Lost Key Found
Monica had been working at city hall for six years, and in all that time she had never once needed to go into the basement storage room at…
Best Near future city Stories of 2026
The most-read near future city stories right now, in a short top ten and then picks by how you want to read. Near future city stories, from quick reads to long series. Most near future city stories here sit in sci-fi & fantasy. Reads run 22 to 27 minutes. Writers to know: Ochre Ballad, Coral Works and Signal of Velvet. Some are free to read in full; the rest open with a free preview.
The top near future city stories
01 02 The Cleaner's Debt
The penthouse smelled like lemon cleaner and old money.
03 Resonant Pairings
Damian Sanders was twenty-eight and he could not remember the last time Grace had cried in front of him before tonight.
04 When the Mailbag Drops
*This one came from wanting to write something tender and slow, about two adults who meet online and actually click.
05 The Dormancy Bet
I turned fifty-five in March.
06 The Data Leash
Brock Araragi, forty-two years old and a data analyst by trade, stood on his rooftop garden with a glass of cheap pinot and a grudge.
07 The Empathy Job
*This one came from thinking about how we perform emotions at work, and what it'd be like if someone could literally see through the act.
08 The Roaster and the Mechanic
The coil was being stubborn.
09 Borrowed Time
I was twenty minutes into clearing out my locker on my Thursday off, wearing yesterday's sock because I couldn't find the other one, when…
10 Sixty and Screwed
The shift ended at 6:40 in the morning.
Longer near future city reads
Switch House
The job ran late.
A Hot Truce in the Cold
Andrea Houston turned fifty-four on a Tuesday, which she considered the most honest of the weekdays.
Ghost Ferry
The ghost ferry on the I-5 overpass passed me going the other way, and it didn't even honk.
The Maker of Small Celebrations
Val Crandall arrived at the Eclipse Pavilion at six forty on a Friday evening, which was fifteen minutes earlier than she needed to be…
The Empathy Rep
I was thirty-two years old, a senior sales representative for Empathy Corp, and I had never actually used the product I sold.