Hearing a scraping noise outside my window, I got up and pulled aside the curtain to find a man stealthily climbing down the iron pipe that leads to my mom's room on the first floor. I couldn't believe my eyes. How could she do this to my dad after so many years of marriage? Anger boiled inside me. Without a second thought, I stomped my way up the stairs with the intent of confronting her. I pushed the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar, and stormed in. But the sight that greeted me wasn't what I expected - Mom lay crumpled on the bed in a pool of blood, the armoire gaped open with its contents spilled across the floor.

-

"Dad, not again!" My old man can be stubborn, and unfortunately, age has slowed him down a bit. This time, his eccentricities reached a new high. Finding the shotgun unattended, he snuck out to confront our neighbors. Umm, how to put this delicately? He hates people of color, and his prejudice nearly caused a disaster. When I found him, he was aiming the gun at their son. I managed to talk him down. Gesturing towards the neighbor's kid who'd pulled out a smartphone, probably recording the whole thing, I muttered through gritted teeth, "Not now, Dad. We can always come back later and catch them off guard."

-

As I woke up, I found myself in a coffin. The lid, thankfully, was ajar. I pushed it open and emerged, only to be met with screams of horror from my family. They stood frozen, raw terror painted on their faces, some gasping audibly. At first, I dismissed it as a dream. However, when my dad's voice pierced the silence, panic gripped me. "What in God's name do you think you were doing lying naked on top of your dead aunt?"

-

I went back in time to comfort my heartbroken teenage self after getting dumped, assuring him he'd be fine and even marry the love of his life. I showed him a picture of my wife, a beautiful woman in her 30s. He said he can't wait that long and is threatening to kill himself if I can't get him to spend a night with what he believes is rightfully his.

-

I'd asked her to marry me, but she remained silent.

Then, a slow smile crept across her face, almost breaking into a full-blown grin. "What?" she finally asked, amusement bubbling in her voice, as if I'd offered a hilariously absurd proposition.

-

41% Life

I have this T-shirt, a clever Nas Daily-inspired design. It features a battery symbol displaying the supposed percentage of my life lived. The original merch was ridiculously expensive, though. So, for my 27th birthday, I convinced a designer friend of mine to create a more affordable "knockoff."

-

Search History

As I went through my husband's desktop search history, horror gripped me. "How to get away with killing my spouse," "How to dispose of a body" - these were the kinds of searches that filled his browser. My eyes widened as I spotted one in particular that read, "How to poison my wife." The bottle of water I had absentmindedly picked up a moment ago slipped from my trembling fingers, crashing to the floor. I recoiled instinctively, as if convinced that its contents were contaminated.

So he had been plotting to kill me this entire time, and I never had a clue. Although I was relieved that I had found out before anything fateful happened to me. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a noise. My heart raced, and I quickly turned around, terrified of being discovered. But there was nothing there - except for the lifeless body of my husband, with a knife still plunged into his heart, lying on the floor, just as I had left him.

-

"Hello, this is 911. What's your emergency?" The operator's voice was firm, and with practiced professionalism, he added, "Just a reminder, ma'am, we call back if you hang up on 911."

"There's been... a misunderstanding," the woman stammered, appearing confused. "I'm so sorry. It must be my son playing with the phone."

"Are you sure everything is alright?" The operator pressed.

"Yes, absolutely," the woman said coolly. "Sorry for the bother, have a wonderful day!"

She disconnected the call, a sigh of relief escaping her lips, before shoving the phone into the hand of the masked intruder holding a knife to her son's throat in a menacing way.

-

The Black Pill

I found myself on a Teams call with my boss, attempting to explain why I couldn't meet my target. Despite knowing full well that the market hadn't been performing as expected, he seemed to relish watching me squirm in my seat. A smug satisfaction was evident on his face.

-

"You're completely safe now," the doctor announced to the woman lying on the bed. His voice, gentle yet firm, conveyed reassurance. "It was quite risky, given you were four months along, but you're out of danger." The woman, pale and weak, barely able to whisper, rasped, "How's...my baby?"
A flicker of confusion darkened his features. "What baby? Aren't you here for an abor..." The question died on his lips, replaced by a dawning horror.

-