diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
index ac094f2..3c7c06e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/ChatScreens.kt
@@ -2464,7 +2464,7 @@ fun ColumnScope.StoryStrip(
 @Composable
 private fun ColumnScope.StoryViewer(model: MessengerViewModel, story: Vault.Story) {
     val remaining = remember(story.id) {
-        val seconds = story.ref.expires - System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000.0
+        val seconds = story.expires - System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000.0
         when {
             seconds <= 0 -> "expired"
             seconds < 3600 -> "${(seconds / 60).toInt()}m left"
@@ -2475,8 +2475,9 @@ private fun ColumnScope.StoryViewer(model: MessengerViewModel, story: Vault.Stor
         modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().padding(vertical = 8.dp).testTag("story-viewer"),
         verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(6.dp),
     ) {
-        AttachedImage(story.ref, model)
-        if (story.caption.isNotBlank()) Text(story.caption)
+        val ref = story.ref
+        if (ref == null) TextStoryCard(story.caption) else AttachedImage(ref, model)
+        if (story.caption.isNotBlank() && !story.textOnly) Text(story.caption)
         Row(
             modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth(),
             horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.SpaceBetween,
@@ -3502,8 +3503,12 @@ private fun FileBubble(ref: io.flamenet.e2e.Attachment.Ref, mine: Boolean) {
         horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(10.dp),
         modifier = Modifier.padding(vertical = 2.dp).testTag("chat.file"),
     ) {
+        // ⚠️ The kit's own icon set, not Material's. This file imports no
+        // Material icons at all, and the version that reached for one did not
+        // compile — which went unnoticed because the build was failing on a
+        // missing ANDROID_HOME before it ever got as far as Kotlin.
         Icon(
-            Icons.Filled.InsertDriveFile,
+            KitIcon.Attach,
             contentDescription = null,
             tint = onColour,
             modifier = Modifier.size(24.dp),
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/StoriesFeed.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/StoriesFeed.kt
index 82725eb..2551e26 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/StoriesFeed.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/StoriesFeed.kt
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import androidx.compose.ui.unit.dp
 import androidx.compose.ui.unit.sp
 import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.asImageBitmap
 import io.flamenet.e2e.Vault
+import androidx.compose.ui.text.style.TextAlign
+import androidx.compose.ui.text.style.TextOverflow
 
 /**
  * Stories as a feed you scroll, which is the kit's Timeline.
@@ -106,9 +108,9 @@ private fun StoryCard(
             ?: if (story.mine) "You" else "user ${story.authorId}"
     }
     val remaining = remember(story.id) {
-        val seconds = story.ref.expires - System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000.0
+        val seconds = story.expires - System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000.0
         when {
-            story.ref.expires <= 0L -> "no expiry"
+            story.expires <= 0L -> "no expiry"
             seconds <= 0 -> "expired"
             seconds < 3600 -> "${(seconds / 60).toInt()} min left"
             else -> "${(seconds / 3600).toInt()} h left"
@@ -180,14 +182,21 @@ private fun StoryCard(
             if (stream != null && streamHost != null &&
                 io.flamenet.e2e.StreamDisclosure.acceptable(stream)) {
                 StoryStreamGate(stream, streamHost)
-            } else if (story.ref.mime.startsWith("video/")) {
-                StoryVideoCard(story.ref, model)
             } else {
-                StoryImage(story.ref, model)
+                val ref = story.ref
+                when {
+                    // 🔴 Words alone, set large on a tinted band — the way
+                    // every other messenger draws one. A text story rendered
+                    // as a caption under an empty rectangle reads as a picture
+                    // that failed to load.
+                    ref == null -> TextStoryCard(story.caption)
+                    ref.mime.startsWith("video/") -> StoryVideoCard(ref, model)
+                    else -> StoryImage(ref, model)
+                }
             }
         }
 
-        if (story.caption.isNotBlank()) {
+        if (story.caption.isNotBlank() && !story.textOnly) {
             Spacer(Modifier.height(Space.md))
             Text(story.caption, fontSize = 14.sp, maxLines = 3)
         }
@@ -457,3 +466,32 @@ private fun StoryImage(ref: io.flamenet.e2e.Attachment.Ref, model: MessengerView
         else -> Text("Loading…", fontSize = 14.sp, color = Palette.SecondaryText)
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * A story that is only words.
+ *
+ * Set large and centred on a tinted band, matching iOS — a text story drawn as
+ * a caption under an empty grey rectangle reads as a picture that failed to
+ * load, which is the opposite of what the sender meant.
+ */
+@Composable
+fun TextStoryCard(text: String) {
+    Box(
+        modifier = Modifier
+            .fillMaxWidth()
+            .height(240.dp)
+            .clip(RoundedCornerShape(12.dp))
+            .background(MaterialTheme.colorScheme.primary.copy(alpha = 0.10f))
+            .testTag("story-text"),
+        contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
+    ) {
+        Text(
+            text,
+            style = MaterialTheme.typography.headlineSmall,
+            textAlign = TextAlign.Center,
+            maxLines = 6,
+            overflow = TextOverflow.Ellipsis,
+            modifier = Modifier.padding(20.dp),
+        )
+    }
+}
diff --git a/engine/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/e2e/Vault.kt b/engine/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/e2e/Vault.kt
index f241cd1..6fea338 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/e2e/Vault.kt
+++ b/engine/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/e2e/Vault.kt
@@ -397,10 +397,19 @@ class Vault(private val storage: Storage, private val key: SecretKey) {
         val id: String,
         val authorId: Long,
         val mine: Boolean,
-        val ref: Attachment.Ref,
+        /**
+         * The picture or video, when there is one.
+         *
+         * 🔴 Nullable because a story can be words alone. Non-nullable, there
+         * was nowhere for a text story to exist — which is why posting one was
+         * impossible rather than merely unbuilt, on both platforms.
+         */
+        val ref: Attachment.Ref?,
         val caption: String,
         val postedAt: Long,
         val seen: Boolean = false,
+        /** When it stops showing, in unix seconds. 0 means it does not. */
+        val expiresAt: Double? = null,
         /**
          * A live stream this story embeds, if it is one (§6.13).
          *
@@ -413,7 +422,13 @@ class Vault(private val storage: Storage, private val key: SecretKey) {
          */
         val streamUrl: String? = null,
     ) {
-        fun isActive(nowSeconds: Double): Boolean = ref.expires <= 0 || ref.expires > nowSeconds
+        /** Where the expiry actually lives — on the story, or on its picture. */
+        val expires: Double get() = expiresAt ?: ref?.expires ?: 0.0
+
+        /** Words with no picture behind them. */
+        val textOnly: Boolean get() = ref == null
+
+        fun isActive(nowSeconds: Double): Boolean = expires <= 0 || expires > nowSeconds
 
         /** The host a viewer would connect to, for the disclosure. */
         val streamHost: String?
@@ -583,9 +598,18 @@ class Vault(private val storage: Storage, private val key: SecretKey) {
         val array = readJson(STORIES)?.optJSONArray("items") ?: return emptyList()
         return (0 until array.length()).mapNotNull { i ->
             val o = array.getJSONObject(i)
-            val ref = Attachment.Ref.fromJson(
-                Attachment.STORY, o.getJSONObject("ref"), o.getJSONObject("ref").optDouble("exp", 0.0)
-            ) ?: return@mapNotNull null
+            // ⚠️ `optJSONObject`, not `getJSONObject`. A text story has no ref,
+            // and the throwing accessor would take down the load of EVERY
+            // story rather than skipping one — the feed would simply be empty
+            // with nothing to say why.
+            val refJson = o.optJSONObject("ref")
+            val ref = refJson?.let {
+                Attachment.Ref.fromJson(Attachment.STORY, it, it.optDouble("exp", 0.0))
+            }
+            // A row with a ref that would not parse is broken; one with no ref
+            // at all is a text story. Telling those apart is the difference
+            // between dropping a corrupt row and dropping a valid one.
+            if (refJson != null && ref == null) return@mapNotNull null
             Story(
                 id = o.getString("id"),
                 authorId = o.getLong("author"),
@@ -594,6 +618,7 @@ class Vault(private val storage: Storage, private val key: SecretKey) {
                 caption = o.optString("caption"),
                 postedAt = o.optLong("at"),
                 seen = o.optBoolean("seen", false),
+                expiresAt = if (o.has("expires")) o.optDouble("expires") else null,
             )
         }
     }
@@ -610,14 +635,19 @@ class Vault(private val storage: Storage, private val key: SecretKey) {
         val live = stories.filter { it.isActive(nowSeconds) }
         val array = org.json.JSONArray()
         live.forEach { story ->
-            array.put(JSONObject()
+            val row = JSONObject()
                 .put("id", story.id)
                 .put("author", story.authorId)
                 .put("mine", story.mine)
-                .put("ref", story.ref.toJson())
                 .put("caption", story.caption)
                 .put("at", story.postedAt)
-                .put("seen", story.seen))
+                .put("seen", story.seen)
+                .put("expires", story.expires)
+            // Only when there is one — `put(key, null)` REMOVES a key here,
+            // which is what we want, but being explicit is clearer than
+            // relying on it.
+            story.ref?.let { row.put("ref", it.toJson()) }
+            array.put(row)
         }
         writeJson(STORIES, JSONObject().put("items", array))
     }