Never Again

by Melissa Yang

He swore he'd never go back to the house on Sycamore Lane, not after what happened in the attic. But when the letter arrived—no return address, just a single line: You forgot something—his curiosity outweighed his fear. The front door creaked open on its own, as if expecting him, and the air inside smelled of dust and regret. On the attic floor, right where he’d left it ten years ago, sat the cracked porcelain doll, smiling wider than he remembered. As he bent to pick it up, the trapdoor slammed shut behind him. From the darkness, a voice whispered, “Never again… until now.”

6S

Melissa Yang writes stories that teeter on the edge of reality, often exploring eerie intersections of memory, myth, and the mundane. When she’s not writing, she’s likely thrift-shopping for old photographs or drinking too much tea while watching thunderstorms. Her work has appeared in several small journals and forgotten notebooks.