When the past refuses to stay buried, even the stillest waters ripple. At Saltonstall Lake, a place once filled with laughter, summer games, and promises of forever, one man finds himself haunted by the ghosts of his dearest friends. As the sun sets and the cicadas fall silent, memories blur i...

estar.jp contest. ✔ Bloom's power is both a boon and a bane in a place where magic manipulates nature. She lives modestly among the ordinary people, a plant magician with noble blood coursing through her veins, evading a fate she never desired. However, destiny doesn't wait. A crafty nobleman ...

Lily knows she can take care of herself – but can she bring hope to a dying world? The earth has sickened. Centuries of war and greed have transformed a once resource-rich planet into vast graveyards, dotted by settlements of stubborn survivors who are forced to horde electricity and clean...

Alena is a reclusive half-elf who has spent months pouring her heart into a spell meant to breathe life into a wooden doll she lovingly calls Mia. Her magic is clumsy, her knowledge incomplete—but her determination is relentless. Unlike most who summon for power or gain, Alena seeks nothing but a...

I will not forget the feeling that day. Maybe if I had just held back my feelings that day, things would have been different.

A high school girl wakes up to the sound of an unfamiliar phone ringing. She answers. Bittersweet gay ensues.

Aurora is a witch. Victor is a folk healer. Best friends. Total opposites. When Aurora casts a voodoo curse to keep Victor away—hoping to stop her feelings before they spiral... …it works. Just not in the way she expected.

I still see your shadow in my room. I can't take back the love I gave you. I'm at the point where I love you and hate you. And I can't change you, so I have to replace you. Easier said than done. I thought you were the one. I listen to my heart rather than my head. You found another, but ...

Grief-stricken after losing his sister Akari, talented artist Kenji abandons his passion, crushed by silence. Sketching Akari from memory in deep sorrow, he discovers an impossible connection: his intense emotions channeled through art briefly pierce death's veil, yielding fleeting, bittersweet g...

Misa can’t stand him. Every little thing about him sets her on edge—the way he chews, the way he smiles, the way he exists. (short story)