• English - Romance

    Raindrops on Marine Drive

    September 18, 2025 - By 

    Anaya Kapoor Part 1: Return in the Rain The plane touched down in Mumbai just as the first spell of the monsoon had begun to break across the city, the tarmac glistening with that familiar shimmer of water and oil mixing into tiny rainbow puddles. Aditi pressed her forehead against the cool oval window, watching the drizzle streak across the glass, and for a moment she was sixteen again, rushing home from school in a wet uniform, her shoes squelching, her mother scolding her to change quickly before she caught a cold. Ten years had passed since she had left…

  • Crime - English

    The Widow’s Ledger

    September 18, 2025 - By 

    Tanima Basak Chapter 1 – Tide at Dusk The sea was already pulling back when Inspector Arjun Sen reached Chandipur. It was late evening, and the tide had begun its quiet retreat across the flat beach, leaving behind long glistening stretches of sand that shone like dark mirrors in the fading light. Fishing nets lay sprawled across wooden boats like the skins of dead creatures, their salt-stiff ropes twisting under the weak lanterns that dotted the shore. A smell of brine and rotting kelp hung in the air, sharp enough to make his throat sting. The police jeep jolted over…

  • English - Science Fiction

    City of a Thousand Suns

    September 17, 2025 - By 

    Rohan Ahuja Chapter 1 – The Desert of Light The year was 2150, and the Thar Desert no longer resembled the barren expanse it had once been. Instead of endless dunes stretching into emptiness, the horizon was now filled with colossal spires of glass and steel that glowed with the fire of captured sunlight. These towers, some rising taller than the skyscrapers of Mumbai and Dubai combined, shimmered with a brilliance that made the desert itself look aflame. At dawn, when the sun broke across the horizon, the towers lit up in sequence, each one reflecting and amplifying light until…

  • Crime - English

    Ghats of Blood

    September 17, 2025 - By 

    Nilavo Mukherjee Chapter 1 – The Floating Corpse The story begins on a humid, early morning along the Hooghly River, where the tranquility of the water is shattered by the appearance of a lifeless body drifting near the base of the Howrah Bridge. Early commuters and street vendors are the first to spot the corpse, their casual chatter giving way to murmurs of fear and curiosity as they approach the ghats. The scene quickly draws a crowd, and within minutes, news crews arrive, cameras rolling and microphones thrust forward to capture the unfolding spectacle. Panic ripples through onlookers, some recoiling…

  • English - Young Adult

    The Last Bell of Raipur High

    September 17, 2025 - By 

    Rhea Malhotra Part 1 – The Announcement The morning bell at Raipur High had always been shrill enough to cut through sleep, chatter, even monsoon thunder. But that day it sounded different—longer, harsher, like the metal clanged with purpose. Students rushed into the assembly hall, uniforms sticking with the last drizzle of rain, shoes leaving muddy half-moons on the stone floor. The ceiling fans swung lazily above us, too slow to dry the nervous sweat running down our backs. Something was off. Even the teachers stood stiff in their lines, whispering among themselves. I stood in the second row, shoving…

  • English - Horror

    The Dolls of Bowbazar

    September 17, 2025 - By 

    Tanika Sen Part 1: Arrival The rickshaw slowed as it turned into the narrow lanes of Bowbazar, its wheels rattling over uneven stones slick with last night’s rain. Mira clutched her dupatta tighter, staring out at the crumbling facades of colonial houses that seemed to lean against one another like tired old men. Once, this part of Kolkata had been vibrant, filled with traders, courtesans, and music spilling out of courtyards; now it felt like a relic of another century, with rusted gates and moss-streaked walls whispering of time’s decay. Arjun, sitting beside her, tapped the rickshaw wall lightly, his…

  • Hindi - Horror - प्रेतकथा

    काल सितारा

    September 17, 2025 - By 

    Vishal Varshney भैरवपुर गाँव बहुत साधारण था, चारों तरफ़ खेत, पीपल का पुराना पेड़, और बीच में मंदिर। लेकिन इस गाँव पर एक अनोखी छाया हमेशा से रही थी। हर पीढ़ी में बुज़ुर्ग बच्चों को चेतावनी देते थे—   “जब आकाश में लाल तारा चमके, दरवाज़े बंद कर लेना… वो है काल सितारा।”   गाँव के लोग मानते थे कि यह सितारा हर बार किसी एक जीवन की बलि लेता है। और बलि का स्थान अक्सर वही पुरानी हवेली होती थी, जो गाँव के छोर पर खंडहर की तरह खड़ी थी।   लाल तारे की रात   एक अमावस की…

  • English - Science Fiction

    The Memory Archive

    September 16, 2025 - By 

    Neel Madhav Rao Chapter 1 – The Echo of Forgotten Names The city of New Delhi no longer breathed in silence. It hummed and pulsed like a living circuit board, streets strung with cables of light, towers crowned with translucent domes where advertisements and memory-feeds shimmered day and night. From Connaught Place to Dwarka, holographic billboards rippled against the heat-hazed sky, whispering promises to the millions who walked the streets below: Upload today. Secure tomorrow. Become more than flesh. Dr. Elara Vaughn had stopped listening to those voices long ago. She had seen too many patients who came clutching their…

  • English - Fiction

    The Invisible Wall

    September 16, 2025 - By 

    Ananya Deshpande Episode 1 – Across the Alley The alley was barely wide enough for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder, yet to Rohit it felt like a border he could never cross. On his side stood a row of aging houses, their paint peeling in the damp Kolkata monsoon, their balconies strung with clothes that never quite dried. On the other side rose another line of buildings, just as worn, their windows facing his own. He had grown up here, in this tight pocket of the city where noise never really faded—vendors calling out, children playing cricket with…

  • English - Romance

    A Hundred Steps to You

    September 16, 2025 - By 

    Saanvi Roy Episode 1 – The Photograph The city was still shaking off the heat of late afternoon when Maya pushed her way through the crowded lanes of Chandni Chowk. Dust hung in the air like an invisible veil, clinging to her hair and the white kurta she had foolishly chosen to wear that morning. She stopped at the familiar tea stall near the booksellers, a place where she often came after long days at the architecture firm. The stall was old, its tin roof dented, its wooden counter stained with years of spilled chai, but she liked the chaos…