A Call in the Middle of an Ordinary Day
Former partners meet again somewhere entirely unromantic, in a vehicle inspection queue. This time they do not try to recover the period when they loved each other badly.
Short fiction, your choice
When a second chance opens
A return does not mean everything stayed the same. These stories begin with a meeting, a message, or a change of plan and ask what people can say after a long wait.
Stories in this selection
In a House Without Proper Beds
Friends from their youth meet while emptying a house where they once imagined very different lives.
The Dance After the Last Guest
Divorced parents at their son's wedding discover they can speak differently, but don't want to mistake one lovely evening for a ready answer.
The Question Thirty Years Late
A memory of an old outing finally prompts a man to ask about the love he missed. The answer changes the meaning of everything he has regretted.
The Wrong Door on the Third Floor
An invitation to a secret dinner leads a furniture restorer to a woman packing her divorce into cardboard boxes, but their accidental meeting becomes more than a pleasant mistake.
A Star Above the Rented Room
After a breakup and a lost job, a translator in the smallest room in the building starts messaging an astronomy club and meets a man who respects her silence.
The Rain They Missed
Meeting an old love reminds a wealthy heiress of a storm and a decision she surrendered to family expectations, but this time the past does not ask to be repeated.
A Voice Message Eight Years in Waiting
Former fiancés work on the same project again, eight years after their breakup. A voice message begins the conversation they left to family advice and pride for too long.
After reading
Does the character want a new future or a different ending to the past?
Compare two stories from this selection. The same motif need not lead to the same decision.
More questions for conversation ↗