Uprooted Novels & Stories

When I woke up, a young nurse pushed the door open and walked in. She said, "The sample didn't make it. It shattered completely. IVF won't be possible anymore." "What about Hannah? How is she?" The nurse looked at me, her eyes full of sympathy. "Her uterus was removed. She won't be able to have children in the future." I froze for three seconds. Then I burst out laughing. I laughed until tears poured out, until my wounds tore open, until I looked like a madman from a psychiatric ward.

" I lifted the dead plant. The soil was bone dry, and every leaf had yellowed or fallen. I had bought that pothos on the day I moved into the new house, and Marcus had helped me water it for the first time. He had said, "Jules, this plant is like us. Once it takes root, it never moves." Roots. He had torn every one of mine from the ground.

“I’m sorry,” I say “You’re probably right, it is all my fault. It’s my fault they’re dead. It’s my fault they’re all dead.” I close my eyes, tears flowing freely. “All dead?” He questions. “The couple, I don’t even know their names,” I choke out in sobs, “My mom,” I fall to my knees, “My mom died because I was gone and they couldn’t find me,” I don’t want to say the last one but I have to get it out. “My brother, when we fought, I saw red and next thing you know my claws slashed across his throat.” I’m crying so hard I can’t see. “I didn’t even know I had claws, he always used to hit me but I never hit back, but after he came at me this time I- I couldn’t help it, I went to hit back but it w

Something unbreakable. Something ready to rise.

Orlando and I had been together for ten years. I'd looked after his sick mom, sweating out a fever of my own, and where was he? Knocking back drinks with Rosalind, playing therapist to her broken heart. I swallowed my pride at work, getting chewed out by my boss, while he spent the night companying Rosalind because she had cramps. Then, when I got the news my mom had passed, I tried calling him, desperate for support. But nope—phone off. After a wild goose chase, turns out he was at Rosalind's graduation. That was it. I gave up. But Orlando wouldn't let go. Red-eyed, he begged me for just one more chance.

The Roots Weep Mirra knelt at the base of a gnarled elder oak, her knees pressing into damp soil. Her fingers traced the moss that clung stubbornly to the bark. Normally, the moss was lush and springy, cool with life. A comfort. A promise of the tree’s health, of the forest’s endless resilience. But today, it crumbled beneath her touch. Brittle. Dry. As if some unseen blight had brushed through, scouring away vitality in its wake.

she whispered, her voice barely a breath. She tried to crawl toward him, but the ground beneath her suddenly felt soft. Not moss-soft, but liquid. She looked down and saw the obsidian roots of the World-Tree beginning to dissolve. The corruption she had used to save Micah was now eating the very foundation of the Under-Whisper.

Suddenly my phone buzzed My heart stumbled Slowly I pulled away from my parents And slowly unlocked my phone Blake I’m almost at the house Open the door, Monique is starved My blood ran cold My fingers tightened around around the phone, but not from fear this time but from deep hatred I calmly smiled, a wicked smile, as I switched off my phone.

“Hello, boss,” came the voice on the other end. Alex opened the door and stepped down from the car, pacing around, his finger tapping on the body of the car. “Dan, I need you to do something for me.” Alex’s voice was cold and clipped. “Listen,” he said. “I need you to investigate something immediately. I was served a spiked juice tonight at Club Unite. Annie ended up drinking it.” His tone darkened.

Pathetic. My penthouse is just like a tomb. Of course, expensive, the best of its kind, but cold. Too cold for my liking. Everything exactly the way I left it this morning, which is how I left it yesterday, and the day before. No life, none of importance. I hate it. But I'll prefer this to surrounding myself with fools. My briefcase slips from my hand, hits the marble island with a crack that echoes through the goddamn floor. I loosen my tie. Still uncomfortable, I rip the fucker off completely and throw it on the couch.