We have all grown up believing in happy endings — because fiction always heals what reality breaks. But what if stories didn’t lie? What if fiction reflected the truth? Not every story is meant to end in happiness. Some end in loss. Some end in silence. Some end with unfinished love and unspoken goodbyes. This is a collection of real endings. Stories that prove not everyone is meant to stay. Not every love is meant to last. Not every beginning leads to forever. Some stories end quietly. Some end in grief. Some end with broken promises and words that were never said. And yes… these endings leave regrets. Regrets that don’t fade with time. Regrets that don’t soften with healing. They stay. They breathe with you. They sit quietly beside you for a lifetime—uninvited, unavoidable. Regrets of words never spoken. Of love held back. Of choices made too late or too early. Of staying when you should have left… or leaving when you should have stayed. These are not gentle regrets. They are raw. They are rough. And they are helpless—because no matter how much you wish to rewrite the past, some endings refuse to change. All you can do… is live with them. Because some stories don’t end with closure— they end with regret. These stories remind you that even after a devastating ending, life demands to be lived. Even after loss, the future waits. Even after everything shatters, you are still expected to breathe, to walk, to endure. Because sometimes, the bravest ending… is not happiness. It is survival. Pain: A Recital of Sad Endings is a collection of short stories that explores the endings denied of fairy-tale closures. Where heartbreak is raw, grief is heavy, and moving on is not a choice—but a survival instinct.