CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that includes the line “my lips are sealed.”

Posted in Adults on May 26, 2023

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✍️ 96 stories

“Kankakee Mallow” by Iz M

Submitted to Contest #200

Everyone knows everyone in Linden, Illinois. You’re relatively new to town, but almost a year of working in the circulation department at the public library affords you that same familiarity with your neighbors. You’ve seen every face make its way through the library at some point or another. It’s hard to pass up the Monday Movie Matinee or the free WiFi. Yours is not a difficult job. While hardly life-affirming—essentially just customer service given a different shape than you’re used to—you enjoy being surrounded by stories, most...

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“The Man of My Dreams” by Kat Gonzalez

Submitted to Contest #200

I had dreamt about him before I’d met him. In my dreams I’d see him doing mundane things. Shopping in the produce aisle, plucking his eyebrows over the sink, biting his nails and spitting them into coffee cups. Domestic scenes that ranged from typical male to moderately intimate. Not the kind of thing you’d fall head over heels for, but the more he appeared in my dreams the more I found comfort in his uncomplicated truths. Since moving to the city, I’d lost myself, I felt unhuman, unreal. Disgusting even because of how little I’d accomplishe...

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“We Hate Dried Apple Slices” by Bill Cass

Submitted to Contest #200

Carlos fed the dollar into the vending machine and weighed his options. He could never pass up an opportunity to get something from the boxes of joy. It had been ingrained in him since he was a kid and would tag along with his mother on business trips. He would pack a bag full of toys, handheld games, and a book or two. The books were a lie, of course. He enjoyed reading, but day trips were full of unregulated play time so he could goof off all he wanted without his mom worrying that he was rotting his brain. If Carlos was good and beh...

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“The Wolf Who Cried Wolf” by Eunice Armitage

Submitted to Contest #200

I first heard this story from my grandmother, who heard it from her grandmother. At some point, if we go back far enough, a witch makes an appearance, but whether the story really started with her or before her, I’m not sure. Regardless of its origins, it took place a long, long time ago; at a time when magic was commonplace and bears and wolves roamed the dark woods, eating porridge and little girls in red cloaks.Lycidas was the alpha wolf of a small pack that patrolled the outskirts of the village of Randel. Lycidas and his ances...

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“Rumor Has It” by Aleta Nolan

Submitted to Contest #200

Rumor Has It. Rumor has it. Rumor has what? It has the power to ruin a reputation. It has the power to make people who would never think bad things about you think bad things about you. A rumor in the mouth of somebody who looks wonderful, magnificent, truthful, and trust worthy is absolutely awful. You wonder why I am on this rant about rumors? Here’s the deal. A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend and she said something about someone else (not me) and I’m like oh my gosh how could that be! I can’t believe it! My friend looked at ...

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“on the Mother” by Gideon McDonald

Submitted to Contest #200

on the Mother Irish catholic; dirt-poor, bloody big mob, Father (school principal) (can’t swim); smokes cigarettes at the beach, thirty-five raucous 10-year-olds wear-themselves-out in the water, sing; Crocodile Rock, laaaaa la la la la laa, stingers pulled off, sprayed with vinegar, Father, shifts house seven times, Father - waiting to hit a jackpot, gives spare change to Saint Vincent de Paul - can’t afford it, in that regional town of old farming stock, but townies, like the rest. Mother; devoted to the Father and the kids, and hardy ...

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Contest #200

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This week's theme: Heard it Through the Grapevine

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