In a quaint little town, nestled between the hills, there lived a young man named Alex. Alex had always been the shy and studious type, preferring the company of his books to that of his peers. His sister, Maria, was five years his senior and had moved out to the city shortly after finishing school. They had once shared a close bond, but over the years, the distance had grown between them. Now, Alex had the rare opportuni...

It was a sultry summer evening when a group of five friends, fueled by a mix of alcohol and curiosity, decided to gather at Jenna's apartment for a night of Truth or Dare. The living room was dimly lit, the soft glow of fairy lights creating an intimate atmosphere, while laughter and the clinking of glasses filled the air. As they settled in a circle on the plush carpet, Jenna, the host, began with a dare. One by one, the...

It was a Saturday night and our parents were out for the evening. They had let a couple of my brother's friends from school come over and I was supposed to make sure they didn’t get into any trouble. Being all sixteen, they were old enough not to need a babysitter so, it was more of a precaution for me to stay home. His friends are nice boys. They are introverted and most of their interests revolved around video games. Mo...

The night pulsed with laughter and the heady rush of alcohol as Chloe and me stumbled back to my flat. An electric current of anticipation crackled between us. We'd been friends since our school days, but tonight, something shifted. We teetered on the edge of uncharted territory, both terrified and exhilarated. I collapsed onto the couch, my body heavy with liquor and unspoken desires. Chloe sprawled on the floor, her eye...

I was leaning over the bookings diary, set on the bar counter before me and contemplating the various make-work jobs I could invent to keep myself and the staff on tonight's roster busy throughout what was certain to be another dead Wednesday night in The Republic. The foreseeable future would involve a lot of needless rebuffing of perfectly polished wine glasses, possibly punctuated with the cleaning of candle holders if...

It started with a game of truth or dare. I stupidly picked dare… Everyone was afraid of her. She was a witch, after all. The pumpkins on the porch all gave me a knowing look as I stood at the door and knocked. She never said a word. Just crooked a finger tipped with a blood-red nail, drawing me into her house. She smiled and I was lost. Some sort of spell. It had to be. I mean, I wasn’t even the slightest bit queer. Not t...

I woke to see Sadie’s bare olive-brown back walking out of the door. It shone in the moonlight. I thought she was on her way to the bathroom. When I woke again, sometime later, the bed was still empty. I then remembered that her stepbrother, Jack, had come for the weekend for a conference and, of course, he stayed with us. His flight had been delayed so it was late when he arrived. Time for him to take a shower, a quick d...

“We are not playing Truth or Dare! Are you joking? I’ve always hated it," said Melissa. She was always the most vociferous of the group, friends in the last year of college. They were spending the weekend at one of their parents’ vacation house. After a lazy day by the pool, they had gathered at night in the family room of the house. “Why not? We’re all sitting around drinking ourselves blind because we’re bored. Jill is...