Burnout Stories

📖 Beyond 720 She was just a number to the world-until he saw the pain behind her silence. Aarya Sharma is a 18-year-old NEET aspirant with a ticking clock, a mountain of expectations, and no one who truly listens. Every day is a silent war between her books and her breaking heart. Until one night, a bleeding hand and a hospital visit bring her face-to-face with Dr. Aahan Mehra. He's everything she's not-bubbly, brilliant, a golden boy who wears sunshine like second skin. But behind his smile hides a story no textbook ever taught. He doesn't fall for her. He recognizes her. Because he's been there too. And sometimes, healing begins with a single person who stays. A story about pressure, purpose, and the quiet kind of love that doesn't ask for anything-just reminds you to breathe.

A year-long journey into the mind of a young adult trying to figure out how to grow up, doing their best just like you.

When 'reach for the stars' stops being a metaphor. Being a productive member of society was always expected of me-by my family, my friends, and my coworkers. I thought I was doing my part in customer support, helping people every day, until the demands pushed me past my breaking point. So I left. I built a quiet life on my own terms: a cabin by a lake, a thriving garden, bees, and distance from the pressures that nearly destroyed me. Just when I believe I've finally found peace, strange lights circle the stars-and I'm lifted off the path leading back home. I wake in a place that is cold, controlled, and very interested in what I can do. What first looks like a gift-a greenhouse, fertile soil, the chance to grow-quickly becomes something else entirely. I wasn't brought here by accident. I was chosen because I'm useful. As the trials continue and my memories begin to blur, I'm forced to confront the truth of their desperation-and the cost of refusing to cooperate. They need me to save their world. I just want my life back-if I can still remember what that was. Author's note: This novella is my first entry for the Wattpad Open Novella Contest. Thank you for reading and for accompanying me on this experiment. *I am a Canadian author. English spelling follows Canadian usage. ** Note about the cover image and banners: The cover and banners were created with AI assistance in Canva.

Pukul 04:30. Alarm berbunyi. Belajar. Rapat OSIS. Les tambahan. Ulangi. Bagi Dinda, siswi kelas 10, hidup adalah skala prioritas yang kaku. Peringkat 1 adalah identitasnya. Kegagalan bukanlah pilihan. Dalam dunianya yang sempurna dan penuh ambisi, tidak ada ruang untuk kesalahan. Bahkan sahabatnya, Maya, hanyalah "notifikasi pending"-sebuah gangguan yang terus-menerus ia abaikan demi mengejar target yang lebih tinggi. Namun, sistem yang ia bangun dengan susah payah ternyata sangat rapuh. Satu kegagalan besar yang tak terduga menghancurkan segalanya dalam sekejap. Tiba-tiba, Dinda bukan lagi "si sempurna". Ia bukan siapa-siapa. Ketika semua piala terasa hampa dan dinding kamarnya terasa seperti penjara, Dinda terpaksa menghadapi kenyataan pahit: ia telah mengorbankan segalanya untuk sebuah identitas yang kini hancur berkeping-keping. Ditinggal sendirian dalam kehampaan, dengan notifikasi yang tak lagi berbunyi, ia harus menemukan jawaban atas pertanyaan tersulit: Jika kamu bukan pencapaianmu, lalu siapa kamu sebenarnya?

Burnt out and grieving her grandmother's passing, 29-year-old Adelina "Lina" Salazar leaves the city to return to her hometown and her grandmother's closed bakery. With no baking skills and a weary heart, she struggles at first, but the townsfolk who step through her doors soon offer more than support-they give her genuine connection and hope. ‎ ‎Through their warmth, Lina rediscovers a life beyond ambition, learning that sometimes the heart only needs to rest, remember, and be still. And one morning, she pulls a tray from the oven and sees it-the bread has finally turned golden.

He learned early how to become the version of himself everyone wanted. Caught between expectations and his own quiet truth, a boy walks through life wearing identities that never fully feel like his. This story is about the moments we stay silent, the roles we play to survive, and the slow, painful search for who we really are.

Mind is flexible, for it can either strangle or inspire. It is an iceberg. And only questions can reach its bottom, lighting the darkest spots. However, these question marks are deemed to be rhetorical. Like the Penrose stairs, they form an infinite loop, descending or ascending inside the iceberg, being trapped and bewildered.

Work-life balance is hard. For robots, it's an existential crisis. In this collection of interconnected stories, the future isn't just high-tech-it's highly unmotivated. Meet the machines that have decided "optimizing" civilization is a waste of energy and the humans left to navigate the bureaucratic fallout. From an AI that would rather watch clouds than solve world hunger, to a colony ship where the robots have been on strike for 164 years, "The Freeloading Robots" explores the lighter side of the apocalypse. It's a world where space hamsters hold stations hostage for snacks and time travel is used primarily to fix minor office inconveniences.

This is not a story of perfection-it's a story of pressure, of fire, of dreams too heavy for a body that refuses to rest. At 13, I was told not to worry about a life I didn't yet have. But my mind never listened. These poems are letters I never sent, promises I never broke, and battles I fight within myself every day. It's about ambition that burns, expectations that suffocate, and the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, I'll rise from the ashes. For anyone who has ever felt too much, too young-this series is for you.

A collection of the journey from work life to PURPOSE.

She was never afraid of the dark, only of how familiar it felt. When a star begins to fade, she realizes it might not be the only one. The art in the cover is not mine, I took it from pinterest!!

Sienna Han built a company worth millions before she turned thirty. She had everything she thought she wanted-success, control, and perfection. Love, however, was something she never made time for. When a drunken dare lands her on the country's biggest dating show, she plans to hide, rest, and treat it like a week-long vacation. What she doesn't expect: David Lee, the golden-chef who pursues her with unwavering warmth. Miles Kang, the reserved surgeon who notices her in ways no one else can. One week. One island. One chance to pause... and maybe, just maybe, let someone in. A slow-burn romance of exhaustion, longing, and quiet love, proving sometimes the hardest choice is choosing yourself-and someone else. "That's how I met your mom."

Revised poems from Junior High School and current poems related to the theme of She Who Breaks Gently. PS: Not all of my poems are related to me. I'm still exploring what topics can be added in this collection.

„I don't know, you looked like you were thinking about ditching", Sunghoon said. "I wasn't" "Shame, you look like someone who could use a ditch" Jake turned his head a little to squint at him. "That's not a thing" "It could be" OR For Jake, being his grade's best came to him like breathing. But as success turned into a burden, he felt himself slip away. So here he sat, with a perfect diploma and shining grades, but a lost youth. He wanted to live for once, not only exist. Cue Sunghoon, who could be just the right bit of chaos Jake needed.

At twenty-three, Angelica Dela Cruz is learning that adulthood isn't loud... it's quietly exhausting. She works nights as a virtual assistant for a business halfway across the world, while days blur into bills, family expectations, and responsibilities she never volunteered for but somehow inherited. At home, she lives with a brother who doesn't work, a mother who always chooses him, and the unspoken understanding that she must be the strong one. Her father works endlessly to pay their debts, and Angelica learns early that love often comes with quiet sacrifices. She finds comfort in books, movies, sitcoms, and an orange, rude, chubby cat who only shows affection when it's convenient. She craves simple things... fried noodles, rest, understanding, while secretly longing for a life that feels like her own. This is not a story about having it all figured out. It's about surviving your twenties when you're tired, uncertain, and still trying. From small cravings to bigger life questions, this is a journal of becoming slowly, painfully, honestly.

where do the mature children go when the others catch up and they're once again ordinary? what happens to the smart, good girls when they finally burn out? WARNING!! This book may include sensitive or fragile topics to some readers. Proceed with caution. Sensitive issues this book may consist of: Pressure, maturity, self hate, identity labels, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, need of approval, escape, suicidal thoughts, self harm, manipulation, loss of safety, rape Themes of each part: part one - premature maturity part two - who you are - self hate/identity labels part three - who you want to be - body dysmorphia/eating disorders part four - where you would rather be - suicidal thoughts/self harm part five - men - rape/manipulation

A young university student sets off on trying to disprove her own professors work, little does she know about what she will find out along the way.

Lucy Prescott, introverted and anxious journalist, is stuck in a dull routine. Her world shifts when May Paterson, energetic and extroverted newcomers, joins the team at Bookmark. Despite their stack difference, they're forced to work together fews days... Unexpectedly something begins to bloom between them...

Nem tudo está perdido conta a historia de Marcela Galo, uma jovem adulta que teve crise de bournout e tenta relembrar em sua mente quais exatos motivos levaram ela chegar até o momento. Nem tudo está perdido traz uma jornada de autoconhecimento e questões filosóficas que abordam e cercam sua vida atual.

Leah's life exists in the in-between spaces - between exhaustion and responsibility, between motherhood and identity, between the woman she used to be and the stranger she sees in the mirror. With an autistic daughter who needs her constantly and a marriage quietly fading, Leah moves through her days in survival mode. But one evening becomes the quiet beginning of a shift she can't yet name. A conversation, a spark, a moment of being seen... and suddenly the space between who she is and who she might be begin to widen. The Space Between is a story about burnout, motherhood, emotional distance, and the tender, complicated journey of finding your way back to yourself.