Category: Fiction
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Adnan, Unredacted: Adnan’s Guide to Overhearing a Breakdown, Politely
I swear I didn’t mean to be this curious. But here I am, muting my TV so I can listen to someone’s sobbing. It started innocently, I swear. I was just about to take my after-work nap when I heard someone’s voice crack into tears. You know that sound? The one that comes right before…
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Adnan, Unredacted: Local Man Finds Sock, Feels Nothing
“Breaking news!!! I just lost a sock.” My mind kept repeating as I searched the whole house – under the bed, behind the washing machine. Even in places that made no sense: the freezer, the cabinet under the sink, the bookshelf in the living room. Instead of the sock, all I managed to find was…
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A Visit To Bjerrin
Kamil had just arrived at Bjerrin, a 100-year-old abandoned village in the Jbeil district of Lebanon, nestled in a rugged valley surrounded by the majestic Mount Lebanon. An old local man named Jalal, who had agreed to help him discover Bjerrin and its ruins, was waiting at the entrance. After they greeted each other, they…
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Adnan, Unredacted: The Idiot Behind This
I’ve been trying to write lists to control my thoughts: 1. Drink water. 2. Pay rent. 3. Make enough money to pay rent? 4. Do not collapse. But these lists collapse before I do. I’ve been writing for two hours, hoping you’ll read till the very last word without getting bored or wondering who the…
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Rice Wasn’t Like the Others
When the gunfire echoed through the valley that day, the dogs barked, the cats scattered, and the birds fled. Even the wind felt afraid. But Rice didn’t make a sound, he didn’t flinch, he didn’t run. He stood there by the fig tree, blinking slowly, the sun catching the edge of his one chipped horn.…
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Smoke on a Lightbulb
The light-bulb outside my bedroom door was flickering when I first moved in. All the rest were fine, so I simply avoided it. I reasoned that at some point or other it would die out, then I would be in partial darkness for a few days until I managed to convince myself to change it,…
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Fifteen Years Later
Summer had just ended, and it was time to bring out my winter clothes. I had so much work to do – sorting out what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to donate, clearing the layers of accumulated dust, organizing the closets. I started by grabbing some coats, one of which I used…
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Then, I Remembered Everything
Heavy thunders brewed outside the night a stranger called my dad asking for help. Mom and I were listening, terrified. Who could be calling now? He wanted help, he told my dad. A cat was stuck in his car engine, hiding. Horrible thoughts invaded my mind and I began to imagine the worst – he’s…
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The Hero and the Beast
The layers of fur did little to keep out the cold. The hero could feel it in his bones, and though he’d trekked over many a mountain, none had been as ferocious as this one. But despite its harshness, the weather was only half the battle. The hero had also evaded three territorial snow giants,…
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Grey
The floor trembled beneath the pink skin of my grey paws. Earlier that day on August 4th, 2020, as I later heard mom call it, nothing extraordinary had happened. I woke up grandma as soon as I could see a crack of light outside – I can’t remember if I thought she was dead after…