Fiction

illustration of two hands holding a copy of the book The Let Them Theory
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Stefanie Keenan / Getty.

Where Did ‘Let Them’ Come From?

Years before Mel Robbins published her best-selling self-help book, a struggling writer posted a poem with a similar message.

Blue Skies

Constance and Ray had been married for six years, and more than five of them had been shaky. Now Ray seemed to have turned a corner, but Constance couldn’t shake her premonitions of disaster

Peeling

Mostly they work in silence, but when they speak, their talk is like rain held too long in heavy clouds

Charity

Janice felt lovely with social responsibility. She was a more giving and carefree person than Richard, her husband, she thought gratefully, and that’s why she could move so freely through the world