-
New to Five Minute Observations? Welcome. I’m Joe Class III, and I write stories and essays about what I notice, the encounters that reveal something true, and the moments that stick with you after they’re gone. If you’re just getting started, these three pieces will give you a sense of what this space is about:…
-
Warren liked order. He liked knowing where things went, how they worked, and who was responsible for what. He liked unlock-and-lock routines, the satisfying click of certainty at the end of the day. That’s why he’d said yes when they asked him to join the committee. Not because he wanted authority. He told himself that…
-
Love looks like staying. You choose not to say the thing that hurts because today? It’s not the right day. You choose patience, telling yourself that giving out grace is best. But like it or not, a marriage, or even a church, often ends long before the final, resolute goodbye. There’s no shouting. It doesn’t…
-
Pledge wood cleaner. The scent of lemon washed over Marla the second she stepped through the church doors. A sharp citrus scent and underneath it, something much older, mustier, harder to scrub away. Old hymnals. Wool carpet. The smell ancient churches accumulate whether they want to or not. It’s a smell Marla notices because she…
-
I didn’t sleep the rest of that night. I tossed and turned, staring at the ceiling, replaying Oliver’s voice. What if she’s been watching ever since? 6 AM. Sitting at my kitchen table, coffee within reach, and my laptop open, scouring all the public records I could, looking for Patricia Denton. It didn’t take long…
-
Margaret sits across from her best friend Elena in Elena’s kitchen, smelling both the hot cinnamon rolls and the fresh-brewed coffee. Twenty-five years of marriage, and it comes down to this. A Tuesday morning, sitting at Elena’s worn oak table. Alone in her car, she practiced these words. They’re tougher to say out loud to…
-
Oliver walked out of Henderson Hardware into the late May afternoon, a plastic bag in one hand and a crowbar in the other. He wore what he always wore for weekend projects: khaki cargo shorts, a faded Cardinals t-shirt, and the old New Balance sneakers Sarah used to tease him about. She’d been gone four…
-
“That’s it?” The princess stares at him as if she finished drinking poison. The Weaver shifts in the chair, making a terrible creaking noise, as if it would fall apart at any moment. The slight movement sends a sharp pain shooting down his spine, making him grimace. His joints and bones creak like the chair,…
-
Thursday vanished from Des Moines without so much as an apology. Me and Oliver Finch? We noticed. Everyone else? Forgot. But Oliver watched time misbehave before. And he never trusted it twice.
-
The Missing Building concludes tonight! Paul Sullivan finally meets the ghost who’s haunted him for thirty years. Some doors, once opened, can never be closed. What price would you pay to see beyond the ordinary world? Part VII drops now. Link in comments. #fiction #mystery #serializedstory
-
Ruby reveals the horrifying truth about Paul’s grandfather and his ties to TRI. It’s time for Paul to make an impossible choice, as they race through the parking garage shadows. The Missing Building is racing toward its stunning conclusion! Stay tuned for the last chapter, coming soon!
Stories. Enjoy!
