly casting spells. She just smiles, lets them laugh. But last week, things changed. A police cruiser pulled up. The officer—young, polite, but with a stiffness in his voice—stepped into the yard. “We received a complaint,” he said. “Unusual smell. Possible illegal activity.” Aunt Teresa didn’t blink. Just stirred slower. “I’m sorry, officer,” I said, trying to laugh it off. “It’s just tomato sauce.” He pointed…
If anyone had told me my 13-year-old son was hiding thousands of dollars in his room, I would’ve laughed. Jake? The same kid who still struggled to match his socks and spent his allowance on Pokémon cards? But that was before everything changed. It started on a slow Sunday, the kind where the ticking of the clock fills the silence. Jake was at his friend Noah’s house, and I was cleaning—mindless, repetitive, comforting. Until I picked up Waffles. Waffles was Jake’s piggy bank. A ceramic dog with a tongue sticking out and a coin slot in its head. He’d had…
They say weddings bring out the best in people — but sometimes, they reveal the worst. From the moment Emma got engaged to Liam, she knew the biggest hurdle wouldn’t be the planning, the guest list, or the budget — it would be her mother. Ava had always been the center of every room she walked into. Beautiful, confident, and used to getting her way, Ava saw Emma’s wedding not as a celebration of her daughter’s love, but as an opportunity to shine once again. At first, Emma dismissed her mother’s subtle hints — compliments about how well white looked…
They laughed at me. The intern with too much heart and not enough sense. I was Sarah Collins—23, idealistic, and clinging to my dream of making it big in Manhattan. My internship at Halstead & Grant Financial was a ticket to that dream. Or so I thought. In reality, I was invisible. No one cared that I graduated top of my class. To the executives, I was just another girl in flats fetching overpriced coffee. Six different drink orders, six different personalities. I was a shadow with a name tag, a ghost in a pencil skirt. Until the rain came.…
The sun was warm on my shoulders as I sat on the porch, flipping through a magazine, when Linda came charging out with a glint in her eye and an envelope in her hand. “It’s here!” she said breathlessly. “David and Emily’s wedding invite.” I smiled. David and I had served together in the Coast Guard—three years, a lot of storms, and even more stories. He was as no-nonsense as they came. His fiancée, Emily, from what I’d seen, matched him in quiet strength. They were a perfect fit. But Linda’s expression was shifting—from curiosity to straight-up disbelief. “Okay,” she…
Carly Morgan had never believed in fairy tales. Life had taught her that magic didn’t happen for girls like her—not when your shoes were secondhand and your mom juggled two jobs just to keep the lights on. But that spring, a little flicker of hope had crept in. Prom season had arrived. While her classmates talked about limos, glittering gowns, and designer shoes, Carly had kept quiet. But she wanted to go—desperately. She wanted to feel beautiful, just for one night. Not invisible. Not poor. Just… seen. And then came the envelope. It arrived over breakfast one Friday morning. Her…
The chapel was wrapped in hush, the kind that presses against the walls and leaves no room for breath. Mourners sat stiff in the pews, surrounded by the suffocating perfume of lilies and unanswered questions. No one spoke above a whisper. No one dared break the fragile quiet that hung over the white coffin at the altar. Inside, or so they believed, lay Lily Thompson. Ten years old. Bright. Artistic. Gone. Four days ago, she’d vanished during a school hike in the woods. By the time the search party arrived, they found her glove near a river, a torn scrap…
Derek Ross lived a life built on shadows—shadows cast not by the past, but by a truth he buried long ago. In his final year of high school, Derek was the golden boy—charming, intelligent, destined for success. But there was one thing his classmates, teachers, and even his girlfriend didn’t know: they had never met his mother. He never invited friends over. Never spoke of family dinners or weekend outings. When asked about his parents, Derek would brush it off, saying they were “away on mission work” or “deeply religious.” Lies came easier than shame. Because Derek’s mother, Elise Ross,…