Lupus, But You Don’t Look Sick by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Literary Fiction

 

Lupus, But You Don’t Look Sick

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,243

It was the third family barbecue of the summer, and Cierra could already feel the weight of everyone’s eyes—even though no one was looking at her directly.

The scent of charred ribs and sun-warmed potato salad curled through the air. Frankie Beverly crooned from a Bluetooth speaker someone had balanced on the porch railing. Cierra sat under a patchy strip of shade, her oversized sunglasses hiding the dark hollows beneath her eyes. The warmth of the Georgia sun pressed against her skin like judgment.

“You should really try moving more,” Aunt Sheila said, handing her a plate loaded with macaroni and ribs. “I read an article that said people with those autoimmune things just need to build up their stamina.”

Cierra blinked. “It’s not that simple. Lupus—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Aunt Sheila cut in. “But back in my day, we just walked it off. Pain is just weakness leaving the body, baby.”

She wanted to scream. Instead, Cierra set the plate on the ground beside her untouched and pulled her cardigan tighter around her arms, even though it was nearly 90 degrees.

Her body was a battleground. Her joints ached. Her skin flared with rashes after too much sun. Some days her hands didn’t work right—gripping a pen or opening a bottle felt like climbing a mountain. There were mornings when her legs simply refused to move. And the fatigue—it wasn’t just tiredness. It was bone-deep exhaustion, like she had to swim through concrete to sit up in bed.

Yet every time she tried to explain, her family met her with confusion or unsolicited advice.

“You still on that medicine?” Aunt Sheila’s voice sliced through the buzz of chatter. She plopped down beside Cierra, fanning herself with a paper plate. “You know, you really oughta try yoga. I saw this girl on TikTok—swore her lupus disappeared after she cleaned up her diet and started meditating.”

Cierra forced a smile. “That’s not how it works.”

Aunt Sheila waved her off. “I’m just saying. Your body needs to move. You can’t let yourself stay down. You young—you bounce back.”

Cierra looked at her aunt’s acrylics glinting in the sunlight, imagined how it would feel to explain—again—that her immune system was attacking her own organs. That sometimes her heart beat irregularly just from climbing stairs. That movement wasn’t always an option.

But she said nothing. She was too tired to educate today.

“Hey!” Uncle Royce yelled from the grill. “Cierra, you still drinking all them sodas? I told you—cut that mess out and your body will thank you.”

“I haven’t had soda in months and I can drink them if I want to, doc said so,” she said flatly.

Dana, her cousin with perfect edges and even more perfect opinions, strolled by with a red cup and a sideways smile. “I had a co-worker with something like that. She stopped eating red meat and gluten, and it went into remission. Maybe it’s worth a try?”

Cierra flinched. She hated the word: “something like that.” Lupus wasn’t a category. It was a condition. A war.

She stood up slowly, knees stiff, ignoring the dull heat behind her eyes. The heat meant her body was inflamed again. She shouldn't have even come. But when she skipped family events, people talked. When she showed up, they still talked.

Inside the house, her mother was pulling a pie out of the oven.

“You didn’t eat a thing,” her mother said, not turning around. “You need to keep your strength up.”

“I’m nauseous,” Cierra said. “The meds mess with my stomach.”

“Well, you can’t just waste away, baby,” her mother huffed. “All you do is sleep. You’ve got to fight through it.”

Cierra gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself. “Mama,” she said, quiet but firm, “you keep acting like I’m not trying. Every day I wake up and push through pain you don’t see. I take meds that wreck my body just to slow the disease down. I show up here today when I should’ve stayed home in bed. And all I hear is how I’m not doing enough.”

Her mother turned, lips pursed, eyes unsure. “I just don’t want to see you give up.”

“I’m not giving up,” Cierra whispered. “I’m surviving. But it feels like I have to prove I’m sick every time I walk into a room.”

There was silence. Her mother opened her mouth, then closed it. “I guess... I don’t understand,” she finally said. “You don’t look sick.”

Cierra pulled up the sleeve of her cardigan, revealing the faint purple rash on her arm. “That’s the thing. I hide it so y’all don’t worry. But I’m tired of hiding.”

Her mother didn’t speak. Just stood there, holding the pie, like if she focused hard enough, she could make this conversation go away.

Cierra clenched her jaw. “I’m on steroids, Mama. They make me swell up and shrink depending on the week. I can’t control it.”

Her mother waved a hand. “Don’t be so dramatic. You just need to pray more and get some rest.”

“Mama,” Cierra said softly, placing her palms on the counter. “I have lupus. It’s not the flu. It’s chronic. It’s for life. Rest doesn’t cure it. Prayers don’t stop the inflammation in my organs.”

Her mother turned toward her slowly. “But you don’t look sick.”

Cierra felt the words like a slap.

Because she had learned how to look well. To cover up the scars. To smile when her body screamed. To say, “I’m fine,” even when she wanted to cry. Because if she looked sick—really sick—they would treat her like a stranger. And if she looked well, they refused to believe her.

“I’m tired, Mama,” she said. “Not just from lupus. From having to explain it all the time. From being told I’m lazy. From being treated like I’m weak because I ask for help.”

Her mother’s eyes softened. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“But it still hurts,” Cierra whispered.

They stood in silence, the hum of the fridge filling the room. For once, her mother didn’t have an answer.

She turned to leave, heading toward the door, her cardigan still tight around her.

“Where you going?” her mother called.

“Home,” she said. “To rest. Because I have a chronic illness, not an attitude problem.”

She didn’t say it in anger. She said it as a boundary. As truth.

“I need to rest,” Cierra said. “Not because I’m weak. Because I’m sick. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for that.”

She walked outside, the sun low in the sky now, the laughter behind her like a distant radio station. She made it to her car and sat behind the wheel, letting the air conditioning blast. Her body throbbed in places that had no business hurting. She was exhausted, but it wasn’t the kind sleep could fix.

Her phone buzzed.

Mom: I don’t know how to help you. But I want to try. Can we talk this week? You can show me what you’re dealing with. I’m sorry.

Cierra stared at the message for a long time.

She didn’t respond right away. She wasn’t ready to carry anyone else’s learning curve. But it was a start.

And for the first time in a long time, she felt like someone was finally trying to meet her where she was—rather than drag her somewhere she couldn’t go.

The Gentle Hurt by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Literary Fiction / Lupus

 

The Gentle Hurt

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,219

Jada used to count hugs like stars—small, bright comforts scattered through her day. A good-morning squeeze from her mother, a quick, laughing embrace from her best friend, a warm wraparound from her little brother when she came home late—each one shimmered in her memory like constellations of love. Back then, touch meant safety. It meant being seen, held, and known.

But now, each embrace felt like glass pressed into her skin.

What once offered warmth now summoned a flinch. Even the gentlest touch seemed laced with a hidden threat, a question she didn’t want to answer. Her body, once open to affection, had learned a new language—one of bracing and retreat. Hugs weren’t comfort anymore; they were tests of endurance. She’d smile through them, arms stiff, breath held, waiting for it to be over.

She wasn’t sure when it had changed—only that it had. Maybe it was after the silence between her and her father grew too wide to cross. Or after the betrayal of someone who said he loved her but only loved control. Whatever it was, it left a residue. Now, closeness scraped instead of soothed.

She missed the girl who counted stars.

The morning sunlight filtered through gauzy curtains, bathing the room in a soft gold glow. Jada sat on the edge of her bed, her body still and stiff, as if molded in wax overnight. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached for her robe, the motion sending a sharp jolt through her shoulder.

Downstairs, the aroma of cinnamon toast drifted up. James was cooking again. Ever since the diagnosis, he’d taken to making breakfast every morning, a kind of quiet rebellion against the helplessness he felt. He never said it aloud, but she saw it in the way he hovered, the way his brow furrowed each time she winced.

“Good morning, baby,” he said when she entered the kitchen, a soft smile on his lips. His arms opened without thinking—an invitation that used to be second nature.

She flinched. Just slightly, like a bird sensing a sudden gust of wind.

His arms paused mid-air.

She forced a smile. “Morning.”

“I made your favorite,” he said, slowly letting his arms fall. He busied himself with the toaster, pretending not to notice the space between them.

The silence stretched. Not awkward—just unfamiliar. Like walking into your childhood home and finding the furniture rearranged.

They used to hug all the time. Before. After. During anything. Long hugs, tight ones. Hugs that squeezed the breath out of you. But lupus didn’t just attack her joints—it snuck into her relationships, too. Every time she cried out from a touch meant to comfort, it etched a deeper line between love and pain.

Later that day, her niece Leila came over, bouncing into the living room like a burst of energy. Seven years old and all limbs and questions.

“Auntie Jada!” she squealed and ran forward.

Jada braced herself.

Leila wrapped her arms around Jada’s waist, pressing her cheek into her belly. Jada’s teeth clenched as pain shot through her ribs. Still, she kept her hands gently on Leila’s back, stroking slowly, pretending.

“You okay, Auntie?”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

But later, in the bathroom, she locked the door and leaned over the sink, her breath coming in tight gasps. Her ribs throbbed. Not from the force—Leila had barely touched her—but from the betrayal of her own body.

That night, James tried again.
They sat on the couch, a cushion of silence between them, the flickering TV casting pale shadows across their faces. The documentary played on—something about ancient ruins or endangered birds—neither of them truly watching. The screen was just a distraction, a safe backdrop for the distance they were trying not to name.

His fingers brushed hers.
She didn’t pull away this time.

It was the first contact in days that hadn’t been accidental or carefully avoided. The barest touch, but it lingered.

“I miss hugging you,” he said finally, the words quiet, almost fragile.

She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. Her silence already carried the weight of a thousand unsaid things—the tension that curled in her shoulders, the way her eyes never quite met his anymore, the way she breathed like she was always bracing for impact.

“I feel like I’m not allowed to touch you anymore.”
His voice cracked around the word allowed, as if the intimacy they used to share had become forbidden territory.

“It’s not you,” she whispered.
But the words felt like they were trying to convince both of them.

“I know,” he said. “But it still feels like punishment.”

She turned toward him slowly, as though every movement required effort. “You think I don’t want to be held? That I don’t dream of it?”

He blinked, startled by the ache in her voice.

“Do you know what it’s like,” she continued, her throat tightening, “to fear the very thing that used to make you feel safe? To want someone’s arms around you and flinch when they try?”

His mouth opened, then closed again. What words could he offer to answer pain he couldn’t touch?

He reached out—not to hug, not to fix, but to offer his hand.
An invitation, not a demand.

She looked at it for a long moment. Then, with trembling fingers, she took it.

Their palms pressed together, tentative at first, then tighter. Their fingers laced, anchoring them to the present, to each other.

They sat in silence, not needing to fill it. It wasn’t a hug, but it was something.
A tether. A promise. A fragile bridge between what was and what might still be possible.

Weeks passed. They adapted. The rhythm of their lives shifted—quietly, without ceremony, like furniture slowly rearranged in the night. He stopped reaching for her hand without thinking. Instead, he kissed her forehead, a soft promise that asked for nothing in return.

He learned to read the days with careful eyes: the ones when she winced at sunlight, when even the softest thread of a blanket felt like fire. On those days, he stayed close but not touching, his presence a silent offering.

Other days were better. On those, she allowed his arm to drape gently around her shoulders, their bodies barely touching, as though even kindness had to tiptoe. They held their breath together—her, hoping her body wouldn’t betray her with a sudden ache; him, praying his love wouldn’t become another burden she had to carry.

And then there were the rare, golden days, when the pain seemed to loosen its grip. She would sigh, lean into him slowly, carefully, as if testing a truce. Her head would rest against his chest, her voice a whisper against his shirt: “Don’t squeeze. Just stay.”

He always did.

It wasn’t perfect. There were still sharp edges and unspoken grief, the quiet mourning of a life redefined. But it was real—rooted in patience, in choosing each other without the fanfare of romance novels.

And in that steadiness, in the small, sacred acts of accommodation and understanding, the hurt softened. Not gone, not forgotten. Just... bearable.

Because love, when it doesn’t try to fix or rescue, but simply remains, has a way of making even pain feel a little less cruel.

Strands of Her by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Horror

 

Strands of Her

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,963

Kia never intended to buy anything from the street vendor. She was only killing time between the bus and her night shift at the Waffle House. But the velvet-lined table, draped in a sheer purple cloth and surrounded by mannequin heads with cascading waves, stopped her.

The wigs shimmered unnaturally under the flickering lamplight of the abandoned parking lot. Jet black coils, honeyed ringlets, tight 4C curls, bone-straight silk—each one more beautiful than the last. Real hair. Human hair.

Kia’s own hair had been falling out in clumps since her last relaxer turned wrong. She’d been tying scarves tighter and tighter, avoiding mirrors. The ache of self-consciousness clung to her like a second skin. But these wigs? They were radiant. Regal.

“You got a good eye,” the vendor said.

Kia hadn’t seen her approach. The woman was tiny, wrapped in a fur-trimmed coat, her smile slinking beneath hollow cheekbones. Her voice sounded like a cough halfway through a cigarette.

“They come from all over,” she said, gesturing to the display. “India. Brazil. Nigeria. Even some real local pieces. Pure. Untouched. No heat. No dye. Hair full of memory.”

“Memory?” Kia repeated.

“Everything we are stays in the strand,” the woman said, lifting a long, dark curl between her fingers. “Energy. Story. Soul. We only give what the head no longer needs.”

Kia squinted. “Wait, you mean—these are from dead people?”

The woman smiled wider. “Don’t they always say, beauty is eternal?”

Kia should’ve walked away. She should’ve laughed, called the woman crazy. But her hand moved before her brain. It hovered over a curly bob with a deep side part and a shine like oil on water. It was soft. Too soft.

“How much?” Kia asked.

The woman held up five fingers. “But once it’s yours, it’s yours. Can’t give it back.”

Kia paid. It was all the cash she had left for the week, but she didn’t care. Something about the wig pulled her. A magnetism that felt warm, familiar. She took it home and, under the yellow glow of her bathroom light, she placed it on her head.

The fit was perfect. Uncannily so. The curls framed her face like they belonged there. She turned her head left, then right. Ran her fingers through the strands. It didn’t even feel like a wig. It felt… natural.

She wore it out the next day.

And people stared.

But not in the usual way, not like they were judging her for being tired or Black or poor. They stared like she glowed. Like she’d stepped out of a magazine. At the Waffle House, her manager stammered when he asked her to wait tables instead of working the register. Customers tipped extra. Even James, her regular who never said more than “scattered, smothered, covered,” looked at her like she’d grown wings.

Kia felt beautiful. That night, she ran her fingers through the curls and whispered, “Thank you.”

She swore the wig pulsed. Like it heard her.

Then, deep in the quiet of her apartment, a sound slithered through the air. A whisper. Faint, like breath against her ear.

“You’re welcome.”

Two nights later, she started dreaming.

She was underground. Cold. Dirt in her throat. Someone was screaming, but the sound never left their mouth. Nails scratched the inside of a coffin lid. The air was thick—choking—with decay and... grief.

Kia woke up gagging, clutching her throat as if she could still feel the weight of the soil pressing in. Her sheets were damp with sweat, clinging to her body like a second skin. She sat up, rubbing her arms, shivering despite the heat in her apartment.

Then she saw it.

The wig.

It sat on her nightstand exactly where she had left it. But it wasn’t the same.

It looked longer.

The curls were tighter, richer, like they had been freshly coiled overnight. Darker, too, though she hadn’t washed it, hadn’t even touched it since tossing it aside two days ago.

With slow, reluctant fingers, she picked it up.

It was damp.

Heavy with moisture, as if it had been left out in a storm. Droplets clung to the ends of the strands, slipping down onto her fingers. And when she turned it over, she saw something caught in the netting.

A fingernail.

Lavender polish, chipped and cracked.

Kia gasped and dropped the wig, stumbling back like it had bitten her. Her scalp tingled, burned with phantom fingers, as if the wig had been trying to creep back on while she slept.

No. No. It was a prank. Had to be.

Maybe the vendor used recycled burial hair from morticians or something. Maybe this was what the lady meant by “local.”

Still, she wore it again.

She didn’t want to—but the mirror begged her to.

When it was on, she wasn’t just Kia anymore. She was stunning. Radiant. Magnetic. Even her voice changed—silkier, smoother, a sound that made people lean in closer, listen harder. Men followed her home with wide, wet eyes, tripping over their own feet to be near her. Her ex called after six months of silence, his voice trembling when he said her name.

Like he couldn’t believe he had ever let her go.

But something changed.

The dreams got worse.

The woman from the grave began speaking. Whispering. Pleading.

Find me.
Fix me.
Free me.

Kia’s hands moved in her sleep. She woke up one night digging into her mattress, fingernails split and bloodied, clawing at something that wasn’t there.

She couldn’t eat. Couldn’t rest.

And the wig—it moved.

She saw it crawl once, inching across the floor like it had tiny legs, dragging itself toward her.

That was the final straw.

She grabbed it with shaking hands, stuffed it into a trash bag, and dragged it outside. The dumpster behind her apartment reeked of old food, but she didn’t care. She shoved the bag in, tied it tight, and set it on fire.

The flames devoured the hair, twisting it like burning flesh. The air filled with the stench of rot and something worse—something sweet and spoiled, like decay masked by perfume. Kia covered her mouth, eyes stinging.

It was over.

She slept better that night.

But in the morning, it was back.

Sitting on her dresser.

Damp. Perfect.

And this time, there was dirt under its lace front.

Kia went back to the lot. The vendor was gone.

In her place was a small girl, maybe nine, hair shaved down to the scalp, sitting cross-legged on the same velvet cloth. Her eyes were too old for her body.

“She said you’d be back,” the girl mumbled. “She don’t sell to people twice. You ain’t supposed to wear the hair more than three nights. After that, it gets hungry.”

Kia trembled. “Whose hair was it?”

The girl tilted her head. “Used to be a preacher’s daughter. Died in ’92. Buried with her Bible and her mama’s ring. But they dug her up. She was fresh.”

Kia’s mouth went dry. “What do I do?”

The girl didn’t answer. She just stared. And then, almost too softly to hear, she said, “She wants her face back.”

She tried to swallow, but her throat wouldn’t cooperate. “What do you mean, her face?”

The girl didn’t blink. Her eyes, dark and depthless, stayed locked on Kia’s own, unrelenting. “The preacher’s daughter. She wants back what was hers.”

Kia’s stomach lurched. She had thought the hair was just… hair. An extension, a weave, something exotic but harmless. But when she had pinned it into her braids that first night, she had felt something—an odd tingling along her scalp, like the strands were whispering against her skin.

And the dreams.

A girl standing at the foot of Kia’s bed, face blurred like smeared paint, mouth moving in silent rage. A hand reaching—no, clawing—at Kia’s head, fingers sinking into her skull like roots into soil.

Kia squeezed her eyes shut. “I—I can take it out,” she whispered. “I’ll burn it. I’ll—”

The girl shook her head. “It don’t work like that.”

The wind picked up, rustling the abandoned lot, sending dried leaves skittering across the cracked pavement. Kia shivered. “Then what do I do?”

The girl pushed herself to her feet, slow and deliberate. She was small, but her presence was heavy, as if something larger lurked just beneath her skin.

“You give her back what she lost,” the girl said finally.

Kia’s pulse pounded. “And if I don’t?”

The girl’s lips barely moved, but the words cut through the cooling air like a blade.

“Then she takes it.”

Kia’s breath gasped, and she took a stumbling step backward. The evening air had turned thick, pressing against her skin like damp wool. She hadn’t noticed before, but the lot smelled strange—like turned earth and something sweeter beneath it, something wrong.

That night, Kia locked the wig in the freezer, double-bagged. She told herself it was just paranoia, that the strange whispers she’d heard when she wore it were only in her head. Still, she made sure to push it behind the frozen peas and the half-empty tub of ice cream, as if burying it beneath layers of frost would silence whatever had been murmuring against her scalp.

She wrapped her scarf tightly around her braids and climbed into bed, forcing herself to scroll through her phone, watch a mindless show—anything to keep her thoughts from spiraling.

But at 3:33 a.m., something whispered beneath her floorboards.

“You borrowed my beauty. Now give me your body.”

The voice was soft but insistent, slipping between the cracks of her consciousness like a draft of cold air. Kia’s limbs went stiff. Her breath hitched in her throat. She tried to turn her head, to move even a finger, but her body refused.

The air in her room thickened, heavy with the scent of lavender and something else—something damp, something rotten. Then came the pressure. A slow, deliberate weight against her forehead. Cold. Wet. The touch of lace.

No—

The wig.

It pressed down over her scalp, the icy fibers slithering into place. Curls coiled and twisted around her throat, tightening with a slow, merciless patience.

Kia’s chest seized. Her vision darkened. She could feel the weight of the grave in the air, the pull of something unseen but hungry.

Her last breath bloomed against her lips, tinged with lavender and dirt.

The next morning, Kia stood in the mirror, perfectly still. But her eyes looked wrong. They were too far apart, almost as if her face had been subtly rearranged overnight. Her skin was unnaturally smooth, stretched taut over her bones, reflecting the soft morning light in a way that made her seem more doll than human. And her smile… practiced. Too perfect, too precise, like it had been sculpted rather than formed by emotion.

She reached up, fingers trembling, and brushed the wig gently. The strands were soft, silken, warmer than she remembered them being when she first picked it up. It settled on her scalp like a second skin, whispering secrets she couldn't quite understand. It was hers now. Forever.

Outside, beneath the ancient oak, the girl moved with quiet precision, setting up the deep crimson velvet cloth over the wooden stand. The morning mist curled around her ankles as she placed another mannequin head atop its perch, careful, reverent. A new offering. Another crown.

Her hands hovered over the freshly adorned mannequin, fingers barely grazing the strands of hair before she murmured the familiar words:

“Hair full of memory,” she whispered.

She turned slightly, her gaze lifting to the house, to the window where Kia stood frozen. A knowing smile curled her lips.

“Only give what the head no longer needs.”

Through My Fingers by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Anti-Romance

 

Through My Fingers

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,755

The first time Michael saw Naomi, she was slipping between crowds like smoke, her dark curls catching the light of the setting sun. He had been leaving a coffee shop, distracted by a voicemail he didn’t want to hear—his mother’s voice, clipped and urgent, reminding him of a dinner he had no intention of attending—when she passed him. Just a whisper of sandalwood and something sweeter, lingering in the air like the afterthought of a dream.

By the time he turned, she was already across the street, her laughter spilling into the dusk. It wasn’t the loud kind that demanded attention, but something softer, a private amusement shared with the person beside her. Michael couldn’t hear what was said, but the way she tipped her head back slightly, the way the neon signs reflected in her eyes, made him wish he had. The moment stretched—too brief, too fragile—and then she was gone, swallowed by the shifting tide of pedestrians.

For weeks, she existed in glimpses. A silhouette framed against the glow of a bookstore window, fingers drifting over the spines of novels she never bought. Once, he watched her pull a book from the shelf, flipping through the pages with an absentminded curiosity, only to slide it back into place and leave without looking back. Another time, he caught sight of her slipping into a jazz lounge, her figure vanishing behind a closing door just as a slow trumpet began to play. He lingered outside longer than he meant to, listening to the music she was lost in.

She was an echo, a flicker in the corner of his eye, always half a step ahead. A name he almost asked about but never did.

Then, suddenly, she was real.

They met at a party neither of them wanted to be at—he, dragged by a coworker who insisted he “needed to get out more”; she, indulging a cousin who had already abandoned her in favor of someone new. The air inside was thick with bass-heavy music, perfume, and the mingling scents of expensive cologne and spilled cocktails.

Michael had been nursing a drink he didn’t want, scanning the room for an excuse to leave, when he spotted her. Naomi, leaning against the balcony railing, the city stretching behind her in glittering indifference. The amber liquid in her glass caught the glow of a nearby lantern, casting warm reflections against her skin. She didn’t look bored, exactly—more like she existed just outside of everything happening around her, untouched.

For a long moment, he only watched. Not out of hesitation, but because she looked like she belonged there, in that space between presence and absence, as if the world shifted just slightly to accommodate her. And then, without turning, she spoke.

“You’re always looking.”

Her voice was low, threaded with quiet amusement, as if she had been waiting for him to say something first and, when he hadn’t, decided to break the silence herself.

His throat tightened. “At what?”

She tilted her head slightly, finally meeting his gaze, and smirked. “At me.”

A slow heat crept up his neck, but he held her gaze. He wanted to say something clever, something that would make her stay in this moment a little longer, but all he could think about was every time he had seen her before—half-formed memories of a woman who had always been just out of reach.

Michael hadn’t realized he’d been chasing her until he finally caught her.

Naomi was not a woman who could be held.

Some nights, she pressed against him, her body fitting against his as if she had always belonged there. Her fingers traced the curve of his collarbone, delicate and unhurried, like she was memorizing the shape of him. She whispered about constellations, their Greek names rolling off her tongue like poetry, her breath warm against his skin. Orion, cursed by the gods. Cassiopeia, punished for her vanity. She spoke of myths like they were memories, as if she had lived them herself, and Michael listened, entranced, as though holding onto every word might keep her from fading.

Other nights, she disappeared. Days would pass without a word. His messages sat unread, his calls rang unanswered. Then, just as suddenly, she’d return—slipping through his door with the scent of rain in her hair, pressing a fleeting kiss to his cheek as if she had never been gone. If he asked where she had been, she would only smile, shifting the conversation elsewhere. You wouldn’t believe the dream I had last night. Do you ever think about leaving the city? She existed in the spaces between presence and absence, and Michael, despite everything, let her.

He told himself it was enough. That he understood her silences as well as her laughter. That he could accept the way she vanished, the way she never truly belonged to any moment for long.

But understanding something doesn’t mean you can live with it.

One night, she stirred beside him, her breath soft against his shoulder. He had been half-asleep, lulled by the steady rhythm of her breathing, when her voice, quiet but certain, cut through the darkness.

“Michael,” she whispered. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

His eyes opened. He turned his head, but she was already staring at the ceiling, her expression unreadable in the dim light.

“What do you mean?”

She exhaled, the sound barely more than a sigh. “I think some people are ghosts before they die. Drifting, unable to stay anywhere for too long. Always belonging to something else.”

Michael reached for her hand, fingers brushing against hers. She let him, but her grip was loose, barely there, like the ghost she claimed to be.

“Is that what you are?” he asked.

Naomi didn’t answer. But she didn’t have to.

It unraveled slowly, like the fraying edges of a memory he wasn’t ready to let go of.

The first time she left without answering his calls, he told himself she just needed space. He remembered thinking that everyone had their own battles, their own moments of retreat. It wasn’t the first time she had withdrawn, and he could almost convince himself that it was normal. They’d been together long enough for him to know that Naomi had a way of disappearing into herself when the world became too loud. He could give her that, he told himself. Time.

The second time, the silence stretched longer. His messages went unread, his calls unanswered, but he convinced himself it was just a phase. Maybe she had gotten busy, maybe she was dealing with something she didn’t want to burden him with. He tried to fill the empty space with rational thoughts, telling himself it was temporary. But doubt began to gnaw at him, that small flicker of unease that had once been a whisper now turning into a murmur of worry.

By the third time, he stopped calling. The quiet in the apartment where they used to share small moments felt heavier now. Each unanswered call made it harder to convince himself that this was just another bump in the road. He felt like he was losing her in pieces, and the weight of it pressed down on him, settling in his chest like a stone. He let the silence stretch further, hoping she would break it, but she never did. And in the stillness, he realized he had already given up trying to reach her.

One night, standing outside her apartment, he knocked twice. Then a third time. His knuckles rapped against the door, but it was as if he was knocking on the very thing that separated them—time, space, the shifting currents of something he couldn’t grasp. The hallway smelled of rain and dust, the air thick with the hush of something already lost. His breath came in shallow, measured intervals as he waited for the sound of footsteps, the turning of the lock.

But there was nothing.

He knew she was inside. He knew she wouldn’t open the door. He could almost hear her breathing on the other side, could feel the weight of her presence, the distance between them. He waited, hoping for some kind of sign, some gesture that would tell him she hadn’t completely disappeared. But the moments stretched, and still, there was no answer.

Eventually, he turned away, the sound of his own footsteps echoing in the hallway. It was a hollow kind of walk, one that felt as if he had already said goodbye. But he hadn’t—he hadn’t had the chance.

The last time he saw her, it wasn’t a goodbye. It wasn’t anything. Naomi had stood in his doorway, half-turned toward the night, her expression unreadable, a shadow clinging to her face that he couldn’t place. He wanted to ask her where she was going, what had happened, what had changed, but the words caught in his throat. He had never been good at asking the right questions when it mattered most.

She hesitated, her hand on the doorframe, fingers almost gripping it, as if she was weighing something heavier than the night between them. Then, without a word, she left.

Days later, when he finally went looking for her, she was gone. Her number disconnected, her apartment emptied, the space she once filled now vacant and silent. The emptiness gnawed at him, each step he took through the city streets feeling more like a search for a ghost than a person.

The only thing left was a note slipped beneath his door. It was simple, almost too simple for the weight it carried.

"You were the only thing that ever made me want to stay."

Michael read it twice. Then once more. The words blurred together as his eyes stung. There was nothing more to it—no explanation, no apology, no closure.

The ink at the end was smudged, as if she had almost changed her mind, as if, for a fleeting moment, she wanted to be held. She had been right there, just on the edge of turning back, of letting herself be caught. But she never did.

As if, for one brief moment, she remembered what it felt like to be wanted, to be loved. But that wasn’t enough to hold her. Naomi was the wind—felt, but never kept. Her presence was like the air itself—always around him, but impossible to hold, to contain. And love, however deep, however honest, had never been enough to keep her from drifting away.

Until the Last Bloom by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Contemporary / Literary Fiction

 

Until the Last Bloom

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,301

Lena knew something was wrong when Eric stopped reaching for her in the mornings.

For years, she had woken to the comforting ritual of his warmth curling toward her, his arm draping lazily over her waist, his breath soft against her shoulder. Even when he was half-asleep, his touch had been instinctual—an unspoken promise that, no matter what, he was there. But lately, that quiet reassurance had faded.

At first, she convinced herself it was exhaustion. He was getting older. Everyone slowed down eventually. But she couldn’t ignore the other signs. The way he hesitated when buttoning his shirts, his fingers fumbling over the small plastic discs. How he paused before signing his name at the grocery store, his grip uncertain, letters wobbling. The way his hands sometimes shook when he reached for his coffee, as if the effort of holding on had suddenly become too much.

This morning, the change was even starker. He didn’t just move slowly—he didn’t move at all.

He lay still, eyes fixed on the ceiling, his chest rising and falling in a slow, deliberate rhythm, like he had to concentrate just to keep breathing.

“Lazy morning?” she teased, brushing a hand over his arm, hoping to stir some reaction, some flicker of the man she knew.

It took him a few seconds to respond. He blinked, as if surfacing from somewhere far away. “Guess so.”

The pause was long enough to make her heart clench.

She waited for him to stretch, to yawn, to throw the blankets off with his usual half-hearted grumble about getting old. But he didn’t move. His hands, usually restless in the mornings, remained still on the bedspread, fingers lightly curled.

A chill settled in her stomach.

She forced a smile. “I’ll make coffee.”

Usually, by the time she poured his cup, she would hear his slow, steady footsteps behind her. He’d come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck—one of those soft, lingering kisses that made her forget, for just a moment, the creeping weight of time.

But this morning, the bed stayed full.

And the kitchen stayed quiet.

The doctor said the words gently, but they still landed like a stone in Lena’s chest.

Parkinson’s disease. Progressive.

She barely heard the rest—the explanations, the treatment plans, the slow unraveling of certainty. The room felt too small, the walls pressing in, the air thick with something unspoken.

Eric sat beside her, hands clasped in his lap, nodding like he had already made peace with it. As if this diagnosis was just another thing to endure, another battle to fight quietly. But Lena knew better. She had seen the way he hesitated before lifting his fork, how he’d flex his fingers under the table, frustration flickering across his face when they didn’t move the way he wanted. She had noticed how he no longer drove at night, how he gripped the steering wheel a little too tightly during the day.

He had known. He had known, and he hadn’t told her.

Because saying it out loud made it real.

She spent the rest of the appointment in a daze, nodding at the doctor’s words but barely processing them. By the time they got home, Eric looked exhausted. She should have told him to rest. Instead, she went straight to the kitchen and started cooking.

She made his favorite meal—pot roast, cornbread, sweet tea. The kind of food that had always made everything feel a little more bearable, like something warm and steady to hold onto.

But when she set the plate in front of him, he barely glanced at it.

“You should eat,” she said, trying to keep her voice even.

“I’m not hungry.”

The words came softly, but they might as well have been a slap.

Lena set her fork down with a sharp click against the plate. “Eric.”

He rubbed his temple, already looking exhausted by the conversation. “Lena, please.”

“Please what?”

“Don’t do this.”

She stiffened. “Do what?”

His sigh was deep and slow. “Look at me like I’m disappearing.”

Her throat tightened. She forced herself to meet his eyes, but she wasn’t sure what he wanted her to see.

She swallowed hard. “Aren’t you?”

The silence between them was heavy, stretching across the table, filling every space that used to be easy.

Then, finally, he moved. His hand slid across the table, slow and deliberate, until it rested over hers. His grip was weaker than before—less certainty, less weight—but he still held on.

“We have today,” he said quietly. “That’s enough.”

Lena turned her hand over, curling her fingers around his, squeezing just a little tighter.

As if holding on could keep time from moving forward.

Spring came hesitantly—buds pushing through the soil, cautious and unsure, as if afraid winter might change its mind. The air still carried a lingering chill, but the sunlight lingered a little longer each day, stretching golden fingers across their porch in the evenings.

Eric sat outside most afternoons, wrapped in a blanket despite the warming air. His movements had slowed, and his body betrayed him in small, quiet ways—shaking hands, stiff muscles, the effort it took just to stand. But he still came to the porch, still watched the world unfold around him.

Lena was in the garden, her hands buried in the cool, damp earth. She liked the feel of it, the way it anchored her, made her a part of something bigger. She worked in steady rhythms—dig, plant, press, water—breathing in the scent of fresh soil, new life. Here, in this space, things made sense. Seeds became sprouts, sprouts became blooms. There was no hesitation in nature, no fear of what came next.

Eric’s voice broke the quiet. “You think the flowers will bloom early this year?”

Lena sat back on her heels, wiping dirt on her jeans. “Depends.”

“On what?”

She finally looked at him, really looked. His face was thinner than it had been last spring, the sharp lines of age and illness more pronounced. But his eyes—the same soft blue they had always been—still held that familiar glint of mischief, of knowing her too well.

“On whether you plan on sticking around to see,” she said.

His lips quirked, slow and steady. “You think I’d miss it?”

The way he said it—so casual, so certain—made something inside her tighten. She wanted to believe him. Wanted to pretend that the tremor in his voice, the fatigue in his shoulders, meant nothing. That the seasons would stretch on indefinitely, bringing more springs, more blooms, more nights like this.

That evening, they stayed on the porch, watching the sky burn gold and violet before surrendering to darkness. The quiet between them wasn’t heavy—it was comfortable, lived-in, like an old favorite song played at just the right volume.

Lena reached for his hand, threading her fingers through his. His grip was looser than before, the strength fading little by little. But he still held on.

She exhaled. “Do you remember the first time we sat on this porch?”

Eric hummed, thinking. “Yeah. You told me you didn’t think you belonged here.”

Lena smiled, the memory blooming in her mind. “And you told me I’d always belong, no matter what.”

His fingers twitched against hers, a whisper of a touch. “Still true.”

She looked down at their hands, tracing the lines of his palm, feeling the faint, uneven pulse beneath his skin. She knew the day would come when his hands wouldn’t reach for hers at all. When his body would betray him in ways neither of them were ready for.

But not tonight.

Tonight, he was still here.

And tonight, that was enough.

The Marriage That Wasn't by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Anti-Romance / Literary Fiction

 

The Marriage That Wasn't

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,208

It was 2:07 AM when Tamara lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, her breath coming slow and measured. The bedroom clock ticked—a sharp, rhythmic sound that drilled into the silence. Beside her, Greg’s back was turned, his breathing steady. Asleep. Or pretending.

She used to reach for him in the night, nestling into the warmth of his body. Now, the space between them stretched wide, a silent, invisible trench neither dared to cross.

A floorboard creaked somewhere in the house. Outside, the wind rattled the window, but Greg didn't stir. Tamara swallowed. Had it been this way for months? A year? She tried to remember the last time they had spoken about something real—something beyond schedules, bills, the weather. She turned her head slightly, watching the steady rise and fall of his shoulders.

"Greg?" Her voice barely broke the stillness.

No answer.

She exhaled, pressing her lips together, then turned onto her side, mirroring his position. They were two bodies lying inches apart, yet the distance between them was immeasurable.

Once, they had talked about everything—how he liked his coffee black but sometimes added cream when he wanted to feel indulgent, how she hated the way the city sounded at night but loved the smell of rain on pavement. Now, silence was their only routine.

A lump formed in her throat. She closed her eyes and listened to the tick of the clock.

2:08 AM.

The night stretched ahead, long and empty.

By morning, Greg was already in the kitchen, standing by the counter, pouring his coffee into the travel mug Tamara had given him two Christmases ago. The navy-blue ceramic had dulled with time, scratches along the handle, a faint chip near the rim. It used to be his favorite—he once said it felt "just right" in his hand. Now, he never acknowledged it. Just like her.

The coffee machine hissed as it dispensed the last drops, filling the silence. Tamara lingered in the doorway, watching him move with mechanical efficiency. No pause, no glance in her direction. He didn’t say good morning. Didn’t ask if she wanted any.

She rubbed her arms. "Don’t forget—the light bill's due tomorrow."

Greg zipped up his coat, eyes on his phone. "I won’t."

That was it. Their daily exchange. Factual. Transactional. Cold.

Tamara clenched her jaw, swallowing back the words that burned at her throat. Ask me how I slept. Tell me you love me. Say anything real. But she already knew how this would go. Every time she reached for more, Greg would stiffen, his face turning to stone, eyes flickering with impatience—like she was an obligation instead of a wife.

She had tried once. Sat across from him at the dinner table, hands curled around her untouched plate, voice shaking as she said, I miss you. Told him how the silence felt heavier than any fight, how she wanted to be more than two people coexisting under the same roof.

He nodded, distracted. Took a bite of his food. "I’ll try harder."

That was six months ago. Nothing changed. Nothing ever changed.

Tamara handled the groceries, the bills, the doctor’s appointments, the house repairs. Greg handled his job, his phone, and occasionally, when the overflowing trash became unbearable, he’d take out a bag—always with a heavy sigh, as if it were some grand sacrifice.

When her mother got sick, Tamara spent sleepless nights coordinating with doctors, filling out paperwork, and making sure her mother had everything she needed. Greg never asked how she was holding up. He never even offered to drive her to the hospital. But when his car broke down, his call came in the middle of her work meeting, urgent and impatient.

“I need you to pick me up.” No hello. No Are you busy?

She whispered an apology to her boss and grabbed her keys.

By the time she got there, he was pacing outside the auto shop, phone in hand, barely acknowledging her as he slid into the passenger seat.

“Gonna be expensive,” he grumbled. “They say the alternator’s shot.”

She waited for him to say something else. How was your day? Are you okay? Anything. But the silence stretched, thick and heavy.

Tamara used to believe love was about shared burdens—two people walking side by side, lifting together, making life easier for one another. But this? This wasn’t sharing.

This was her carrying everything while he walked ahead, hands free.

Tamara leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, watching Greg scroll through his phone. His face was bathed in the cold glow of the screen, eyes skimming whatever was more interesting than her.

“Greg,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “Do you even like me anymore?”

His thumb paused mid-scroll. He looked up, blinking as if she had spoken in a language he no longer understood.

“Why would you ask that?”

She let out a breath, pressing her nails into her palm. “Because I feel invisible. Like I could disappear, and you wouldn’t notice.”

He sighed—deep and exasperated—rubbing his temples like she had handed him a chore. “Tam, I’m tired. Work is exhausting. Can we not do this tonight?”

She had heard that before. She would hear it again.

The silence settled, thick and unmoving.

That night, as Greg lay beside her, his back to her as always, Tamara stared at the ceiling, listening to the hum of the refrigerator down the hall. The bed beneath her felt like stone. The space between them, an ever-expanding abyss.

Once, marriage had felt like an unspoken promise—of warmth, of partnership, of carrying the weight of life together. Now, it was a contract, binding her to a role that had lost all meaning. 

She turned on her side, staring at his unmoving silhouette. The man who had once memorized the way she took her tea now barely registered her presence.

As the clock struck 2:07 AM again, the truth settled in her bones.

She wasn’t in a marriage. She was in servitude.

And as she whispered, “I can’t do this anymore,” the only response was the sound of Greg’s steady, oblivious breathing.

Maybe that was answer enough.

The morning after Tamara whispered her truth into the dark, something in her shifted. Not all at once, but like the first crack in a dam.

Greg went through his usual motions—shower, coffee, keys jingling in his palm—without noticing the packed suitcase by the door. Without seeing her sitting at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a coffee mug she didn’t bother to sip from.

"I paid the light bill," he muttered, glancing at his phone.

She exhaled, more tired than angry now. "That’s not enough, Greg. It never was."

He looked up then, his brow creasing. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Tamara pushed the mug away, stood, and grabbed the handle of her suitcase. "It means I’m done carrying this marriage alone."

For the first time in years, his mask of indifference faltered. But it was too late. Tamara had already walked to the door, already felt the relief blooming in her chest.

She stepped outside into the crisp morning air. And for the first time in a long time, she felt weightless.

The Fine Print by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Anti-Romance

 

The Fine Print

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,187

Naya’s fingers curled tightly around the divorce papers, the crisp edges pressing into her skin. The weight of them felt heavier than it should have, as if they carried the full burden of the past two years. She could feel the sting of the paper against her palm, sharp and unyielding—much like the reality she had spent too long ignoring.

The courtroom was cold—too cold—but maybe that was fitting. A place like this wasn’t built for comfort. It was built for endings. Contracts dissolved. Assets divided. Promises reduced to legal jargon and signatures on a page.

She inhaled slowly, resisting the urge to rub her arms for warmth. The fluorescent lighting buzzed faintly above her, casting a harsh glow over the polished mahogany table that separated her from the man who had once vowed to love her.

Across from her, Jordan sat with the same unshaken confidence that had once drawn her in. His suit was crisp, tailored to perfection, the dark fabric smooth as if not even the weight of a failed marriage could wrinkle it. His posture was relaxed, one arm draped over the chair, his fingers tapping idly against the table as if he were merely waiting for a business proposal to be finalized.

Maybe, for him, that’s all this had ever been.

Naya’s stomach twisted, but she kept her face impassive. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her falter.

Her lawyer cleared his throat, his voice steady and deliberate. “Ms. Jenkins is requesting full control of her assets and a clean break—no financial ties.”

For the first time, Jordan hesitated. It was subtle—the briefest tightening of his jaw, the faintest flicker of something in his eyes. Surprise? Annoyance? Maybe even the first stirrings of regret.

Good.

Naya had spent too much time doubting herself, too many nights wondering if she had misread the signs, if she had overreacted, if maybe—just maybe—he had loved her after all.

But today?

Today, she wasn’t the one being played.

Two years ago, she had believed in forever.

Jordan had swept her off her feet with an ease that felt effortless, as if loving her required no thought, no hesitation—only instinct. He had known exactly what to say, exactly how to look at her, exactly when to touch her in a way that made her feel special, chosen. Like fate had led her to him.

Weekend trips to Miami, candlelit dinners at rooftop restaurants, whispered promises beneath city lights—each moment had been carefully curated, each grand gesture leaving her breathless. She had thought it was love.

She had thought he was love.

When he proposed, slipping the ring onto her finger with a dazzling smile, she had felt safe. Secure in the knowledge that she was stepping into a lifetime of partnership. She had said yes, not just to the man in front of her, but to the future she thought they were building together.

But real love wasn’t conditional.

Real love didn’t come with fine print.

The red flags had been there, small but insistent, disguised as care.

Merging finances will make things easier, Naya. Trust me.
You don’t have to worry about the details—I’ve got it handled.
We’re a team, we're all we have. What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is ours.

Except ours had always meant his.

At first, it had been little things. He would call the shots on where they lived, how they budgeted, which investments made “the most sense.” He had framed it as efficiency, a way to ensure they were on the same page financially. She had wanted to believe him.

Then, after her mother passed and she inherited the estate, the shift had been subtle—but undeniable.

Jordan had stopped asking. He made decisions without her input. He signed documents without her seeing them first. She would find out about transactions after the fact—her name attached to things she had never approved.

The mortgage had been the final straw. A house bought under her name, without her knowledge, yet somehow Jordan had control over the paperwork. When she had discovered it, nausea had twisted in her gut.

She had confronted him, heart pounding, the accusations flying out before she could stop them.

Jordan had barely looked up from his laptop, sighing as he rubbed his temples. “Naya, don’t be dramatic. This is how marriage works.”

No remorse. No concern. No attempt to reassure her that she had misunderstood.

Just a quiet, matter-of-fact confirmation that to him, marriage wasn’t about love. It was strategy.

And now that she was pulling out of the deal?

He didn’t even seem surprised.

Naya forced herself back to the present.

She could feel the weight of the divorce papers pressing into her palms, the thick stack of legal documents holding the finality of everything she had endured. Two years of deception, of manipulation, of watching herself become smaller while Jordan took up more space. But now, the weight wasn’t suffocating. It wasn’t crushing her anymore.

It was just there. A fact. A reminder of what she had survived.

She inhaled slowly, steadying herself as she lifted her gaze to meet Jordan’s. He was watching her, his expression unreadable. But she knew that look—she had seen it before. It was the same one he had worn whenever he was about to convince her, persuade her, turn the situation in his favor. The same quiet confidence that had once made her believe he was right, that she was overreacting, that she just needed to trust him.

But she wasn’t that woman anymore.

Jordan leaned forward, lowering his voice like this was some intimate negotiation instead of the end of a marriage. “Naya, be reasonable. We built a life together.”

She exhaled softly, tilting her head. She didn’t need to raise her voice. She didn’t need to argue. The truth was simple.

“No,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I built a life. You just lived off it.”

A flicker of something passed through his expression. Annoyance? Resentment? For the first time, his control was slipping, and Naya saw it in the way his fingers tightened around the pen.

There it is.

Control had always been his currency, the foundation of his power. He had spent years making sure she felt dependent on him, uncertain without him. He had always been the one holding the pen, the one making the decisions.

But now?

He was bankrupt.

Her lawyer slid the final document across the table. “Sign, and we can all move on.”

Jordan hesitated. His fingers flexed around the pen, his jaw tightening just slightly. The silence stretched between them, thick with the weight of his stalled power. This wasn’t how he had planned things to go.

Naya could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. He had expected resistance, sure, but he had also expected her to waver. To falter. To let the past cloud her judgment just long enough for him to find a new angle, a new way to pull her back in.

But Naya?

She had already decided.

She wasn’t his transaction anymore.

Glass Slippers in the Magic City by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Contemporary

 

Glass Slippers in the Magic City

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,201

Ella Mae Brown sat at the old wooden table in the back of Delores’s boutique, the quiet hum of the sewing machine accompanying her as she worked on a design that felt like a quiet prayer to her mother. Sylvia Brown, renowned for her seamstress artistry in Birmingham’s Black creative circles, had sewn magic into every stitch. Now, Ella’s hands, once trembling with the weight of grief, worked with precision and a growing sense of purpose, stitching her own dreams into fabric—a subtle homage to her mother’s legacy. But despite her talent, her designs were hidden, unclaimed, overshadowed by the suffocating walls of Delores’s resentment.

“Ella Mae,” Delores’s sharp voice cut through the silence, drawing Ella’s attention from the sketch before her. “Those dresses won’t finish themselves.”

Ella’s chest tightened, but she nodded without a word, pushing down the frustration that clawed at her. She stood and walked to the front of the boutique, where her cousins, Regina and Portia, twirled in the latest outfits, eyeing themselves in the mirror with smug satisfaction.

“Ella,” Regina scoffed. “You really think you’re cut out for more than this? Stick to designing for us. You’ll never make it anywhere else.”

Portia smirked, her voice dripping with disdain. “Who needs dreams when you’ve got a steady gig? You should be grateful.”

Ella swallowed her retort, her stomach twisting. Her designs—her passion—kept the boutique afloat, yet Delores dismissed them as mere tools to maintain her own fading glory. Ella’s talent, her voice, was something Delores had never allowed her to claim.

When the Young Magic Makers Gala was announced, the opportunity felt like a calling. The gala promised mentorship from a legendary Black designer, a full scholarship, and startup funding to launch her own line. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of—a chance to step out of the shadows and into her own light.

But Delores’s words crushed that hope before it had a chance to take root.

“No, Ella. I need you focused on Regina and Portia. They’re the ones who matter, not you.”

Ella’s heart cracked, but she nodded, the weight of defeat sinking in. Yet the spark inside her refused to dim. She had come too far to let anyone dictate her future.

Late one evening, after the shop closed, Ella slipped away to Miss Violet’s tiny seamstress shop on the outskirts of town. Miss Violet, an eccentric elderly woman, was known for crafting bridal gowns that were said to “bless” the brides who wore them. But what few knew was how deeply Miss Violet understood the struggle of creative souls, especially those who had been denied their rightful place.

“Sit, child,” Miss Violet urged, her voice as warm and inviting as a summer breeze. “Let me see what you’ve got.”

Ella’s breath caught as she handed Miss Violet her sketchbook, filled with designs that had been locked away in her heart for far too long. Miss Violet’s eyes lit up as she turned the pages, her fingers tracing the edges of the designs with approval.

“This city needs you, Ella Mae. You are the magic they’ve been waiting for.”

For weeks, they worked together, Ella’s vision blossoming under Miss Violet’s gentle guidance. The gown they created was a masterpiece—a stunning blend of white and gold, inspired by Birmingham’s “Magic City” trademark. Every stitch was infused with Ella’s dreams, her grief, and her unshakable strength. But it was the shoes that would prove to be the turning point—crystal-heeled and daring, a symbol of Ella’s courage to take the first step into her truth.

“Take these,” Miss Violet said, pressing the shoes into Ella’s hands. “These shoes will carry you toward your destiny. But only if you’re brave enough to wear them.”

The night of the gala, Ella slipped into the gown and felt a shift within her—a quiet but powerful transformation. The woman staring back at her in the mirror was poised, elegant, and full of strength she hadn’t known she possessed. The crystal heels clicked against the floor as she walked toward her destiny, her heart pounding but her feet steady.

The moment she entered the gala, every eye in the room was drawn to her. The room fell silent, the breath of every person held in awe. Ella didn’t just wear the gown—she owned it, radiating a quiet power that left the audience spellbound.

But then Regina and Portia saw her.

“Ella?” Regina hissed, her voice sharp with venom. “What do you think you’re doing? That dress—it’s ours!”

The accusation rang through the room, and murmurs spread like wildfire. Delores, furious, appeared from the crowd, her gaze hard and calculating.

“This girl works for me,” Delores sneered, her voice dripping with malice. “The dress? My design. She’s nothing but a helper.”

Ella’s heart sank as security began to move toward her. Her mind raced, and for a moment, she wanted to disappear. But then, from the corner of the room, Malcolm King stepped forward, his presence commanding.

“If you’re the real designer, prove it,” he said, his voice calm and unwavering.

Ella hesitated, every part of her screaming to flee, to retreat into the safety of silence. But Miss Violet’s words echoed in her mind: You have to walk toward your truth.

With trembling hands, Ella pulled out her sketchbook, laying out her designs for the room to see. She showed them the sketches—dozens of original pieces, each one a piece of her heart. Her fingers shook, but her voice was steady.

“These are mine. Every last one of them.”

Malcolm studied the sketches carefully, then turned to the crowd, his voice ringing out with conviction.

“This woman is the real designer. And it’s time for the world to see her.”

The scandal broke wide open. Ella posted videos of herself designing the gown, exposing Delores’s lies for the world to see. The community, once unaware, rallied behind Ella. Prominent designers and influencers shared her story, amplifying her voice. Delores’s boutique collapsed under the weight of the public’s outrage, and Regina and Portia were exposed as complicit in the deceit.

Ella was invited back to the gala, this time to accept the award. The judges crowned her the winner, the applause deafening. But Ella barely heard it. Standing at the podium, her heart full, she addressed the crowd.

“My mother taught me that the magic of this city isn’t in its buildings or its history—it’s in the people who dare to create. Tonight, I claim that magic as my own.”

With Malcolm’s mentorship and support, Ella launched Magic Threads by Ella Mae, her fashion line that honored her mother’s legacy while embracing her unique vision. Miss Violet remained her guiding light, a mentor and collaborator in the truest sense. And Malcolm, who had stood by her when it mattered most, became her business partner—and something more.

As for Delores, her regrets were evident, but Ella’s words were firm.

“You taught me what it means to lose everything. Now, I’m going to teach you what it means to build it back—on your own.”

Ella’s journey wasn’t a fairy tale. But it was hers—and that made all the difference.

The Blinkerwall Mystery by Olivia Salter / Short Fiction / Science Fiction

 

The Blinkerwall Mystery

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 1,602

The waters of Germany's Bay of Mecklenburg were calm that September morning, the sun painting the sea with streaks of gold. Marine archaeologist Dr. Livia Greaves stood at the edge of the research vessel Odyssey, peering at the sonar readings on a screen. What had begun as a routine expedition to map underwater sediment turned extraordinary within minutes.

"Is that... a wall?" muttered Finn Andersson, her assistant.

She frowned, leaning closer to the display. The sonar image revealed a long, jagged line stretching across the seabed. It was too linear to be a natural formation. “Prepare the submersible,” she ordered.

Minutes later, the small remotely operated vehicle (ROV) slipped into the water. As it descended, the murky depths gave way to the ghostly outline of an enormous stone structure.

The Blinkerwall stretched as far as the eye could see, its moss-covered stones arranged with precision. Dr. Greaves’ heart raced. This was no ordinary wall. It was ancient, predating anything ever found in this part of Europe.

“Submerged at least 9,000 years ago,” she whispered, her voice tinged with awe. "This changes everything."

Back at the Institute of Maritime Archaeology in Kiel, the team gathered to analyze the footage. The stones of the Blinkerwall were massive, some weighing over two tons, interlocked in a design that hinted at advanced engineering.

“How did Mesolithic people move stones like this?” Finn asked, gesturing at the screen. “And why build it underwater?”

“It wasn’t underwater then,” Livia replied. “During the Mesolithic era, sea levels were much lower. This area would have been a lush, fertile plain.”

Theories buzzed around the room. Some speculated the wall was defensive, built to protect settlements from invaders. Others suggested it was ceremonial, a site for rituals or astronomical alignments.

But she had another theory, one that unsettled her. “What if it wasn’t built by humans?”

The room fell silent.

“Are you suggesting extraterrestrials?” Finn asked with a smirk.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “But something about the structure feels... unnatural. Almost like it was meant to hide something.”

A month later, she led an expedition to explore the wall up close. The dive team included experts in Mesolithic archaeology, marine geology, and ancient languages.

As they descended to the Blinkerwall, the sheer scale of the structure became apparent. Its stones were etched with strange symbols, patterns that seemed to tell a story.

Finn swam closer to one of the carvings. “These markings... they look like a map.”

“A map to what?” she asked, examining the symbols. Her gloved fingers traced a spiral pattern at the center. A sudden jolt of cold shot through her hand, and she pulled back, startled.

“What happened?” Finn asked.

“I... I don’t know,” she stammered. “It felt like the stone was alive.”

As they explored further, they found a narrow opening in the wall, sealed with a stone slab. The slab bore an inscription in an unknown script, but its message was clear: “DO NOT OPEN.”

“What do you think, Dr. Greaves?” Finn asked, his voice laced with both excitement and fear.

Livia hesitated. Every instinct told her to heed the warning, but the scientist in her couldn’t resist. “We open it.”

The team worked for hours to dislodge the slab. When it finally gave way, a rush of bubbles erupted, and the water around them seemed to tremble. Behind the slab was a dark tunnel, its walls lined with more carvings.

“Let’s go,” shr said, leading the way.

The tunnel twisted and turned, leading them deeper into the seabed. Strange bioluminescent algae lit their path, casting eerie green light on the walls. At the end of the tunnel, they found a cavernous chamber.

In the center of the chamber stood a massive stone altar, surrounded by artifacts: tools, weapons, and pottery. But it was what lay on the altar that made her blood run cold.

A skeleton, impossibly large, with elongated limbs and a skull that bore no resemblance to any human or animal known to science.

“What is that?” Finn whispered.

“I don’t know,” she replied, her voice barely audible. “But it’s not human.”

As they documented the chamber, a low hum filled the water. The markings on the walls began to glow, and the skeleton seemed to stir.

“We need to leave,” she said, her voice firm. “Now.”

But as they turned to exit, the tunnel behind them began to collapse, trapping them inside. The hum grew louder, and the skeleton’s eyes began to glow with an otherworldly light.

The hum grew deafening as the walls trembled, dislodging debris that clouded the water. The team huddled together near the altar, their flashlights flickering erratically.

The skeleton on the altar twitched again, its elongated fingers scraping against the stone. It was coming to life.

“Dr. Greaves, what is this?” Finn’s voice cracked, panic overtaking him.

“I don’t know!” she yelled, scanning the room for any escape route. Her eyes landed on a smaller tunnel hidden behind a pile of collapsed rubble. “There—through there!”

As the team scrambled toward the opening, the skeletal figure began to rise. Its bones glowed faintly, pulsating with the same eerie light as the carvings on the walls. It let out a low, guttural sound, resonating through the chamber like a predator waking from a long slumber.

The tunnel was narrow and claustrophobic, forcing the team to crawl single file. Behind them, the glowing skeleton lurched forward, moving with a nightmarish grace despite its size.

“It’s following us!” Finn shouted, his voice echoing.

The team pressed on, their movements frantic. The tunnel eventually opened into another chamber, smaller but just as threatening. At its center stood a pedestal holding a strange artifact—a stone disk engraved with the same spiral pattern they’d seen earlier.

Livia stepped toward the pedestal, her instincts screaming at her to stop, but she couldn’t. The disk seemed to call to her, its surface shimmering as if alive.

“Dr. Greaves, don’t touch it!” Finn pleaded, but she was already reaching out.

The moment her fingers grazed the disk, a surge of energy coursed through her body, and visions exploded in her mind—images of the Blinkerwall being built by people who didn’t look entirely human, their elongated features resembling the skeleton they’d just encountered.

She saw the wall rise, stone by stone, as these beings worked with tools that emitted beams of light. The wall wasn’t built as a boundary—it was a prison, designed to seal something far worse than the glowing skeleton.

Livia staggered back, clutching the disk. “The wall… it’s not just ancient. It’s a warning. We’ve unleashed something that was never meant to be freed.”

The glow from the disk intensified, and the chamber shook violently. The skeleton, now at the entrance of the tunnel, let out a bone-chilling wail.

“It’s reacting to the disk!” Finn yelled.

Dr. Greaves turned to face her team, determination hardening her expression. “We need to seal this place back up. The disk might be the key.”

“How?” another team member asked, panic evident in his voice.

Before she could answer, the skeleton lunged into the chamber, its bony hand reaching for her. In a split-second decision, she held the disk upwards. The artifact emitted a brilliant light, forcing the creature to recoil with an agonized screech.

“It’s working!” Finn exclaimed.

The light from the disk seemed to weaken the skeleton, but the chamber was collapsing faster now. Rocks and debris rained down, cutting off their exit.

“We’ll be buried alive,” Finn said grimly.

“No,” she replied, her voice steady. “The disk can seal it again, but we need to trap ourselves in here to stop it.”

The team exchanged horrified glances. “There has to be another way!” one of them shouted.

“There isn’t!” she snapped. “This isn’t just about us. If that thing gets out, the world as we know it could end.”

The skeleton, recovering from the disk’s light, lunged again. Livia thrust the artifact toward it, and the creature froze, suspended mid-air.

“Help me move the pedestal!” she yelled. The team hesitated, but Finn stepped forward, pushing the stone pedestal toward the center of the room with her.

She placed the disk back onto the pedestal. The carvings on the walls flared to life, and the chamber began to hum again, but this time with a rhythmic, almost soothing rhythm.

“We’re triggering the lock,” she explained.

As the chamber’s hum reached a gradual increase in loudness, beams of light shot out from the walls, converging on the skeleton. The creature let out a final, blood-curdling scream as it disintegrated into dust.

The walls around them began to seal, stone sliding into place as if the structure were alive.

“Dr. Greaves!” Finn shouted. “The exit—”

“There’s no time,” she said, stepping back toward the pedestal. “This was never meant to be opened. It has to end here.”

Finn grabbed her arm, his eyes pleading. “We’ll find another way!”

But she shook her head, her face determined. “This is my responsibility.”

As the chamber sealed completely, the last thing Finn saw was her determined gaze, the glow of the artifact illuminating her like a guardian of a forgotten era.

Months later, the Odyssey was recovered, adrift in the Bay of Mecklenburg. Its crew was missing, but their findings—a trove of sonar images, video footage, and journals—shocked the scientific community.

The Blinkerwall was declared a protected site, its mysteries sealed beneath the waves once more. But deep within the Bay, the hum of the ancient prison continued, a reminder that some secrets are best left buried.

And some sacrifices never forgotten.