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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Start your story with the line, “It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same,” and end it with, “[…] and that was all that mattered.”

Posted in Adults on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 178 stories

“The Reunion” by Kerry Hembruff

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The old four room log cabin that sat at the end of the long uneven gravel driveway was well hidden by the thick brush and trees surrounding the building . It hadn’t changed at all. She was seventeen when she last was here and after what happened, Paige Winters thought she would never come back to this place again. But here she was and it felt eerie as it was precisely how she remembered it. She didn’t always hate this place. In fact when she fir...

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“Stalling” by Ray Vermeulen

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same.  Dr. Reed noted as he looked down at the medical records, she grew up in this town before she moved out, across the country to go live with her man. Reed of course, never knew this woman, but the last few times they spoke he got the impression that their life was perfect before; Before they needed specialty care. So far from home, where things were cozy. It always would seem that way in hindsight, you only pay attention to the little idiosyncr...

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“Richard's Mother” by Sarah Butland

Submitted to Contest #68

“It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same but she didn’t.” He chuckled as he stared out at the crowd. They were taking a bit longer than usual to settle but they would get there. He repeated the sentence and waited for the surprised looks he expected but they never came. The group of teenagers usually turned everything into something dirty and Mr Turnbull played on that idea, hoping to spark their interest but they were off that day. It wasn’t like any other, he would soon find out and tho...

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“The Promise” by Elizabeth Lichty

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same; the hardwood floors had lost some of their lusters and the dust was collecting itself heavily in the corners of the grand entranceway... the once glistening chandelier above her was coated in a thick veil of spider webs. She stood at the base of the grand staircase still praying to hear the echoes of the previous grandeur...for a moment, it was as if she could smell the brandy upon his collar as she entered the ballroom.    There w...

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“Palm tree memorial” by MD ABU OBAIDA ZISHAN

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. She checked her wristwatch. It was 3:00 pm. She decided to wait for 30 more minutes. And this would be the last 30 minutes she is going to wait for him. Not a minute more. “Not even a second”, the thought echoed in her mind. She sat down in their usual spot: a bench by the palm tree. For some inexplicable reason, the tree always seemed sick. The gardeners or government staff responsible always overlooked it.   The tree had green leaves...

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“The Long Road Home” by Debbie Persichetti

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same.  Veronica had left home at 18 years old and never looked back.  She traveled as far away as she could, taking a full time job as a waitress in a greasy spoon.  Rented her first apartment, a room above a tattoo parlor in town.  Not even missing Jake, the boy next door, her first boyfriend, first and only love was enough to bring her back.  Now, at 42 years old she’s standing in front of the house her mother left her.  H...

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“A One Bedroom in Brooklyn” by Melissa Mahoney

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. Pictures of special friends and crazy adventures hung near the bar.  Stacks of vinyl albums and books displayed neatly in rows on the Ikea shelving, an old record player rests in the place of a television. Her eyes locked on the book she gifted him on his 40th birthday, it was in the same place the last time she was here. She had just met him a few weeks earlier, she wasn't sure the gift would be well-received however when she saw it she knew ...

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“Eventually” by Jo Grove

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she had last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. Josephine stood in front of the little cottage that had featured in all of her fairytale dreams, the rolling hills, and the surrounding forest. That had been the happiest summer of her life. She’d wanted it to last forever. She’d been warned that day that it was only a temporary stay, but she had so hoped that things would be different that time. The woman who had greeted her, Mrs. O’Brady, had rosy cheeks and such a warm smile and her husband ha...

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“What is a family?” by Geir Kihle Hanssen

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same, except perhaps for the dark windows. She remembered the place as full of life, so vibrant and humming with the hopes and dreams of the youths who lived there. She put her hand on the gate leading up to the now empty house. The autumn rain had chilled it to the point where it stung her hand. She ignored the cold and pushed open the gate. It creaked and groaned, but it swung open surprisingly willingly. Before moving on she closed her eyes and took a...

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“Process of Forgiveness ” by Emily Dwyer

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same.  Her mother’s house still stood tall and lonely at the end of the street. The porch swing still hung from the roof, swinging gently in the breeze. The color of the swing was slightly faded, but it could only be from the wear of the weather. No one was ever allowed to sit on the porch swing. There was the irrational fear of it breaking under any added weight. Of course it was only the fear of her mother.  Staring at the porch swing broug...

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“All That Mattered” by Rebecca Blodgett

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. It was small town Washington USA. As she stood in the middle of downtown, she turned so she could look down each street.  As she looked east, she could see the hill where at the top was the hospital she was born. At the bottom was the apartments they lived in when she and her sisters went to live with their oldest sister and her husband when their grandma died. There was the five and dime where her mom took her to buy “mountain candy...

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“A Journey Worth Travelling” by Alice McVey

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. Icy wind slashed at her face as her bony fingers gripped her  blanket up to her face. The streets were dimly lit and the houses were shut and dark. It had been exactly how Jane had remembered it, except for one little thing, her parents. Where were they? How come they weren’t where they said they would be? She was curled up in a dirty corner under a streetlight. The light started flickering and in a moment Jane was in complete darkness. She wa...

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“The Town Lost to Time” by Cheryl Torres

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if she was the one who had gone mad - and not her childhood town. Then, a woman ran out of the general store screaming, and grabbing at something only she could see. No, her friends, her family, everyone she'd interacted with daily as a child had been cursed when the mayor had executed the old woman. Mia had been the only one to scream out, "No!" as the rope was cut. For that, she'd been spared. At leas...

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“The walking stick” by Brian Njenga

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The wind whistled calmly, bristling her hair as if to usher her forward towards the verandah she remembered so vividly. She edged down with warm tears in her eyes as she grasped the earth with dry and trodden sand slipping through her rosy slender fingers. It was here that she once trotted on, rode her first bike and fell leaving her with a nasty scar on her knee; the only blemish on her delicately bronzed skin. It was also here where she had her f...

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“You Created Something Unique” by Gelyn Pescuela

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The memory she had flash back to where it begins. A woman who started her journey in searching of who she really is and her purpose in life. A woman who looks life differently because the world is unfamiliar to her and the life she had push her to the limits that made her to become the woman she is. Struggles in life, the hardship she encountered and the failure she had.            Often times...

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