Top Stories

New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.

Hottest in the Office
Dear Rafi, You’re very distracting to work around. For the first second I saw you the other day, I thought you were some type of executive. It took a moment to realize no, you were just the new guy, dressed up for the job he wants. Be still, my heart.
By Gabriel Shamesabout 16 hours ago in Pride
Precious Train Moments with Mama
“There’s the train!” he yells excitedly, squinting off into the distance. The train rumbles into the station, and the doors slowly part. We hop aboard, take a seat, and our Sunday excursion has begun.
By Sandy Gillmanabout 10 hours ago in Families
Vocal Bonus Leaderboard: 03/11/2026
Welcome to our weekly Leaderboard update! We're delighted to highlight Vocal's most popular stories. Join us as we recognize this week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
By Vocal Teamabout an hour ago in Resources
Why Didn't Anyone Tell Us
Men, move along. This is not for you. This is for the women. I was forty-five when I began menopause. It is pretty young for that to be going on in a woman’s life, but I had undiagnosed PCOS, my entire life. Thank you to all the gynecologists I had seen my entire life. That in itself should encourage women to keep seeking second opinions, especially when you are not getting correct answers or any at all.
By Alexandra Grantabout 19 hours ago in Humans
Eight
“Eight,” I announce when Heidi asks, “What’s today’s number?” Everyone else is confused. But I know she means the digit
By Tina D. Lopezabout 21 hours ago in Poets
Dwarves!
Two and a half centuries ago, The muck of the Iwandapowa swamp parted. A great eye socket emerged, and blinked the cake of the terrain away.
By Noah Husbanda day ago in Fiction
there is a time to write plainly
I am not one to speak plainly - sometimes, I repeat and ramble, or talk in circles before reaching the point - and much like the way I speak,
By Alexandria Stanwyck5 days ago in Poets
El-Roi
I think I do owe you an apology I didn't see because I didn't wish to see I focused on images that were groggy Allowed laziness to lay a mat for me
By Harydo Neon2 days ago in Poets
A Book Launch and a Community of Authors
Shenandoah Fantastic: Mystic Whispers from the Valley’s Vales is far from the first short story collection that I’ve contributed to*.
By Stephen A. Roddewig2 days ago in Writers
The Commute
It was a miserable day. It had been a miserable for a month and Peggy, the old doddery woman, waited at the bus stop in the pouring rain.
By Elizabeth Butlera day ago in Fiction
My Brother's Eyes Looked Like Jewels
You have to be buzzed in to Grace Hospice Care. I was walking out as they were buzzing in an older black man nodded I had seen earlier in the week.
By John R. Godwin4 days ago in Fiction
Silken Chains
Silhouettes of the female form were given flesh and bone. Silken skin glistened under the spotlight. Dry ice rose around our Icons as they danced atop their podiums in the Square. Heralded for their beauty, their movements were slight, powerful, and sensual.
By Paul Stewart5 days ago in Fiction
Arms. Content Warning.
I hold myself at an arms length from emotion until they, like furious waves, crush me taking me under their tide and holding me down.
By Reece Beckett4 days ago in Poets
Top tipple tricks
Been thinking a lot about drinking, lately. Not least because of a recent episode of over-indulgence and the inevitable after effects. Some readers may recall the earlier articles I wrote about beating the booze. Here I set out an experiment in techniques for cutting down on my alcohol intake. The experiment was successful, the techniques worked, and I have armed myself with an arsenal of weapons in the war against the demon drink. I have yet to fire the first round however. It's all a question of timing (perhaps procrastination).
By Raymond G. Taylor2 days ago in Psyche
The system protects itself
Cheats prevail. Children are taught otherwise, of course. Teachers share- Fairy-tales at circle time About virtue winning through.
By River and Celia in Underland 3 days ago in Poets
CIPHER
CIPHER 1/19/2026 I am more than my words and more than the skin that tightly binds me in.. I am more than these pages
By Victor Mendez4 days ago in Poets
TUS NUA - ch 53
TUS NUA – ch 53 New Beginnings – Mia and Midnight (*)(*)(*) Finola knew Ali’s brother-in-law needed to put his mind at rest. She fed her arm through his and led him outside. “We’ll sit here. If you like, I can put a block around us so our conversation will be private.”
By Margaret Brennan3 days ago in Fiction
Everything Moves
Today is March Forth and Do Something Day. A day when we say 'Carpe Diem' and seize the chance to make progress. So let's.
By Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin7 days ago in Poets
My Hill, My Stand.
The purpose of art is not the result. The purpose of art is not the result. The purpose of art is not the result. It is, for one thing,
By Gabriel Huizenga6 days ago in Poets
Parallel Protests
I haven't written for quite some time, but I have A LOT of thoughts about yesterday's protest rally against our government's involvement and complicity in America's war on Iran, on the harbourside of my home city Bristol, and I need to put them somewhere. My gorgeous girlfriend is always a loving and listening ear and sharing it all with her will always be a healthy and happy way of processing the mental and emotional weight, but getting it straight in my brain to share means writing it all down in straight lines, so, here we are and thanks for being here.
By Steph Cole8 days ago in The Swamp