Human Drama — World of CuriousShort original fiction about the arguments people actually have: the seating plan, the inheritance, the fence line, the in-laws. Every story here is written by us and labelled as fiction.https://worldofcurious.com/en-auThe Key Is in a Drawer, and Sandra Comes on Tuesdayshttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-5/Part five of five. What changed after the christening, what did not, and the two times Sandra stood on the step in the rain.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMTMother-in-Law Storiesfictionfamilyin-lawsEditorial TeamWhat She Said at the Tea Urn, and Why Wendy Was at Table Onehttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-4/Part four of five. The reason the neighbour had been moved to the top table was not the one Priya had spent all morning being angry about.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 03:00:00 GMTMother-in-Law Storiesfictionfamilyin-lawsEditorial TeamThe Conversation at the Door, and the Hand That Went Into the Baghttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-3/Part three of five. Priya had nine versions of what she was going to say. She used none of them, and asked for something she had not planned to ask for.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 01:00:00 GMTMother-in-Law Storiesfictionfamilyin-lawsEditorial TeamIt Took Him Forty Seconds to Understand, and She Thought About It for a Yearhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan-part-2/Part two of five. Dan arrives with the cake, and the gap between him seeing the room and understanding the room turns out to matter more than the cards did.Wed, 16 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMTMother-in-Law Storiesfictionfamilyin-lawsEditorial TeamSomebody Had Been in the Hall Before Six in the Morninghttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-christening-seating-plan/Part one of five. Priya arrives to put the flowers out and finds eighty name cards in the wrong order, and works out who has a key.Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:00:00 GMTMother-in-Law Storiesfictionfamilyin-lawsEditorial TeamThey Moved in February. Fixing the Tense Took Two Years.https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-5/Part five of five. The move was right. That turned out to be the complicating factor rather than the ending.Sun, 13 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMTMarriage DilemmasfictionmarriageworkEditorial TeamNo, Because Then It Is Minehttps://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-4/Part four of five. He offered to turn the job down. She refused, for a reason that took him five weeks to understand.Sun, 13 Sep 2026 03:00:00 GMTMarriage DilemmasfictionmarriageworkEditorial TeamThe List She Wrote on the Back of an Envelope at Two in the Morninghttps://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-3/Part three of five. Eleven things in one column, two things in the other, and the item that made the whole list impossible to argue with.Sun, 13 Sep 2026 01:00:00 GMTMarriage DilemmasfictionmarriageworkEditorial TeamThe Boarding Pass Was Still in the Pocket of the Jackethttps://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first-part-2/Part two of five. She took his jacket to the dry cleaner, went through the pockets out of habit, and found out how many times he had already been.Sat, 12 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMTMarriage DilemmasfictionmarriageworkEditorial TeamHe Said He Had Taken the Job. Not That He Had Been Offered It.https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first/https://worldofcurious.com/article/he-accepted-the-job-first/Part one of five. Marianne was holding a colander of green beans when her husband told her, in the past tense, that they were moving eleven hundred kilometres.Sat, 12 Sep 2026 21:00:00 GMTMarriage DilemmasfictionmarriageworkEditorial TeamHe Rang on the Twenty-Second of December, on the House Phonehttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-5/Part five of five. Fifty minutes, standing at the sink with wet hands, and a dead phone in a drawer in the hall that nobody will throw away.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMTRelationship BetrayalsfictionmarriagefamilyEditorial TeamHe Told Her Everything, Badly, and Out of Orderhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-4/Part four of five. Two and a half years of information delivered in one afternoon by a man who had been carrying it alone.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 03:00:00 GMTRelationship BetrayalsfictionmarriagefamilyEditorial TeamShe Asked Him on a Sunday, Standing Up, With the Radio Onhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-3/Part three of five. He did not look surprised, which she had braced for. He did not look guilty, which she had also braced for.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 01:00:00 GMTRelationship BetrayalsfictionmarriagefamilyEditorial TeamFourteen Days of Watching a Man She Had Been Married to for Twenty-Nine Yearshttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed-part-2/Part two of five. This is the part people find hardest to understand, and the part she has least interest in defending.Sun, 06 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMTRelationship BetrayalsfictionmarriagefamilyEditorial TeamA Charged Phone in a Shed Is a Phone Somebody Is Usinghttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-second-phone-in-the-shed/Part one of five. It was in a margarine tub, under a folded tarpaulin, behind the tins of screws. It was not the phone that frightened her.Sun, 06 Sep 2026 21:00:00 GMTRelationship BetrayalsfictionmarriagefamilyEditorial TeamTell Me Who Is Not Speaking. I Do Not Need to Know Why.https://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-5/Part five of five. Who apologised, who never will, and the sentence Erin now says out loud about twice a year.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:00 GMTWedding DramafictionweddingsfamilyEditorial TeamIt Would Have Made the Difference That I Would Have Moved the Tablehttps://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-4/Part four of five. Forty minutes on the phone, and one sentence Erin had been assembling since the fish course.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 03:00:00 GMTWedding DramafictionweddingsfamilyEditorial TeamAn Entire Family Conducting a Catastrophe Through Small Talkhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-3/Part three of five. Table eleven behaved beautifully. That was somehow the worst part, and Erin has watched the video twice.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 01:00:00 GMTWedding DramafictionweddingsfamilyEditorial TeamNineteen Thousand Pounds, and a Barbecue in Augusthttps://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven-part-2/Part two of five. The full sequence, in the order Erin eventually assembled it, which was not the order in which anybody told her.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMTWedding DramafictionweddingsfamilyEditorial TeamShe Found Out at Her Own Wedding, From a Nine-Year-Oldhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven/https://worldofcurious.com/article/table-eleven/Part one of five. The seating plan had taken Erin eleven days and four versions. At ten past four a child came and stood next to her at the top table.Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMTWedding DramafictionweddingsfamilyEditorial TeamThe Largest Act of Disobedience Available to Herhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-5/Part five of five. Her brother thinks the label was cowardice. Gwen does not, and she has worked out exactly why.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMTFamily SecretsfictionfamilysecretsEditorial TeamHe Had Been Findable for Twenty-Eight Yearshttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-4/Part four of five. The search took five weeks, which was the part Gwen found hardest. He had put his name down in 1997.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 03:00:00 GMTFamily SecretsfictionfamilysecretsEditorial TeamMother: Eileen Wardle, Nineteen. Father: Blank.https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-3/Part three of five. The small brown envelope had one document in it, and it rearranged everything Gwen knew about her mother.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 01:00:00 GMTFamily SecretsfictionfamilysecretsEditorial TeamThe Fourth Letter Was the One That Did Ithttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft-part-2/Part two of five. Twenty letters from a woman called Joan, mostly about shoes and the weather. And then one paragraph that stopped both of them.Sat, 29 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMTFamily SecretsfictionfamilysecretsEditorial TeamThe Box Was Labelled Not to Be Opened, in Her Mother’s Handwritinghttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-box-in-the-loft/Part one of five. Gwen was clearing the loft for the house sale. The box had been under the water tank for thirty-one years.Sat, 29 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMTFamily SecretsfictionfamilysecretsEditorial TeamNothing Dramatic Happened to Karen. It Rarely Does.https://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-5/Part five of five. What actually changed was smaller than justice and considerably more useful, and it is the reason he gives the advice he gives.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMTWorkplace DramafictionworkofficeEditorial TeamPreeti Told Him to Send It as a Handoverhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-4/Part four of five. Eleven years in the organisation had taught her something he had not thought of: do not send it as a complaint.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 03:00:00 GMTWorkplace DramafictionworkofficeEditorial TeamThe Coffee That Was Over Before It Startedhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-3/Part three of five. He had rehearsed for a reasonable person. Nine words into her reply, he understood that was not the meeting he was in.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 01:00:00 GMTWorkplace DramafictionworkofficeEditorial TeamFour Days, Three Emails, and Not One of Them Senthttps://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides-part-2/Part two of five. He wrote a furious one, a reasonable one and a nine-word one. What he did instead took two hours and changed how he felt.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMTWorkplace DramafictionworkofficeEditorial TeamHe Recognised the Slides Because He Had Made Themhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides/https://worldofcurious.com/article/she-presented-his-slides/Part one of five. Ade was only in the quarterly review because somebody had a dentist appointment. Then his manager stood up and opened his deck.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMTWorkplace DramafictionworkofficeEditorial TeamWhat She Kept Was the Royal Doulton. Seventy Pounds the Lot.https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-5/Part five of five. The clock is in a private collection in the Netherlands. What Aoife took out of the house was worth nothing at all.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMTInheritance DramafictioninheritancefamilyEditorial TeamThen Her Brother Rang and Said She Should Have More Than a Thirdhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-4/Part four of five. The clock made the estate worth fifty-seven thousand pounds. The second conversation was the one Aoife had not prepared for.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 03:00:00 GMTInheritance DramafictioninheritancefamilyEditorial TeamShe Rang Them Before She Knew What It Was Worthhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-3/Part three of five. Four seconds in a hallway, and the decision the entire story turns on.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 01:00:00 GMTInheritance DramafictioninheritancefamilyEditorial TeamHe Turned It Over and Did Not Say Anything for a Whilehttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house-part-2/Part two of five. It had not worked since 1998 and had a dent in the corner from when Marcus was eleven.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMTInheritance DramafictioninheritancefamilyEditorial TeamForty Years of Work Came to Twenty-Six Thousand Poundshttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-clock-worth-more-than-the-house/Part one of five. The house was worth less than the loan against it. On the family call, Marcus said what everybody was thinking and should not have said.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMTInheritance DramafictioninheritancefamilyEditorial TeamTell Whoever Buys It That the Posts Are Under the Rockeryhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-5/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-5/Part five of five. They did not become friends. It is important to be honest about that, because the version where they do is not what happened.Mon, 10 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMTNeighbour DramafictionneighboursdisputesEditorial TeamShe Found Four Concrete Post Bases Still in the Groundhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-4/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-4/Part four of five. The surveyor took an afternoon in both gardens and a morning at the land registry, and produced fourteen pages Colin read six times.Mon, 10 Aug 2026 03:00:00 GMTNeighbour DramafictionneighboursdisputesEditorial TeamIt Is Like Living Next Door to a War You Are Not Inhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-3/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-3/Part three of five. What the Wednesday arrangement actually was, and the year Colin decided to sell.Mon, 10 Aug 2026 01:00:00 GMTNeighbour DramafictionneighboursdisputesEditorial TeamNine Years, Four Solicitors, and a Folder on His Computer Called VANhttps://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-2/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved-part-2/Part two of five. A hedge planted with intent, a shed eight centimetres from the line, and two hundred and twelve photographs of a parked vehicle.Sun, 09 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMTNeighbour DramafictionneighboursdisputesEditorial TeamHe Knocked, the First Time. That Matters, Because of How It Was Described Later.https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved/https://worldofcurious.com/article/the-fence-that-moved/Part one of five. After the storm, the new fence went back up eleven centimetres out. Colin measured it, then went round with a tea towel still on the go next door.Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMTNeighbour DramafictionneighboursdisputesEditorial Team