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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Suitcase in hand, you head to the station.

Posted in Adventure on Aug 1, 2021

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✍️ 188 stories

“A Lost Dream” by Walid Abdallah

Submitted to Contest #47

Walid thought having his suitcase in hand and heading to the station was the first step to achieving his everlasting dream. He arrived very early at the station to guarantee that he would undoubtedly catch the bus. He went directly to the queue of the ticket office to get a return ticket from Cairo to Aswan at the end of May 2015. After waiting for 30 minutes in the queue, he eventually got the ticket to heaven as he dreamed of. Walid bought some biscuits, cookies and drinks for the very long trip that takes 18 hours on the train. He was sti...

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“THE LAST LAUGH” by PAMELA ABWAO

Submitted to Contest #47

THE  LAST LAUGH    “ Oh  My “ I  exclaimed as I tried to stop my heavy anatomical figure from hitting the sandy terrain.  The  contents of my big beige suitcase flew as it flung open. I managed to lift myself from the ground and tried to salvage my belonging. The desert wind whistled as it carried away the light  items. I stared helplessly as pieces which had been ripped from my  precious  book were literally flying everywhere.&nbsp...

2 comments 2
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“The Void? What's that?” by Ashley Wong

Submitted to Contest #47

“Right… All I needed to do was... “ You paused, trying to remember what your mother had told you before you left, “What as I supposed to do?” And as always, you can’t remember. You take your phone out of your pocket and dialed your mother’s number, waiting for her to pick up. There was no response, only the sound of the phone ringing endlessly. You sighed, put your phone away, and ran a hand through your hair. As you head further into the station with your belongings in your suitcase, you walked past people with weird and peculiar looks. So...

3 comments 3
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“A Place Beyond Meaning” by Jack Fitzgerald

Submitted to Contest #47

There is nothing around you. Just a blank void. Just whiteness everywhere. There is no reason why you would be here, you just are. You hear no sound, and although you are standing on something, you cannot feel the ground. You hold a leather suitcase. It has the letter "J" messily engraved on the side of it. You do not know what is in the suitcase, or why it is in your hand in the first place. It is just there, and you accept that.A building emerges out of thin air. It's a train station. A wispy voice in your ear says,'go to the station'. You...

5 comments 5
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“The Accidental Life” by Parvathy Sabapathy

Submitted to Contest #47

You pack your bags and get ready to leave. 33 years after being uprooted from your roots, you force yourself to return to your origin. Isn't that the promise you made to yourself a decade back? In a thunderous eureka moment, blood pumping courage, pushing your thoughts towards that pinnacle called acceptance?You were always driven by rage to push yourself and fight beyond your strengths. It wasn't entirely a desire to calmly and quietly achieve your goals with deep resolute. They weren't even your goals. They were goals set upon yo...

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“Escape ” by Kathleen Whalen

Submitted to Contest #47

You have been plotting your escape for a while now. You lay in bed beside him at night as he belches and snores in his sleep, thinking about the old suitcase in the closet hidden under a pile of winter blankets and quilts.It would be easy to go the kitchen, grab a knife and stab him through the heart as he sleeps. You will get in the car and drive to a faraway city, change your identity and begin life anew.You know this plan will not save you. You are the first person the police will suspect. They will track you down, find you and make you s...

4 comments 4
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“The Mystery Man” by Gabriela Fitzgerald

Submitted to Contest #47

Suitcase in hand, you head to the station. You walk quickly through the dark night streets. Your feet a mere whisper on the cobblestone. The early morning air is cold and a dense fog envelops the streets that are eerily empty at this hour. You jump at every noise knowing at any time he could appear. Shadows seem to be lurking at every corner, cast by the dull yellow glow of the street lamps. Your breath comes faster as you pick up the pace to the train station. Still several miles in the distance. You're not sure if your nerves can become an...

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“Delphine at the Supermarket” by Daniel Brown

Submitted to Contest #47

Somehow, you drag your suitcase to the station with your face and clothes as worn-out as the wheels on the luggage. Your smile fades as the sun does into the horizon not unlike the plaid on your suitcase because Delphine is gone back into town, back to stocking supermarket shelves and checking out customers. Her smile faded before yours in her big black truck as she tucked soft fingers into your cheeks to push your smile up a little longer, unsure if this memory won’t be more yet sure that the memory will be a lasting one.  You arrive...

4 comments 4
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“Getting Trained” by Elaine Person

Submitted to Contest #47

Suitcase in hand, you head to the station. The words replay in your head: “Mother isn’t feeling well again.” You heard the faraway voice say that on the other end of the telephone–faraway, as in disbelief or shock, and faraway, meaning several states away– north, a place where no palm trees live–Newark, New Jersey. “Please come visit her,” your sister said.            “Okay. I’ll get on the next train up.”            The two o’clock...

1 comment 1
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“ Wrong Turn” by Sanna Aaltonen

Submitted to Contest #47

It is eight sharp on New Year’s Eve 1966. You wish that the bus would run a little late and you would still catch it. The sky is pouring with a heavy hand and your textile covered suitcase is already soaked and dripping from its’ edges as it swings carelessly on your left hand. As you reach the bus station you realize that actually they are running on holiday schedule and there would be no ride for another hour.          Disappointed and angry you rethink your plan. Should you visit Pontac at al...

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“OBSERVENT” by Rhonda Allen

Submitted to Contest #47

Walking into the station, looking down at the ticket, written on it is gate 7. Looking up scanning the large open area of tile floor containing rows of chairs full of noisy people. There in the distance you see it, GATE 7, but you think,  just sit here at this end for a little while, after all there is still time before departure, the ticket and the letter said 9:00am and it is only 8:00. Sitting down on the first available chair, farthest from gate 7, putting your ticket in your backpack and pulling out the letter. Still a little shake...

2 comments 2
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“Wicked” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #47

Today, you packed a bag. It doesn’t have much in it. A pair of shorts, a shirt, clean underwear. Things you’ll need when you go to your friend Tom’s house. You’re in your bathing suit and black socks. He has a pool you’ve been dying to get into it. You’re dying so much you can feel the cold blue water as you sink to the bottom. Actually, it’s not that cold, but it still refreshes. You like how sounds come to you so slowly underwater, how it cradles you. It’s so peaceful. You don’t even like Tom very much. He’s a bit of a bully, to be honest,...

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“Marrakesh Express” by Kathryn El-Assal

Submitted to Contest #47

It’s been a dream of yours for years. Now you’ve arrived on the ferry from Spain. You check your bag at the train station and spend a few hours strolling around Tangier before heading back to la gare. With dirhams you’ve obtained from an ATM, you approach the guichet to purchase a ticket for a single cabin. Your train leaves around nine o’clock in the evening and you’ll arrive in Marrakesh sometime after eight in the morning.You were meant to be traveling with a friend, but bad news from New York caused her to fly home early from Madrid. Now...

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“The Bag Man” by Andrew Grell

Submitted to Contest #47

THE BAG MANBy Andrew Paul GrellYou stand there in front of 30th Street Station in Philly holding on to your Zero Halliburton suitcase. You have some time before the Acela comes in and you want to make the best of civilization while you’re there. You try to remember how it goes: Market, Walnut, Chestnut, Spruce, Vine, or maybe Pine? and Locust? You seem to recall a Baobob or an Ash, but you decide they must be from other cities. Shouldn’t the list rhyme? Eventually, you pull out the skateboard attachment from the suitcase,...

3 comments 3
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“The Runaway” by Sue Marsh

Submitted to Contest #47

                                                          The Runaway                                ...

2 comments 2
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