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Write about someone who has long since quit but decides to go another round for old time’s sake.

Posted in Adults on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 37 stories

Not In It For The Money

Submitted to Contest #166

I was a hacker for almost as long as I can remember. Even as a kid I lived to mess around with computers, programming, writing and cracking codes, and surfing to the darkest edges of the internet. What I couldn’t learn from manuals, chat rooms, message boards, or friends I pretty much just figured out on my own. So early on I knew that hacking would make me way more money than flipping burgers at Mickey D’s, earning a college diploma, or even scoring a high-paying job on Wall Street. And with a lot less of the mess and stress that usually ac...

69 likes 44 comments 44
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The Natural

Shortlisted for Contest #166 ⭐️

In life there are monumental occurrences that act as time-freezing snapshots; the kind of events where, for the rest of your life, you remember exactly where you were when they happened. My grandfather used to speak with reverence about the day he heard that President Kennedy was shot. My mother spoke similarly of finding out about the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. For me it was the day I stopped playing baseball.I was ten years old when I got my first “real” glove. It was a God’s honest big-league Rawlings rawhide and I loved i...

60 likes 49 comments 49
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Merl and the Mothman

Submitted to Contest #166

TW: Swearing, guns, monsters.Rain hammered down on Esme’s night black Lamborghini Diablo.            “First stop is the woman who gave the interview to the news,” said Merl. He sat in the passenger seat, polishing his favourite revolver.            “Are you sure she’s not just a nut job?” Esmerelda asked.            “If she wasn’t, she probably is now. That don’t m...

24 likes 13 comments 13
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Click

Submitted to Contest #166

“Why ya wanna do it again, Champ? The doctors all said your mind can’t take the punishment no more. You’ve had your moment. Let the others fight over your leftovers. You got nuthin to prove!” James Lightning Rod Johnson stood staring out of his penthouse window high above the New York skyline, observing the busy streets below, jammed with traffic and people that – from his high perspective – looked like armies of ants devouring every inch of sidewalk with their systematic marching to and from wherever their day dictated. James couldn’t help ...

24 likes 11 comments 11
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Back to the Grind

Submitted to Contest #166

I’m not entirely sure I’m doing the right thing. Why on earth would I want to go back to work after being ‘retired’ for almost nine years? But I do have my reasons. It was a long process to get my social security disability, but it paid off in the end. I received a nice back paycheck when they finally started sending me checks every month, and I could help my boyfriend buy a house for us. But in the back of my mind, I felt ‘less than.’ I know I didn’t fake my symptoms, and someone who takes as much medication as I do for my mental hea...

19 likes 3 comments 3
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Going Back to You

Submitted to Contest #166

The laptop screen is open, your old profile is there staring at me. There’s a fear in my chest. I feel like you don’t want to hear from me. I’ve done nothing wrong but leave, which might be the biggest infraction. Your eyes glimmer with a boyish touch. I told you how much loved that picture years ago. I can’t help but think it’s why you’ve left it all this time. My small message sits there, and I almost think you won’t respond. I’ve sat here for half an hour, the laptop open, terrified to close it, with my eyes trained on the television, on...

15 likes 5 comments 5
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The Kitchen

Submitted to Contest #166

The Kitchen  In the kitchen. You know the one: stale loaf of bread, crinkling plastic, spilled orange juice, napkins with the mouths of angels. The fluorescent light buzz-buzz-buzzed.  The investigator cradled a cup of tea, spice and lemon. No matter how many times she brushed her hair, it perpetually frizzed and fled from her scalp, a little shelter for all the twigs and branches and gravel. She spoke softly but intently, eyes trained to the hands of Eve. “Do you have a story to tell?” Eve twisted the watch on her wrist. The inv...

14 likes 5 comments 5
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The Life Of A Con Man

Submitted to Contest #166

Jack Whisk was known as the greatest con artist. He had the looks of a charming middle-aged man, with a reddish hue to his natural orange hair combed to the side of his face so as to not hang over his eyes. He would be dressed in a dark blue sweater over his white shirt and khaki pants. He had acquired skills in knife handling and could easily take down someone twice his size by aiming for their joints and where they were weakest at. But that all changed when he met Lizzy. Lizzy was a young woman in her late 20s with golden wavy hair. S...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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Pigeon-hole

Submitted to Contest #166

Two lines in this story show violence. Another Saturday morning in the pigeonhole--the space not much bigger than a walk-in closet. One tall narrow window, a steep ladder-type stairway where a bedroom should be, a white walled main room with space for sitting, a TV, a small table. The apartment faced the back alley where dumpsters overflowed and if the wind changed, the rotting smell eased through her walls. At twenty-four Laticia knew she ought to have a better place, but signing a twelve-month lease would keep her bound to the promise she ...

11 likes 6 comments 6
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One More Round, For Jermey

Submitted to Contest #166

CONTENT WARNING: Death & substance abuse: “Let’s Go!” Jeremy’s fierce voice barked as he biked down the mountain at brisk speeds, the wind whipping him in the face. He would like to check his watch, but if he looked down, he would crash into the blinding trees around them. Mountain biking was about stamina; how many rounds could you go before it was too much.  “Jeremey, wait up!” My hands grasped the handlebars tighter. We reached one of the steeper slopes, and he stopped. Two paths were in front of us, one was a double black di...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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Blank Resume

Submitted to Contest #166

My work history began as many had under sixteen: Dishwashing, gas station attendant, fast-food, landscaping, and house cleaning. I worked my longest job in a greenhouse, over a hundred degrees in winter. Albert was in charge of spraying the chemicals. His hands were stained blue and lacked any fingernails. He acted insane, and rumors were he stirred the toxic brew with his hands and huffed the fumes. He retired at 28. Most likely to a mental hospital or perhaps even hospice. I was 'promoted' to his job the next day--with no increase in pay.H...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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Manga Bellator's Farewell

Submitted to Contest #166

His opponent, half his age, in an upward thrust, put his blade into Magna's throat. The maximum crowd went silent as the mighty warrior fell to his knees as his life's blood gushed from the mortal wound soaking the sand before him. Unable to draw his next breath, Magna's last gasping sound was his effort to bid farewell to those attending the gladiator event in this magnificent Colosseum.  He would enter Elysian Fields to take his place among the fallen.  Even his opponent was struck dumb seeing Magna lay at his feet. The crowd be...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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Flop

Submitted to Contest #166

"I'm retired", I say tiredly to the person on the other side of the phone. I don't recognize the voice, so I assume it's someone new, someone who was hired way past my last day working there. It's 3 in the morning, and the person on the phone can barely speak from the panic. "I'm sorry, sir, I'm really really sorry, I didn't know what else to do!" She takes a quick moment to gather her thoughts. "Listen, we have a very dire situation here, and I was told to go through the files and start contacting specialists. You were part of the devel...

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One Last Entry

Submitted to Contest #166

It was a cool and rainy October night. Sam was in his living room fixing to pour himself a glass of brandy. Sam was a newly retired writer, his latest book was hitting the shelves just in time for Halloween. Sam had published over thirty award winning horror and thriller novels, more than half of them best sellers. Questions rose why such a talented master of horror was closing the book on his career, but he refused to comment. Sam had no interest in interviews. He found them to be boring and did not consider himself a man of many words rega...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Second Thoughts

Submitted to Contest #166

I gave up on my Dad calling without an agenda long ago. Yet I’m seriously considering doing what could cause a rift between us. Again I give him the benefit of the doubt, and get disappointed every time. I’m giving it one last chance, and he can either run with the ball or fumble. It’s up to him. Give me a break, I thought. How can this person expect anything from me when they have disappointed practically everyone who ever trusted them? I mean, that old trope that says forgive and forget can only be pushed so far, at the...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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