rural - Stories

Upper-class slave Dante is sold from the glittering metropolis to a lonely farm. There Carolyn Mitchell not only rules over the slaves with an iron grip, but also over her family. To find his place and a new home there is hard, especially because his new mistress Alice is only superficially interested in him, he clashes right away with the work slave Tom and Frank, his mistress' brother, seems to haven taken quite a liking to him...

It's Christmas. Elias mourns his lover, but in these darkest of days, strange things ride on the wind.

Whilst on holiday in the Pyrenees, two guys from Valencia meet the last potter.

Twenty-year-old Cooper Hudson is the oldest of four boys, who spent their first few years living on the family sheep station - Southern Hills, that is located on the south of the Eyre Highway, with the turn-off located 82 kilometres East of the nearest town of Norseman. Cooper is a third-year university student in Perth, where the family is based with their mother working part-time at the nearby college and their father often works away as he is a AFP senior officer. As the family enjoys another holiday down at the station, a big surprise is revealed, which changes Cooper's future totally.

A weary Hercules fell into the clutch of a pirate captain and was sold to a sadistic king. With his herculean strength put in check under a wicked contraption, Hercules had to endure the king's humiliations and twisted torments. Read as Hercules fought for his own life while his faced the ultimate challenges to his might.

Oliver is an Asian American teenager who struggles with his sexuality as he falls in love with his best friend Cody. He lives in a small town where he attends high school and plays baseball and basketball as he learns who he can trust as he comes out of the closet.

Levie and Greg have been together for three months, and are moving in together. The young couple learns that no matter what life throws at them, they've always got the Love Of Family to help and strengthen them.

Esperanza, a descendant of curanderas, grapples with her identity and unspoken love for Lucía. As the Day of the Dead approaches, mysterious disappearances unsettle their town and deepen Esperanza’s inner conflict. During the parade, a lost soul seeks her help, uncovering hidden truths of love and loss long forgotten. Torn between family traditions and her true self, Esperanza must choose whether to embrace her ancestral powers and feelings for Lucía, helping lost souls while finding her own voice.

This is a short story, part of a flash fiction collection inspired by images or prompts.

Rowan Willowbark is a budding cryptozoologist studying in his tiny town's library. But when some campers go missing, he's called upon to help with the rescue efforts, being paired with a childhood friend. Now, with the dark falling and the cold setting in, they need to help the rescue team.

The boy in the well, told from the well's point of view.