Each month our Editors pick those which we believe are exceptional.
Due to the sheer volume of submissions, sometimes stories do not stay on the front page for more than a few hours, and some absolute gems get lost in the crowd. Hence we've created this “Editors’ Picks” page, where we call out what we believe are some truly extraordinary pieces of writing.
We may miss some too, but most of those that deserve higher praise will be listed here.
At Bronwig’s bookshop there's a notice on the door, in red capitals: IN LIQUIDATION. It’s devastating. I’d been a customer since I was too small to see more than the top of Mr Bronwig’s head behind the counter. His hair was white, even then; delicate as c...
White House Security Agent Mike Marsden stood respectfully next to the First Lady. She sat in a white chair underneath the table umbrella. “You must think him silly, Mike, for having an above-ground pool at the White House. He must appear quite common to...
---“It’s not him, is it, Jack? It’s just not him.” My mother’s despairing words were a mournful poem that reverberated inside my head whenever I visited the hospital. She was so right. The wizened shell inhabited by something totally alien was a parody of...
As his band stepped onto the stage, Tyrone stole a moment to sip his dirty martini. He ran his tongue along his upper lip as he admired the glass, savoring the lingering taste of the alcohol. With a contented sigh, he got up and walked onto the stage. Dur...
Remember when we headlined at Alleycats, 420 East Street? Remember the heat, the buzz, the whole place packed to the rafters and reeking of liquor and cigarette smoke? Do you recall the spotlights cutting through the haze and the bone-shaking throb of the...
I sit on the beach, absently raking fingertips through the warm sand while listening to the cheerful clamour all around. My fellow holidaymakers laugh, squeal, shout to one another, their shrill cries mingling with the raucous shrieks of the gulls wheel...
This poem only available on Stories Space. If you are reading it elsewhere, it has been stolen.Face in the shadowsWhere eyes burn black candlesAnd wax in the waterHas armoured the lips,A soul freezes hellWith the loneliness cruel,And the silence is lostWh...
December 22, 2015 Ricky breathes deeply as he walks through the park. The air, sweetened by the scent of pine and cooled by the fallen snow, refreshes his lungs and spirit. It’s barely evening, yet it’s already dark out, the sun having slipped below the h...
Connor Mulrooney sauntered into the members-only back room of the North Philly Irish Pub with his usual swagger, grabbed a Guinness and settled into a seat that may as well have held a Reserved sign. His chair, the one he always occupied during their wee...
“Are you afraid of the dawn?” she asks, watching him with a half-smile on her face as he scrambles around the room, frantically pulling down the curtains. The new darkness bathes them both in soft candlelight. It smoothes out her angular lines and eases t...
He pulled his cloak over his head and brushed away a few errant flakes of snow from his shoulders. He breathed out a long breath into his cold, rough hands, this warmed them with incredible speed. He stepped out from the Coaching Inn into the day. His foo...
Moonlight edged through the tree branches high overhead, as the wind howled through them bringing a sharp cold slap to her face. Darkness seeped under the canopy far above, shrouding the world in shadow. There was one small flicker of light that illuminat...
Inspired by the work of Anne Stokes, 'Solstice Gathering'Ariane stood atop the castle battlements and looked out across the heavily wooded landscape that stretched far into the distance as far as she could see. It was the twenty-first day of December in t...
Here tears reign,And Self cannot be pulled togetherWhen Self is screaming, torn asunder,Where empty shell is welling up whilstEyes of others rollAgainst the failings of thisSelfish child,So called becauseShe cannot rule whatOthers hide and stow away.'Mids...
