Online Reading Times

The July heat wave hit the city like a heavy blanket. The scorching asphalt radiated heat, and the air seemed to turn into a thick, stagnant jelly. Veronica Benson sat …

A girl in a wheelchair entered the shelter in Chicago. She whispered: «I want to see the one who’s the most afraid.» The staff exchanged glances. It was cage number …

In a quiet town, where the rhythm of life flowed with the seasons, a farmer named Salim lived a life intertwined with the animals he cherished. Among them was Kala, …

The tavern buzzed with energy that evening, the sort of spot where tobacco haze swirled under faint bulbs, chuckles blended with swears, and the rattle of bottles overpowered gentler tones. …

It happened on a Tuesday. We were having dinner, me and John. I warmed up yesterday’s potatoes with chicken. He ate in silence, abruptly, as always. And suddenly, between two …

On our first date the man called me fat and pathetic and humiliated me in front of the whole restaurant — but my revenge made him regret everything 😨😢 I …

No one expected that a simple hunter would make a discovery capable of shaking everything he thought he knew about nature… 😮🌲 That day, deep in the frozen forest, Ivan …

😲😨I became a surrogate mother for my sister and her husband. It seemed like the greatest gift I could give them. But when the baby was born, their scream tore …

😱 When a soldier returns home after military service, he doesn’t find his family, but two abandoned children — a brave girl, her little brother, and a dog who has …

😵😲Every morning I fed a lonely boy — secretly, so that the management wouldn’t find out. But one day he didn’t come: instead of the boy, black cars stopped in …

The Morning Light The morning sun streamed through the tall windows of Silver Diner, bouncing off chrome counters and polished coffee pots. The scent of maple syrup hung sweet and heavy …

The emergency ward at St. Mary’s Hospital was unusually still that Tuesday morning. Only the faint buzz of the fluorescent lights filled the air as a twelve-year-old Black girl, Ava …

“You think you can just stroll in and rob me? From my own desk drawer?!” Richard’s voice thundered, laced with fury. Danielle shook her head frantically, tears spilling down her …

The Place Where the Past Refused to D!e The city landfill stretched before me like a graveyard of forgotten lives — a bleak expanse of rusted metal, broken furniture, and …

The Birth I Didn’t Plan For I didn’t plan for a C-section. After nineteen hours of labor that went nowhere, the doctor’s voice cut through the haze: “We need to take …

During the wedding night, the young man was taken into the room by his older wife, but as he had just laid down, the wife opened the closet and took …

Americans love sugar more than any other food. Sugar is linked to a whole medical manual of illnesses… insomnia, hair loss, obesity, allergies, bipolar disorder, hypertension, heart disease, and of …

When Everything Began to Change It started so quietly that I almost missed it. My daughter, Emma, had always been a cheerful baby — giggling at sunlight, clapping her tiny …

🌇 The Morning Rush The city woke in a blur of sound and motion — honking horns, footsteps slapping against wet pavement, the hum of conversations blending with the rhythmic hiss …

The morning sunlight glimmered on the chrome counters of the diner, casting reflections on coffee pots and napkin holders. Usually, it was a cozy place where pancakes meant comfort and …

✈️ The Flight of Frustration The cries cut through the air like shards of glass. Little Nora, barely one year old, sobbed in her father’s trembling arms as the plane from …

For several days straight, a little girl kept showing up at my front door, standing there for a few minutes before running away. I grew worried for her safety so …

The Accusation Clara had worked for the Hamilton family for many years. Every morning, she polished furniture, cleaned every corner of their grand estate, cooked their meals, and made sure …

Mist on the Glass The courthouse rose against a gray morning, its stone columns blurring behind a film of mist. In the backseat of a parked car, eight-year-old Isla Martinez …

When I held my newborn son for the first time, his tiny weight pressed delicately against my chest, my brother’s finger cut through the air, pointing straight at me like …

A Mansion Filled with Silence The Harrington estate had once been alive with joy, every laugh bouncing off the marble halls and filling the grand rooms with warmth. But after …

I awoke to a sharp, unfamiliar smell—metallic, bitter—and an unsettling lightness around my neck that made my stomach twist. The mirror confirmed my dread. My hair—once long, chestnut, and painstakingly …

The Night of Waiting The night was quiet, only broken by the faint sound of cars rushing along I-95 in Connecticut. Claire Dawson sat in her living room, holding a …