ChromedOutCortex

Right! Apparently, a few people I knew from high school recognized me right away when I went back to visit my parents. I, however did not recognize them. It feels like I'm the only one that hadn't changed much from high school... other than gray hair.

I called James the next afternoon, my heart pounding as the phone rang. He answered on the third ring, sounding distracted. "Hey, Marcus. What's up?" "Hey. Do you have a minute to talk?" "Yeah, just let me—" I heard rustling, a door closing. "Okay, I'm in my bedroom. What's going on? You sound serious." I took a breath. "I just... I need to ask you something. And I need you to be honest with me." "Okay..." His voice shifted to concerned. "You're kind of freaking me out h

The first snow of November came early that year, blanketing Edmonton in white just as Andrew and I hit our six-month mark. We celebrated quietly at his apartment—he'd cooked an elaborate dinner that took him all afternoon, some kind of Italian thing with homemade pasta that was probably too ambitious but turned out perfectly anyway. "To six months," he said, raising his wine glass. "To six months," I echoed, clinking my glass against his. "And to you not poisoning me with your cooking

The phone vibrated again. I reached for it without thinking—the same way I’d grab my sister’s phone off the coffee table to hand back to her, or pick up my mom’s when it rang during dinner. At home, we all did it. My brothers, Neelu, even Ammi and Appa—phones were just… part of the air we shared. You picked one up, passed it over, silenced it if it wouldn’t stop buzzing. No boundaries. Just family. So when his phone lit up on the nightstand, I didn’t hesitate. What I read made my

Not sure how many Chrome user are here, but wanted to share an update that was pushed through by Google. I know screen readers are nothing new, but Google has implemented this in Chrome. I was testing it out on a few stories here and it works great. You do not get the full effect of an audio book (so none of the inflections etc.,) but if you're like me (lazy) it's a cool way to have a story read do you. Once you're on a story, right click on the web page (not the story page/block) and click Open In Reading Mode. Once you do this a panel will open on the right and you will see something like this: The default is a robotic voice, but you can select from several languages (including British English so you get that posh accent). You can change the reading speed as well. Not earth shattering, but a cool feature. Enjoy!

James left for Vancouver on a Tuesday in late August. We loaded his car with boxes and suitcases, the same way we'd loaded mine four years ago when I'd fled in the opposite direction. The irony wasn't lost on either of us. "You sure you're going to be okay?" James asked for the tenth time as we stood in the parking lot of our now-empty apartment. "I'm going to be fine," I said, trying to sound convincing. "You're the one driving fourteen hours alone." "I mean after. Living alone.

My stomach finally stopped trying to turn itself inside out. The room still swam if I moved too fast, but the nausea had settled into a dull throb behind my eyes. “I should probably go home,” I said, voice hoarse. “Sleep this off.” Ryan was sitting on the edge of his kitchen chair, elbows on his knees, watching me like I might dissolve if he looked away. He’d cleaned the bathroom, brought me water, and allowed me to sleep in his bed while he took the sofa. “You’re welcome to stay

That made me tear up. So well done and their voice before/after are just amazing! I really liked how they brought both versions of themselves into the video. 💕

I will only say... This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. 😁

Two thoughts on alcohol: If you're a friend; warn your friend especially if they've never had alcohol. I remember my first rum and coke - absolutely hated it, but there was never alcohol in our house (my mom is Muslim, my dad is not) so I had no previous experience with alcohol. They are friends, but maybe he doesn't want to be too overprotective? Sex - Hmmm... Jamal is scared? Unsure of themselves?

Several weeks later, Ryan invited me to a small gathering at his friend Leo’s place. Nothing fancy—just a few close friends, he’d said. “Low-key,” he’d texted. “Good food, better company.” It was deep winter, and what everyone in Vancouver called monsoon season—gray skies, relentless rain, sidewalks slick with runoff. If I’d been back in Toronto, it would’ve been snowing, and my parents would’ve insisted I wear three layers, a scarf, and two pairs of socks. “The cold will give you a cold,”

Winter semester flew by in a blur of classes, late-night study sessions, and weekly gatherings at the Pride Centre. James and I had settled into our friendship like two puzzle pieces that had always been meant to fit together. We were brothers, best friends, each other's person—but never anything romantic. The thought had crossed my mind exactly once, late one night when we were lying in our respective beds talking in the dark, but it felt wrong. What we had was too important to risk on somethin

That first step is always the most difficult, never entirely sure of yourself or what others may think - then you come to realize, nobody is looking at you.

I walked upstairs in a daze. The moment my door closed behind me, I leaned against it and let out a long, frustrated breath. “You idiot!” I yelled out loud, to nobody and everyone all at once. “I’m such an idiot.” My voice echoed off the bare walls, sharp and hollow. Why didn’t you invite him up? It wouldn’t have been weird. He’d have said yes. We could’ve made tea, talked about the waterfall, laughed about Greg’s dog chasing that squirrel. Maybe he’d have stayed an hour. May

The first few months at university had been everything I'd hoped for. Classes were challenging but engaging, the campus was beautiful, and I was finally starting to feel like I could breathe. At first, James and I had settled into an easy rhythm as roommates—cordial, respectful, but not particularly close. We existed in the same space comfortably, like two planets in separate orbits. As the months progressed, we became best friends. It happened gradually, almost without me noticing. In Octo

They do stand by themselves, but In My Mind provides all the background for how he got to where he is. Enjoy!

Hey - It is. It's the continuation of Adam's story, but with Alex and putting to rest what happened with Jamie - finally letting him go, not just symbolically though.

The night was quiet, the kind of quiet I had grown used to with Alex. We’d eaten dinner together, nothing fancy: pasta, garlic bread, and a half bottle of wine we never finished. Now we were in the living room, the plates stacked in the sink, Netflix droning softly in the background. Alex was sitting on the sofa, phone in one hand, his other hand running his fingers through my hair. I was lying with my head on his lap, doom-scrolling on my phone. Nine months. That’s how long it had bee

I wiped my fingers on a napkin, then, before I could second-guess myself, asked, “Do you… do you miss your family? Being this far from home?” Ryan looked surprised, not by the question, but maybe by the softness in my voice. He leaned back, hands resting on the bench behind him, and exhaled. “Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I do. They’re all still in Calgary. My older sister, Jess, runs a bakery there, and makes the best sourdough this side of Banff. And my brother, Mark, teaches high

The next few days and weeks folded into each other, thin and gray, like sheets of tracing paper. Work was the same, at least on the surface. Back-to-back meetings, pipeline reviews, negotiations over renewal percentages that somehow always landed two points lower than I wanted. I answered emails, approved discounts, corrected a deck that one of my managers had somehow managed to make both confusing and ugly at the same time. On paper, I was functioning. Outside of work, I moved on

The drive from Vancouver to Edmonton took fourteen hours, but I could have driven for fourteen days and it still wouldn't have felt far enough. My mom cried the entire trip, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue while my dad kept his hands steady on the wheel. I sat in the back seat surrounded by boxes and suitcases, watching the mountains give way to prairies, feeling like I was shedding skin with every kilometer that passed. "You'll call us regularly, right?" my mom asked for the fifth time.

Damn! Those were great!!

I've seen some really cool ones on Reddit. This isn't a trailer but you should checkout gossipgoblin on TT or YT (https://www.youtube.com/@Gossip.Goblin) - absolutely amazing work that they've done! Here is a taste... but he goes into more extremes of human evolution.

And this one...

Hey All - Wrote lyrics to keep me "in the zone" for this story, but realized I never shared the song. It was put together using SUNO (AI music generation - which may not be your thing).