gritty - Stories

In 2001, at a Catholic boarding school defined by strict rules and quiet expectations, Tommy Harrington expects nothing more than to blend into the background. Everything changes when he meets Brian McFadden, a charismatic, fearless boy who pulls him into a friendship unlike anything he has ever known. As the years pass, their bond deepens through shared secrets, quiet moments, and unspoken feelings. In a world where some truths are too dangerous to name, Tommy and Brian must navigate the fragile space between friendship, love, and everything left unsaid.

Two enemies wake in the ashes of Jerusalem—one a deserter drowning in guilt, the other an amnesiac who remembers only how to kill. Hunted across the desert by a vengeful lord, they must disguise themselves as a Crusader knight and his squire to survive. But in the war-torn port of Jaffa, masks slip. Secrets surface. And a feral German street rat with a talent for trouble forces them to confront an impossible question: in a holy war that devours everything, can two broken boys build a family from the ruins?

Prompt #265

Write a story that begins with a phone call at three in the morning.

Trevor insisted the house phone be on his side of the bed. There was one problem with that; Trevor was nearly impossible to wake up. One night, the phone rings at three AM. Julius has a hard time waking Trevor, but finally succeeds. Trevor finally answers the phone on the ninth ring. The phone call starts something they never could have expected.

A blind boy hailed as a saint. A sorcerer-prince branded a monster. Bound by magic, divided by war, and caught in the crushing grip of the First Crusade.

As thirty thousand starving crusaders batter the walls of Antioch, Wylan—a stable boy turned reluctant holy icon—discovers his soul is tethered to Ishan, the Seljuk prince sworn to destroy his army. Together, they share visions, stolen warmth, and a truth that could burn them both.

The city bleeds. The earth shakes. And when the sky turns red, their swapped bodies become the least of their sins.

In 1603 France, an investigator with secrets of his own is dispatched to a remote village to unravel a peasant boy's bizarre confession of lycanthropy. But for men who walk forbidden paths, the truth is more dangerous than any myth. (Inspired by historic events.)

At forty-two, Joe has engineered his body to dominate the factory floor and the baseball diamond. He commands respect from other men even as he feels invisible in his own home. But when a plan for a discreet hookup goes off the rails, Joe finds himself outplayed by the one person who sees him for exactly what he is.

After losing his twin brother in a violent tragedy, a former U.S. Marine returns to his roots in Bangkok, hoping distance might quiet the past that refuses to let go. Haunted by memory, guilt, and a love he was never allowed to name, Kent struggles to rebuild a life that no longer fits the person he used to be.

Across the hall lives Marvin—steady, observant, and patient in ways Kent doesn’t yet trust. What begins as proximity slowly becomes choice, forcing Kent to confront a different kind of fear: not losing the past, but moving forward without it.

When two hunters run afoul of a mythic figure, they have one chance to saved their hides. It's not the boys weekend either expected. (This takes place in the same universe as the story Sol, but both are stand alone tales, no other reading needed.)

They say that those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With that in mind, what would lead Martin Niemoller to write a version for today?

In a glass-and-marble New York life, Nora Beaumont, an immaculate fixer who keeps other people's chaos on schedule, looks up one day and realizes her own marriage to Daniel, a beautiful cipher built of calm and covenants, has been filed under "maintenance." On the eve of her birthday, a single, reckless wish knocks something loose, and a stranger enters their lives to rearrange the furniture of their desire.

What begins as a staged surprise becomes a slow-burning reckoning. As Nora watches the man she loves become someone she's never met, she must decide whether reinvention is an act of love, or a controlled demolition.