This periodic magazine highlights a small selection of short stories posted to The Ink Well community that stood out and were awarded a Curie vote. Thank you to all authors in The Ink Well for sharing your creative work!
Important Note
We are showcasing authors who have contributed well-written and edited stories, have read and commented on the work of other authors and comply with all of the community rules posted on our home page. These activities help our community thrive.
The following are just a few of our favorite stories from 21 to 28 September / 2023.
Featured Author: 
THE SWADDLING WONDER
Pixabay
"I'm leaving Westernburg"
"Your majesty, this is ridiculous. You cannot walk out on your kingdom"
"My kingdom? The king, no, my husband cannot even stand me! Every member of the inner court has lost their respect for me. Members of the cabinet are whining for the king to either get a new queen or get ready to give up the throne…"
Featured Author: 
BLACKALE
Pexels
A creak came from a chair scraping against the ground, then the door leading to the storage flipped open, and he heard bottles being broken back there. It all happened so fast, in less than a minute. He ran to the storage and flipped the light on the moment he stepped inside. "What?! Who?! What are you?". He stared at a greenish dwarfish creature causing chaos in his storage room. “What are you?", he bellowed. The chaos stopped; he had gained the creature’s attention.
Featured Author: 
The marvelous stone
Pixabay Pixabay Pixabay
The old Taita began to tell him about the marvelous stone. "The story goes that many years ago. The wonderstone was an object of worship for the tribe, but after some years, the people became selfish, envious, and evil. As corruption and wickedness took hold of hearts, the wonder stone poured out a curse making this land a sad and colorless place of life, only death. After this, the stone disappeared from the altar, hiding in that volcano. This land has never been the same since those years." A melancholy tear ran down Taita's cheek.
Featured Author: jazclassic
DEATH was peaceful
Pixabay
But here I was driving back home to Ruth, God. Two years is pretty long. And I have changed so much. I looked down on the bouquet of red roses and her favorite chocolates I got for her. It was pretty funny how I gained consciousness. The doctors were skeptical because I was in a coma for a year and a few months. They said the first thing that came out of my mouth was Ruth's name, and that alone kept a smile on my face.
Featured Author: 
suppressed
Pixabay
'Experiencing a bit of physical tension', was the caption I added to a sad puppy photo that I shared on my WhatsApp status before placing the phone on the nightstand. I slid under the sheets, wrapped my hands around my abdomen and shut my eyes. Few minutes later, my phone buzzed. I reached for it, ignoring the pain, and saw that James had messaged me. His message read: "sorry princess, we could take a walk if you don't mind."
Featured Author: 
Lifechanging words
Pixabay
After a while, I noticed I was being too reliant on Yen, so I went my way around exploring the strange tribe of people just hanging on and about in different clusters. I tried to look at it as some sort of anthropological exploration. I simply approached and listened, waiting for a chance to add something in. Looking back, I wasn’t doing that bad, but I was over-conscious of myself, and overthinking always hurts.
Featured Author: 
Secrets Of The Heart
Unsplash
"I want to ask you a question. Please tell me the truth," I said.
She noticed my grim expression. "Sure. What's up, Kemmy? Is everything alright?"
My heart began to race at this point. I didn't want anyone to know of my feelings for Andrew. It would be awkward and embarrassing but my mouth raced ahead of my brain before I chickened out.
p.s. You can see the past magazines here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67,68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107,108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124
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