Retro Stories

In 1957 Detroit, visionary engineer Tom Valiant builds a counter-revolutionary machine in a rain-soaked carriage house. Facing a ruthless supply chain embargo orchestrated by GM executive Richard Sterling, Valiant and investor Marcus Stone must pivot. They engineer a high-speed tracking vehicle for a Hollywood studio, mounting a camera operator to their interceptor prototype's trunk. The studio payout funds a hostile buyout of Delco, breaking the Big Three's embargo and allowing Valiant to absorb Pontiac. Years later, this camera rig evolves into an adrenaline-fueled subculture. Thrill-seekers nationwide strap themselves to muscle car trunks using Valiant's "Rumble Harness" and "Series III Side-Saddle". At the center are Gloria, an architectural drafter running delivery routes, and her eighteen-year-old son, Sam. Sam rides as a "payload observer," strapped prone to the decklid of her Mayfair Maize 1968 Pontiac GTO. However, external transit physics are terrifying. Following a near-disaster in a freezing storm and a realization about kinetic shockwaves, Gloria must neutralize a fatal threat. She discovers the GTO's rigid racing shocks act as a deadly catapult against the harness, replacing them with soft touring shocks to force a safe "wallow". Interwoven with midnight drag races and Sam's journey driving a one-dollar 1955 VW Bus and a 1946 Buick Roadmaster, the story honors raw horsepower. Ultimately, it explores the unyielding bond between a mother, her son, and heavy Detroit steel.

She lived in a world of muted colors and held breaths, a habit born from years of navigating a home that felt more like an obstacle course than a sanctuary. For her, love was a performance-a series of high marks and quiet footsteps designed to keep the storm at bay. When she finally stumbled, the silence that followed from those who were supposed to catch her was louder than any shout. It left her convinced that she was only as valuable as her latest achievement. He, however, seemed to have been carved out of a Saturday afternoon. He was all uncoordinated limbs and effortless laughter, the kind of person who treated a rainy day like a personal invitation to splash in puddles. He didn't just enter a room; he brought the temperature up by five degrees. She didn't smile back-she didn't know how to yet-but for the first time in years, she forgot to check if she was standing up straight enough to be loved. He wasn't looking for her flaws; he was just looking at her, and the sun felt like it was finally starting to peek through the clouds. A story of two people finding solace in each other presence...

In the nostalgic town of Moss River, where drive-ins glow under neon lights and the nights hum with possibility, two worlds collide. Derek, a rebellious newcomer on his motorcycle, catches the eye of Lila, a high school senior with a heart full of dreams. As sparks fly under the Friday night sky, their slow-burning connection draws them into a journey of self-discovery, first love, and the magic of finding someone who sees you for who you truly are. Sunset and Silver is a tender, cinematic romance that proves some sparks are meant to last a lifetime.

A story set in the late 1980s, of a young love blooming in the lively city of Hyderabad. It was an era when the city was still learning to embrace change-when even a fleeting glance between Nawabs and Rajputs could ignite a collision. In the hush of the city's nights, two hearts found each other. Though separated by miles, they met every night, cloaked in disguise and hidden behind the veils of darkness. ROOH MALIK The daughter of Nawabs, living in the heart of the Nawabs' place-Yakutpura. This place itself was a resemblance of calmness and grace. Being a Nawab herself, Rooh embodied everything we call grace and purity. Polite yet mischievous, calm yet speaking of chaos. Then she fell in love with the man she was meant to hate with all her heart. PRATEEK KASHYAP The son of Rajputs, living in the embrace of Himayatnagar, the place where even mornings were disciplined. Raised among rules and order, Prateek was everything but chaos. The words he spoke were either filled with love or reform. He had only one rule-to never fall for the Nawab's traps, which were meant to destroy him. Yet, he fell. Will their love be accepted, or will they become another symbol of broken ties?

The year is 2008(AD), and the world is in the throes of another 70s revival. Nobody knew how or why it all began. That is the least of humanity's problems, however. Reality itself seems to be breaking down, to the dismay of scientists, corporate titans and the ruling elites/reptilian demigods that have lorded it over the existing structure for countless eons. Secret agent Cassius Croon is hired to investigate a series of particularly bizarre events transpiring around the globe. They suspect he is the One. Actually, he is the None.

David Kayde, desperate for some cash, discovers a job opening at the nightshift for the local arcade. Happily, he signs up and gets the job, unintentionally plunging himself into a week of terror. Not without making a friend on the way, of course. I may or may not make this a series.

Sage decided to thrift some headphones impulsively, little does she know they hold a story behind them.

[Wattys 2022 Winner!] Vanessa Brooks, an anxious and cynical seventeen year-old, discovers she can travel to the summer of 1953 through the run-down community pool in her rural Michigan town and risks her future as she falls for a boy who lives in the past. ****** On the last day of junior year, Vanessa Brooks joins her friends for a traditional jump into the city pool to celebrate the beginning of summer and the last year they plan to spend in Palmer, Michigan; a dead-end riverside town with an eerily abandoned historic main street and decaying Victorian mansions. But when she resurfaces her classmates have been replaced by girls in retro swimsuits and bathing caps and guys in thigh-baring briefs with cigarettes tucked behind their ears. When Pete Harrison, an unfamiliar face who seems somewhat familiar with hers, offers a dizzy and confused Vanessa a towel and a ride home, she discovers her house and family missing. She has somehow slipped into 1953, the year her grandparents graduated high school. Using the pool and vivid imaginings of her grandfather's memories, Vanessa continues to escape to 1953- and to Pete, who, despite his unaffected kindness and optimism, has a mysterious bad reputation around town. But as she dives deeper into the summer her grandparents fell in love, she finds herself unable to return to the present without venturing even further into the past to correct a mistake that threatens her family and future. *Content Warning: this story contains scenes of near drowning and other perils on the sea, swearing, smoking and alcohol use* This story is complete at ~90,000 words. Wattys Winner 2022- Catchiest Hook and Wild Card Shortlisted Wattys 2021 Featured on @WattpadTimeTravel Featured on @WattpadHistoricalRomance Featured on @TeenFiction Editor's choice list, December 2022, May 2023 Cover by @eva3382

Two aliens land on Earth. One is chaos in red boots. The other was sent to observe him... and never get involved. Del is an Orkan Specialist - precise, logical, and completely unprepared for humans, feelings, or the disaster that is Mork. But as the days turn into missions, and the missions turn into something that feels suspiciously like family, her perfect data starts breaking down. Because Earth isn't logical. It's messy. Loud. Emotional. And the longer Del watches... the more she starts to belong.

Lenora Cullen works part time at Ocean Brew, a secluded coastal coffee shop. It's important as a stepping stone for her future. However, she did not expect her life would take a turn when she accidentally spilled coffee on Brian Dormer, an aspiring writer with as much issues as hers. That one unpredictable moment is about to change the lives of these two strangers, forming a surprising and life-changing friendship. - #ONC2026 PROMPT 19: When you accidentally spill coffee on someone, the moment that should've ruined your day becomes the beginning of a surprising and life-changing friendship.

In the rain-soaked streets of 1950s Bombay, where tradition quietly battles change, Maya Sharma steps into a world she was never meant to belong to. The eldest of three daughters from a modest, traditional family, Maya takes up a job out of necessity-but finds herself in a world far bigger than she imagined. When Arjun Mehta, the foreign-returned son of her employer, walks back into the same office, their lives cross in the most unexpected way. He is everything she has been taught to stay away from. She is everything he never knew he was looking for. Between unspoken words, stolen glances, and the rhythm of monsoon rains, a quiet love begins to grow- But in a world bound by duty, family, and expectation... some stories are not meant to be lived fully.

Mullets. Precisely why they exist, I suspect we'll never know. But, nevertheless, exist they do. There are bad mullets and there are...well, less bad mullets and there are mullets whose very being make one question the fundamental tenets of reality. While the 80s gave us many fine things, I would argue the mullet is not among them. And yet, it would appear the mullet is resurgent. From the schoolyard to the sporting field, fine fellows featuring flowing locks flaunt their fashion-free flair in growing numbers, while the command "Short up front and leave the back alone" once again rings out in barbershops and hairdressers across the globe. This is weird. Very weird. Perhaps a review of some of history's...um, finest(?) mullets may shed some light on this mystery. Perhaps not. Let us see.

When childhood friends; Jane and Rhoda go on a trip together to see a distant lover. Where secrets are kept and true feelings are held. "Two women cannot be together thats unladylike!" Fate is cruel. But is love stronger than the strings that Fate pulls us towards?

"The day I met him, color shot through my world and for the first time in forever I felt alive" Richie Tozier, the trouble maker every teacher hated, is in a band with two of his close friends, but what happens when he meets a boy and invites him into his world of rock and roll.

The compelling story of a large joint family in rural India. Come on a journey with the characters as they go through the trials and tribulations of their lives with love, hate, disappointments, betrayal, devotion, happiness, contentment, sacrifice and heartbreak.

-A journey written through poems-

(A revised edition of "Way, Way Back", the first book in the Way Back series. Contains all the characters from the retellings, plus all-new events!) Alyssa Houlton is an eighteen-year-old college freshman, working her way through the struggles of college. However, on a seemingly normal Saturday morning in September, a dull headache that had been plaguing Alyssa since that Thursday suddenly intensifies, which causes her to black out and collapse on her bed. When she wakes up, she realizes one highly obvious thing- not only is she not in her bedroom, she's no longer in the present, either! She's in the year 1958, and she's on the floor of a recording studio in the Gee Records building. There, she meets The Teenagers, a doo-wop group hoping to rise back to the top of the music charts. As Alyssa slowly adjusts to her newfound life in the 1950s, she meets some unique friends; along the way, she falls in love with Sherman, the Teenagers' tall, clever bass singer, and Joe, the Teenagers' lovably goofy and witty baritone. Most importantly, will Alyssa decide to go back to the present?

The Cosmic Cavalry find themselves on yet another adventure, traveling the galaxy to help the helpless. I own no pictures unless stated otherwise. Episode Descriptions: E1: First Contact The crew receive a distress signal from a forbidden solar system and travel to the planet Dilo, where they must stop an alien invasion to help the planets citizens. E2: Journey to Exile The crew are hired to escort an important woman from the crime planet of Nuba to the rogue moon known as Exile.. They soon find out their passenger is not what she seems. E3: Invader When The Cruiser is hijacked into a large cargo ship run by another space crew, people begin dying. The Calvary must find out who the murderer is, before it's too late. E4: Heavy Metal The crew are hired by Starlight to travel to the dwaf, city planet Wiro to find and destroy a super weapon being built by the planets leading corporation Cyborg. E5: Return to Terra II Ben & Johnny are called back to their home planet to help with a potential world ending crisis and possible genocide to the entire human species. E6: Battle For Terra II The crew are reunited with old friends as the Chintins prepare to attack Terra II, with Ben stuck on the Chintin mothership, the crew must risk it all to save him and the entire human species from extinction.

Who ever thought that someone you absolutely hated, could become the person you'd grow to love, deeply for. That was the last thing, Lauren Castellano thought when she bumped into the cute, cocky, tough boy, John. Could good girl, Lauren escape from bad boy, John's love trap in the end?

This book is for Corey Haim and his characters' imagines. Enjoy!