
Preloved Stories
content warnings where relevant, are shown at the beginning of the story and can be revealed by clicking the arrow
Stories labelled LISTEN IN THE BIN have audio versions
SHORT STORIES

My Little Monster
by Martha Hipley
A friend once told me I should just buy cut flowers instead of keeping up the ruse of buying living plants. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Bodies in Water
by Maggie Nerz Iribarne
Hilary entered the sparse room, her new home. At the window, fog hovered above the lake. A sailboat lingered from the faded summer, bobbing at water’s edge. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Grace
by Emily Rinkema
We stop at the store on the way to put the dog down. John wants beer, for after, he says. […]

Two Halves of the Apple
by Tom Walsh
My right leg starts to shrivel one winter’s day, the toes curling down and in, like the witch Dorothy dropped a house on. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN
FLASH FICTION

Best Friends Forever
by Pam Avoledo
Megan had been my best friend since elementary school and the way she tells it, I was on the swing by myself, running my jelly shoes over the pebbles […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Tiger Sleeps Over
by Nicole Brogdon
The tiger stayed over after the New Year’s party. I find the beast lying on the Goodwill loveseat this morning, snoring,[…]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Waking Beauty
by Stephanie Carty
Just as my legs weakened underneath skirts of linen and lace, I caught sight of Papa’s painting from his travels of that exquisite beast, the wolf. […]

I Made a Wish Jumping Rope
by Adele Evershed
He told me that when he was very young, he thought the man who lived inside his radio was announcing the ‘skipping forecast’, […]

The Last to Leave
by June Gemmell
The wooden latch clicked for the last time. Each room had been wished a goodbye, as old hands stroked the rough walls. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

The Motorway Forest
by Bronwen Griffiths
Here, where the motorway cuts through the ancient hill, where empty bottles, cans and debris lie – a shredded tyre, a baby’s nappy, […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

The Odyssey of the Daughter of the King of Spain
by Anne Howkins
Miles I’ve travelled along the way. Sailed oceans, trekked deserts, scaled crags. Leapt ravines so deep, […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Mac and Marky
by Jupiter Jones
They are at the bus-shelter. Mac’s taller than Marky. Mac has a condom in his wallet because he hopes to ‘get lucky’. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Last Rites of Spring
by Mark Peters
On the morning of March 19th, dozens of children across the Eastern Seaboard stretched and rose from their beds. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN

Mirna and Davor in Sarajevo, 1995
by Emma Phillips
The hardest part was staying put. When her mother beat dust from the blankets, Mirna felt pieces of her soul spill from the window and rise like butterflies […]

When We Walked Out at Sowing Time
by Sarah Royston
“I will stay,” you said. Our shadows fell behind us on the old white track; the blackthorn winter dying with the rising of the light. […]
LISTEN IN THE BIN
This Issue was Published on 28th February 2025







