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 July 14 to July 20 /2025.
Featured Author: 
The Empathy Engine
he studies started showing up about month twenty. Researchers working independently and keeping track of the kiosks said that regular users were getting worse as the months went by, not better. They were addicted to the external validation, unable to self-regulate in the absence of the AI.
Meanwhile, technical problems were piling up. The facial recognition system was unable to handle people of color. The language processing was unable to handle regional dialects. The system kept misreading usual expressions as signs of distress, leading to mortifying interventions.
Featured Author: 
Molex spent the last years of his life accompanied by his dog, gazing at the bridge from afar. And it wasn’t until many years later that someone found his diary and the original plans for his bridge. Next to the drawing of the bridge it read: It will be built not to be crossed, it will be built so that everyone questions it and wonders why—and with that, it will be enough for me...
Featured Author: 
The Forbidden Bloom
Adam bent to check the sigil on the ground when he saw something—pieces of the orb from the last ritual. He noticed something weird. He picked it up and turned it. There was a strange symbol carved into it.
His heart stopped. It was Lilith’s mark. The only person more skilled in mythicism than he was her. He didn't say a word that night. But he watched her.
Featured Author: 
A Leaf From Sinach’s Book
ver the next few days, I built on it. Verse after verse. I didn’t even think much of it until a few weeks later at youth fellowship, our coordinator said, “Next Sunday is Youth Sunday. Does anyone have something new to minister?” My friend nudged me.
“Sing that your song na,” she whispered.
I hook my head. “Please, it’s not ready.”
“It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just sing it.”
Featured Author: 
The Turning Point
Her name was Mia. She was my height, wore oversized hoodies, her shoelaces were mismatched and her hair was a wild mess of defiance. She was just like me -small, overlooked and underestimated but she was everything I was scared to be. She wasn’t angry about how she is, not like I was, she even joked about it. She said “We are not short, we’re just condensed awesome”. I laughed real hard when she said that.
Featured Author: 
Tayo the Puff puff seller
hat was her daily puff puff performance, and she was the star in making people feel good early in the morning, this drew my attention so I started buying from her regularly. One day, I engaged her in a conversation so I asked “Tayo, what’s your secret? Puff puff is everywhere, why is your own different?” She smiled showing her beautiful dimples and said “Simple na, I no just dey sell puff puff, I dey sell joy, I dey give people five minutes of happiness before dem face the wahala of the day"
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, 125, 126, 127, 128,129,130, 131,132,133,134, 135, 136, 138, 139,140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146,147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155,156,157,158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177,178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184,185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206,207,208,209,210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217 , 218
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