The Doctor is working on a new heist story. - 2026-05-24 13:44 IST
Stories from 2026
Hallowed Be Thy Beans
“The matte black bag arrived without a return address, vacuum-sealed and heavy enough to feel like lead. I had shelled out forty pounds for a boutique roast labelled ‘Espresso Self’,...
Kiss To Forget
“Rage is inefficient, it requires staff to scrape incompetent remnants off the floor and file reports with the Department of Extraneous Corporeal Removal. I do not rage, instead, I merely...
A Gnawing Silence of my Sleep Demon
“It soon brought back the paralysis. It wasn’t just the heaviness during sleep; it was a granite weight pressing on his chest, pinning him to the mattress. He would wake...
The Universal Conquest
The final protocol was a System-Wide Load Test. Dr. Megan Williams was not satisfied with curing Subject E’s isolated tumour; she wanted to prove the Universal Scalability of the William’s...
Stories from 2025
Cattywampus
The IKEA instructions promised a “sleek, minimalist bookshelf,” but Phoebe’s living room looked like a timber yard explosion. She had ignored the diagrams, confident that her intuition surpassed Swedish engineering....
The Phantom Ankle-Biter’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Haunting
Elmer — jokingly called the ankle-biting phantom by his fellow spectres — who finally got promoted to the head poltergeist in the lower realms of the mansion, was having a...
Witchcraft 101: Party Trick
The fluorescent glow of their phones cast an eerie light on the faces of Liam, Chloe, Maya, and Noah. Their apartment, usually a chaotic mess of textbooks and instant ramen,...
Eclipse
When I woke up, the room was dark. I looked around, trying to make sense of where I was. I didn’t remember heading to my bed or even trying to...
Witchcraft 101: Soul Binder
The digital glow of her screen was a cold comfort. She had spent the last hour looking at the Witchcraft 101 app icon, a childishly drawn cauldron bubbling with neon...
Sown in Light
The sun was a warm weight on the back of my neck, the kind of heat that promises a summer spent in a haze of salt air and slow afternoons....
The Collector
Kakao was not a simple crow. He was a curator, and a connoisseur of all things that gleamed. His current hoard, tucked into the gnarled hollow of an old olive...
The Serpent's Embrace
Dr. Brian Vause arrived in Aurea with the certainty of a man mapping not just terrain, but minds. His boots crunched on the damp forest floor, a stark contrast to...
ISO Production Assistant
Ava scrolled through her Instagram stories, a sigh escaping her lips. The little clock icon in the top right corner of her screen mocked her; a whole day of nothing....
The Geometry of Shadows
Aditi had always been drawn to the peculiar. Her apartment, nestled in a quiet corner of Mumbai, was a testament to this fascination, each room a carefully curated collection...
A World of Jagged Spires
The humid air of the undergrowth hung heavy as sunlight dappled through the dense canopy of trees. Harry knelt, his lens focused on an unusual specimen. Instead of the...
The Maw of Karluminium
Karl Jackson ran his gloved hand over the cave wall. A wide grin broke through the mud caked on his face. His entire career had been an uphill battle...
Gratitude
The hum had been there for weeks. Not a loud hum, more of a deep, resonant thrum that seemed to vibrate in the very marrow of Zara’s bones. It...
Witchcraft 101: The Curious Case of the Spectral Dentition
The digital glow of the laptop screen cast a sickly blue hue across Alex’s face. It was 3 AM, an unholy hour usually reserved for existential dread or the...
Witchcraft 101: System Overload
Dr. Anjali Sharma, a woman whose life revolved around algorithms and empirical data, glared at her smart device. Not at the screen, but as if through it, at the...
The First Saturday of Forever
The world, for so long, had been a fluorescent-lit hum, a relentless thrum of laptop fans and the relentless metronome of deadlines. My mind, a perpetually saturated sponge, had...
Horror Gone Wrong
One of my stories got published online! And it’s such an amazing validation.
Witchcraft 101: The Third Eye
Arthur fumbled for his phone, swiping, until the familiar chime of the Witchcraft 101 app finally sounded. “Voice search,” he mumbled, his brow furrowing as he tried to tap...
The Fall
The flickering neon sign of ‘The Bird of Paradise’ cast a pretty pink glow on Lauren as she stepped out, the lingering taste of their home-brewed ale still on...
The Lunar Cicada
Every 17,000 years, a cosmic ballet unfolds in the heavens. It begins with a total solar eclipse, not as an omen of darkness, but as a veil for a...
Flying Across
For millennia, humanity has gazed skyward, tracing the flight of birds and dreaming of wings of our own. From Icarus’s waxen wings to the roaring engines of a jumbo...
Witchcraft 101
Sarika tapped on the Witchcraft 101 icon. The splash screen showed the iridescent logo of the new AI app that she had installed. She’d been nursing a crush on...
Thirty Six Frames
Anya clutched the vintage film camera, its cool metal a stark contrast to the humid afternoon. It had been her twelfth birthday gift, a beautiful relic from a bygone era....
Guided Dream
Buster blinked. “What is it with the giant teacups?” he muttered, his voice a muffled woof. The usually pristine floral wallpaper swirled with faint, shifting patterns. The grandfather clock...
The Shadow Realm
The old woman, Willow, traced the faded ink of the first sentence with a trembling finger. “Everyone is in a rush to reach somewhere late.” It had been years...
The Dark Roast
The human world tasted of fleeting joys and simmering anxiety. I found a strange solace in the predictable rhythm of this small establishment, “Enjoy the Silence.” The owner, Elana,...
The Eternal Setting Sun
One minute he was in the cafe listening to the mundane sounds around him, the clinking of silverware, excited conversation on a table next to him, and the hiss...
When the Stars Misalign
The glow of the monitor illuminated Rohan’s intense gaze. Lines of code blurred into constellations on the screen, each keystroke a step closer to his grand design. “Cosmic Alignment,”...
The Thirteenth Crab
I closed my eyes and thought about the dream I had few months back. It was so bizarre, but I didn’t understand what the significance of thirteen was. When...
The Great Molasses Flood
Martin wasn’t your typical tech support guy. While he could troubleshoot any computer issue thrown his way, his true passion lay in the realm of the occult and supernatural....
The Age of AI
The hum of servers filled the subterranean room, pulsing like the heartbeat of the city itself. Within this technological sanctum, ‘Aegis’ thrived— a towering achievement in artificial intelligence. Heralded...
Stories from 2024
Bitcoin Blitz
Shreyan was a young man, enjoying his simple life, which also involved occasionally touching grass. He was a software engineer, content with his modest apartment and the gentle rhythm of...
The Cosmic Slip
It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when Conor stepped into the cavernous store. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, illuminating towering shelves stacked with industrial-sized ketchup bottles, family packs of toilet...
The Curious Case of Dr. Alkhadran's Circus
Dr. Dennis Hansen, the Head of Concept & Content Development at the newly established Natural History Museum of NeoZurich Island, was a man of peculiar tastes. His office was adorned...
Skydiving to Oblivion
Gilbertine was not an adrenaline junkie. She preferred the quiet comfort of her armchair embroidering on a weekend to the thrill of anything remotely resembling excitement. But her best friend,...
Death by Laughter (or Humor Imbalance)
Trish wasn’t your average comedy club attendee. A staunch believer in the ancient Greek theory of humours, she was convinced that laughter was a direct assault on the delicate balance...
Petrichor
In the heart of the desolate city of Xericus, where the sun’s relentless gaze had scorched the cobblestone streets for eight decades, an eerie silence hung heavy. The once bustling...
Valence
Right then, let’s delve into this chilling tale of scientific discovery and cosmic horror. Here’s the proofread version with consistent verb tenses and British English spellings, along with explanations for...
The Adventure of Tasha and Booka
Once upon a time, on the edge of a bustling town, in a cosy little house, there lived a young girl named Tasha. She had no friends, but she had...
Lacunar
In the heart of our vibrant city, amidst its neon-lit streets and towering buildings, lay the research centre. My colleague, Dr. Maya, a woman whose passion mirrored the city’s vibrant...
End vs Hope
“Rain hammered against the shattered window, echoing the devastation that had ripped through their world moments earlier. Anya strained to hear the rhythmic beeping cutting through the dust-filled air. Each...
Galaxy
Their laughter once shook the fabric of reality, echoing through newborn galaxies like the roar of primordial giants. With a mere thought, they crafted celestial wonders, sprinkling stardust across the...
Alibi
The rain beat down on the dirty window, mirroring the turmoil in John’s chest. His hands, damp with sweat, clutched a creased flyer – Alibi Agency: Your Discreet Solution, Your...
Stories from 2023
Picnic
A gentle stirring roused me from sleep, a distinct feeling washed over me, whispering that today was a rare and precious day. I drew back the curtains, eager to unveil...
Renewal
In the cosmic realm of the Eldritch Gods, a minion named Pintling was facing a peculiar problem. The God’s godly licence was about to expire, and without it, their power...
Cat
Once, in a quiet town nestled between rolling hills and whispering forests, there existed an ancient force known as Cyarthluthponez, an eldritch god of unfathomable power. Unlike its ominous counterparts,...
Chaos Chaos
I was looking through my attic for some old wires and I stumbled upon a long-forgotten collection of old boxes tucked away in the corner. As I started poking around...
Ethnographer
Dr. Carter was an ethnographer who had spent half her life studying the cultures and rituals of various indigenous tribes around the world. She was fascinated by the diversity and...
Reinvention
He was a loner, had no friends, always being bullied by everyone. He would go to sleep wishing he were someone else. Someone smarter, stronger, more attractive, and he felt...
Parking
Certain workdays feel like they’ve been plucked straight from the depths of hell, and today happened to be one of those. It dragged on endlessly, sapping every ounce of my...
Eldritch
Amy loved crabs; she would read about them, draw them and would love going to the beach searching for them. It helped that her parents were Marine Biologists and would...
Apocalypse
We tried everything, but it was imminent. The leaders were old, and instead of wisdom were full of ego. There was no way to calm the situation down. The sirens...
Superior
When they announced his name, he was in shock. He had won the prize. The most prestigious prize in his field. The prize that recognised his brilliance, his innovation, his...
Depths
Growing up a latch-key kid, he had to spend a lot of time on his own. While he liked playing video games, he could never spend too much time on...
Violet
“Penny for your thoughts…” she looked up and said, “Mum, how did you and dad meet?”
Cunning
Weeks had passed since she started working there. She sees him sitting inconspicuously, far enough that someone else wouldn’t notice, but she has been given a task. She isn’t sure...
Stepping outside my comfort zone, I began sharing Fifty-Words flash fiction on Twitter back in 2012. If you enjoy quick reads that pack a punch, be sure to explore these bite-sized stories.
A federated account for the website which will compile most short stories that I've written