Thaw Point
You'd think a guy who does pretend for a living could handle a little cold.
First Time stories
First Time stories. First Time stories, from quick reads to long series. Reads run 19 to 24 minutes. Writers to know: North Craft, Roan Diary and Midnight Gallery. Readers usually start with “The Corkscrew Bid” and “Horsehair and Mustard”. Ranked by how many readers finish them. Some are free to read in full; the rest open with a free preview.
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First Time stories, ranked by readers
41 42 The Sticky End of Whipped Cream
I was sorting parcel labels at the distribution center on a Tuesday when Katya dropped the whole thing on me like a sack of wet newspapers.
43 The Vanilla Date
The gym smelled like rubber and chalk and somebody's leftover protein bar.
44 Revenge in the Sun
Okay so here's how my dumb revenge plan started, and I want you all to appreciate how badly it went off the rails, because it went off the…
45 The House Key
I'm Cathy, I'm forty-three, and I deliver packages for a living.
46 The Collection Run
Fran Smyth was twenty-three years old, and she had learned something about herself that fall: you can walk into your own apartment with a…
47 Darkroom Debacle
Okay, so I'm standing in the parking lot of the Fairway Pines driving range at seven on a Thursday evening, and I want you to understand…
48 Slow Summer Seduction
*This one's for anyone who's ever hoped for a first time that's both hot and awkwardly human.
49 The Rules List
I made the list on a Thursday night, sitting on my couch in my underwear eating cold pad thai out of the box, because that's just the kind…
50 The Doorbell
The trail up to the hut nearly killed me, and I mean that in the most dramatic way possible.
51 The Confession Exhibit
The flyer said the language exchange met Thursdays at the Railway Museum.
52 Forty and First
The sheet smells like her soap.
53 The Attention of Her Hands
Roni was thirty-four years old and had been a flight attendant for nine years, and she could sleep in a middle seat in row 31 with a…
54 First Frost
The drive up took six hours and I did most of it with the radio off, which should tell you something about the state I was in.
55 The Blind Draw
I parked my sedan between a pickup with a gun rack and a dirt bike that had no business being leaned against a porch, and I sat there for…
56 First With a Rival
I'm Denise.
57 Lane 7 Anniversary
You know how you get talked into a thing?
58 Wrong Tent
I boarded the train in Adelaide at half past seven on a Tuesday evening, hauling a suitcase I had overpacked by half.
59 Carnival Confession
The festival was a twenty minute drive from my apartment, and I spent all twenty of them rehearsing what I'd say.
60 The Swing and the Sweep
I was thirty-three last November when I decided my life needed a hard reset, and the way I did it was to agree to house-sit for my friend…