Stream of Consciousness

Knives and Forks
Alright, it’s enough, I’m not going to fall asleep anyway, and I can’t stand another hour of staring at this ceiling. Thoughts just drift through my mind, and from all this lying around, my calves start to cramp again. At least I slept through most of yesterday. Paying that debt I built with lifestyle. That helps. With that, I can push through today until the evening, as I did so many times before. I blame her for it anyway. It was definitely her who tore me out of my dreams at half past two in the morning. She did it, and now she’s pretending that nothing happened.
By George Roast24 days ago in Writers
Turning the Ephemeral into the Concrete
Some experiences feel real while they are happening and unreal almost immediately afterward. A conversation that sparks clarity, a realization that reframes a problem, a moment where scattered thoughts suddenly align. In the moment, there is a sense that something solid has been grasped. But without capture, that solidity dissolves. What remains is a faint impression, detached from the reasoning that made it meaningful. The experience was real, but it left no durable trace.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast24 days ago in Writers
In May, I Will Have Written And Read On Vocal Media For Five Years
There are some extremely good writers on this site! It has been almost five years since I started in May 2021 on Vocal, and I continue to feel like a beginner. I was a new writer, then, even though I was an older woman.
By Denise E Lindquist24 days ago in Writers
Early March 2026: 4 Goals Accomplished. Top Story - March 2026.
It's early March and I've now accomplished my 4th writing goal for the year of 2026. Before diving into the behind-the-scenes of it... why not tell you up front what that accomplishment was? I was published in a 2nd publication for this year. Published in Helix Literary Magazine out of Central Connecticut State University. You can read it for free right now!
By Stephen Kramer Avitabile25 days ago in Writers
Ups and Downs
This is a short drabble of my ups and downs here on Vocal, and it seems that there have been many ups and quite a few downs for me and my writing here. I do I feel a lot of reading and commenting on others work here, but where I do have a few loyal followers over these past five years it seems that even though I have recently been on the Leaderboard and received a few TS's it always seems that my stats are always going down more than up I guess that is that darn algorithm I guess.
By Mark Graham26 days ago in Writers
Chance
I saw Chance the other day, slipping down a back alley, morning coffee in hand, a little worse for wear in last night's frock. Leftover mascara crumbled in the corners of her eyes that never stopped scanning the scene for those fickle bitches, the Fates. She was ready to kick their collective ass for once and always.
By Harper Lewisabout a month ago in Writers
Fading Ink
The box was never meant to be opened. It had lived quietly on the highest shelf of my childhood closet, taped at the corners, labeled in my own looping handwriting: “Important — Do Not Throw Away.” I used to think anything I labeled important would remain that way forever.
By Jhon smithabout a month ago in Writers
The Last Memory: Chapter Six
Trenton locked the bathroom and turned around to wash her face. The cool water felt nice against her skin and after wiping her face with the soft green towel on the towel rack, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was slightly worn with a few wrinkles in the creases of her forehead and surrounding her lips. She looked tired and her blue eyes seemed faded in color, like she had endured a lifetime of experiences already.
By Nicole Higginbotham-Hogueabout a month ago in Writers
The Architects of the Extraction
In the quiet suburbs of Philadelphia and the industrial heart of Detroit, a new kind of mining is taking place. It doesn’t involve coal or gold, and the miners don’t wear hard hats. They wear silicon valley aesthetics and use high-powered algorithms to extract something far more valuable: your behavioral data. To understand the political landscape of 2026, you have to look at the "Political Influence Industry"—a high-tech ecosystem where your daily life is laundered into a political weapon.
By Untitled Sourceabout a month ago in Writers
Boundless. Top Story - February 2026.
A geographical map could take you there. To the places I've been, to the sights I've seen, to the landscapes I've climbed. But no compass could point you in the direction of my memories. To the experiences I've lived, to the happiness I've felt, to the wonder I've held so close to my heart.
By Alyssa Mussoabout a month ago in Writers
Morning Blessings as Alignment, Not Routine
Morning blessings are often reduced to familiar phrases spoken quickly before the day begins. When practiced mechanically, they can feel like another item on a checklist. But in lived experience, a morning blessing is not something to complete. It is something to enter.
By Shahid Khanabout a month ago in Writers
A Pen . Top Story - February 2026.
Growing up I loved to write. I wrote stories and series for myself and it would be pages among pages of hand written stories or books. I remember I had written 500 pages of a book more than ten years ago that I still open and edit. All of these were handwritten first. I would use a paper pad and a pen. I was was always very picky when it came to using the writing equipment. My journal has a specific pen I use otherwise it feels like I had committed a crime. I once bought a Swarovski pen specially for my leather journal. The weight of it was perfect, but I had written with smoother pens before. Yet, this pen reminded me that I can sparkle too because of course it had Swarovski crystals in it. I kept it in a box that I would take out every time I journaled. This was not my favorite pen though. The easiest pen I have ever used was from a company that you could purchase from Chapters/Indigo. It was called poppin because they had used bright, fun, colors to make writing supplies wonderful. I remember the first time I used it. I was in university and was in need of very good pens because I did not have a reliable laptop to carry to my classes. I picked up the box I bought and picked one out of the box. I took the little gel bead off the top that blocks the ink. I placed it on the paper and it started to flow, it was the most pleasant feeling I felt in a long time. As soon as it touched the paper the pen wanted to write more, it wrote so smoothly I immediately hid the other pens back into my backpack so no one could “borrow” it we all know that meant you were never seeing that pen again. The ink was deliciously smooth writing across my notebook. I wanted to keep going even after I was done. I started doodling and found joy in writing again. That’s how much a pen can change your day. I know it’s such an adult thing to say. I wrote with other pens too such as the frixion pens because an erasable pen that actually erases. All that’s left is the indent on the page how ingenious! I remember in elementary they were “erasable” but you could still see remnants of blue on the page and if you wrote on top of it, it looked sloppy.
By Ada Zubaabout a month ago in Writers