Story Therapy

  Image by AI A mother’s suffering, a son’s bravery, and a choice no family should face. A Contemporary Short Story by S A Spencer  Author of Popular Fictions : The Pink Mutiny , The Black Waters , Dream In Shackles The church smelled of old timber and candle smoke, the kind that clung to your clothes long after you left. Sophie Hartley knelt on the padded bench, fingers laced tight, forehead almost touching her hands. Around her, the congregation murmured through the final hymn, but she barely heard it. Her mother sat stiff beside her, lips pressed thin. Her father stared straight ahead, eyes hollow, as if the stained‑glass windows were showing him something no one else could see. Sophie whispered into her hands, Please… please make them stop fighting. Please make things normal again. She squeezed her eyes shut harder. And please… give me a baby brother. Someone to talk to. Someone to fight the fears with me. The choir rose behind her, voices swelling, but Sophie sta...

  Image by AI One Delivery. One Mistake. One House Full Of Secrets Story: S A Spencer Author of Popular Fictions : The Pink Mutiny , The Black Waters , Dream In Shackles The knock came just as Liam was sliding the delivery bag into the insulated pouch on his bike. He frowned at the address on the screen — a quiet cul‑de‑sac in the western suburbs, the kind where every house had the same beige bricks and the same solar panels. He’d been doing this job long enough to know which houses belonged to families, which to students, and which to people who didn’t want to be seen. This one felt like the last kind. He parked his scooter at the kerb and walked up the driveway, the bag swinging lightly in his hand. The instructions on the app were the usual: Leave at door. Don’t knock. Don’t call. He hated those. They always felt like someone was hiding something. He placed the bag on the mat, took a photo for proof, and turned to leave. Then he heard it — a voice inside. A man’s voic...