Part 4: What the Street Agreed to Call It
Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.
Fiction
Made up, but not invented
Original short stories set in parking lots, diners, break rooms and back yards.
Invented people, borrowed weather, no real names.
Part 5: What Has a Name
Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.
Every story here was written at this desk. Invented people, borrowed weather, no real names — and no submissions, ever. Fiction is filed on Sundays because that is when it reads best.
What would this ordinary night look like from the inside?
Settings
Parking lots, diners, break rooms, back yards.
Restraint
Short stories that end where they end.
Originality
Every draft is audited before it is filed.
More from Fiction
Part 3: The Truth in the Backyard
Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.
The Last Customer
In a diner that's been open since 1962.
Part 2: What Marjorie Ptak Remembers
Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.
Part 1: The Fence Went Up in Two Days
Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.
Invented people, borrowed weather, no real names.
Reading Fiction
Filed on Sundays
A new story most Sundays
Standalone shorts and serials
Clearly labelled as fiction
The complete Fiction file
- The House on Briar Lane — Part 5: What Has a Name
- The House on Briar Lane — Part 4: What the Street Agreed to Call It
- The House on Briar Lane — Part 3: The Truth in the Backyard
- The Last Customer
- The House on Briar Lane — Part 2: What Marjorie Ptak Remembers
- The House on Briar Lane — Part 1: The Fence Went Up in Two Days
Browse every section
Good stories.Once a week.
Stories about the ordinary things that mean the most.