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Write about someone who’s traveling to a place they’ve never been to meet someone they’ve never met.

Posted in Adventure on Aug 23, 2024

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✍️ 88 stories

The Old Man at Elephant Rock State Park

Submitted to Contest #265

2020 was an epidemic year. It was the year the biggest argument of our twenty-five-year marriage erupted. Like a volcano, my wife's frustrated and angry scream sent shock waves that knocked me off my feet. At that moment, I knew something had broken. We buried the issue by pretending it was an ordinary argument and focused on the viral threat plaguing our world. We had essential jobs, so we weren't trapped inside the house together. Life continued through COVID-19, and so did our anger. We slept on the bed seams, talked very little, and wond...

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Bubbles

Shortlisted for Contest #265 ⭐️

 Bubbles.Sometimes try. To. Catch bubbles … tiny ones, they float above me. A soft pink ceiling seals me in. A kind of membrane. But where does it go? Where do I go?Very tired. I open my mouth. Yawn it all out. Bend my neck. It needs rest. Eyes heavy under lids. Closing them… so soothing. With them tight shut dark, I go to vanish. Back again on dream journey. Traveling, to where? Memories unfurl. I’m in the unknown. What? Is it?Fragments of life. Memories forming. Past is present. Present is past. I don’t know. Uncoiling. 🫧 🫧Sudden...

49 likes 56 comments 56
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Kaala

Submitted to Contest #265

The De Havilland Twin Otter charter plane shuddered through grey clouds as its mouthy pilot wrestled with the controls, navigating toward the barely visible landing strip ahead. Like the plane’s humming engines, the bearded Inuit’s mouth hadn’t stopped buzzing since we’d taken off from Iqaluit three hours before, and my tolerance for both noises had grown slim. Happily, the end of this ordeal was in sight, the small hamlet Mittimatalik–known as Pond Inlet–which we were rocking and tilting down towards. From this vantage point and in this daw...

42 likes 51 comments 51
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Hello, sweetheart!

Submitted to Contest #265

I stuffed an extra sweatshirt into my backpack, flattening it down so I could close the zipper top. Scanning my to-do list, I saw ‘turn off oven’ was still not crossed off. I hadn’t used the oven in days, but the thought of travelling across the country made me want to hit the off button three or four more times. As if that would ensure everything would turn out okay.  At 7:10 AM, I dealt with the last two items, ‘turn off lights’ and ‘lock the door,’ before I lugged my oversized suitcase onto my small front porch and waited for th...

27 likes 24 comments 24
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The Legendary Dancer of the Ship Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #265

Under the blue summer sky, the sails of the clipper ship called the Destiny's Dreams glowed against the ocean like white clouds. The sleek design of the ship moved swiftly through the gentle waves of the sea.The sound of people singing on the ship floated over the waves."The sun shining on the ocean...The ship rolls with the motion..."The salt air carried the sounds of seagulls cawing, and also of music from a violin, a flute, and a guitar, along with the voices singing."Step and spin, twirl and sway..."Above the singers rose the squawk and ...

24 likes 28 comments 28
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My Journey Home

Submitted to Contest #265

This story references a kidnapping (of a sort).I was happy. Really. Life was good. In the age of innocence, I never had to worry about my next meal, or a roof over my head. I was carefree, spending my days enjoying what life had to offer, educating myself about the world around me, and having fun playing with my brothers and sisters.As I recall, my house was warm and cozy back then. I thought it was a safe place, never imagining any danger could infiltrate my sanctuary. Fear didn’t exist within those four walls. My siblin...

23 likes 20 comments 20
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Rocket Man

Submitted to Contest #265

Adam Daedalus Rocket was not born with the middle name Daedalus, or the last name Rocket. He chose his own names. The kids in the orphanage taunted him relentlessly. “You’re a moron to dream you can go to the stars, the shortest kid in the class. Elton John’s Rocket Man is not even a real astronaut, but some character in a dumb song!” The jeering that stung the most? “Your parents didn’t even care enough to keep you. You were unloved.”There was no time for anything but school as far as he was concerned. He made no friends and kept ...

21 likes 13 comments 13
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There are More Things

Submitted to Contest #265

Dressed in his white suit, Wally Fitzhugh sat alone at a table in the bar car of the train. He liked his space. The immense scenery rolled slowly by. How many had ridden by the ancient hills and taken them for granted? Adapting to the rocking motion, other passengers strode back and forth. Three teenagers played cards at another table. Their laughter filled the car. ‘Don’t they know gambling’s illegal? A Conductor should stop them.’Though about their age, Wally preferred watching the scenery to socializing with strangers. It was a given. Whe...

20 likes 13 comments 13
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Proxima Centauri B

Submitted to Contest #265

Andy looked down at the letter in his hands and scanned it again. One part near the end stood out more than anything else. The moment I arrived, I knew that a part of me would always be here, on Proxima b, with my friends.He cleared his throat. "Computer, tell me more about the capsule sent back to earth by Joshua Davis.""The capsule arrived in low earth orbit around earth on May 18th, 2072. It was a single pill-shaped container made of a never before seen composite material. The capsule had no propulsion mechanism and was first discovered a...

20 likes 21 comments 21
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Living in Alaska

Submitted to Contest #265

I always thought it’d be so easy to slash a tire, but here I am, sliding around on the ice in my clogs trying to get a good grip on this thing. I hunch over the wheel and try to grab ahold of it with my gloved left hand. Something possessed me to do this when I set my eyes on Dad’s house for the first time. Before I knew what was happening, my hand was reaching into my suitcase for my small, baby blue pocket knife. This one’s got a tiny, blossoming cholla cactus painted on the side.I was told having a knife in Alaska would be essential ...

16 likes 6 comments 6
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The Green Mushroom Hills

Submitted to Contest #265

It was a June morning. Furrstota felt heavy-eyed from the previous night's festivities. His yawn was as wide as the promise of the day. But his spirit was merry, and the sunshine refreshed him. "I'll be back soon, Mama," he shouted through a crooked window, the door closing behind his heels. His message sailed like a tumbling wind from wall to wall. And his mother, Peggy, scrambled as she cleaned dirty dishes piled in the sink. The faucet was loud; water spilled over silverware and crusted plates. And she was becoming deaf as the years passe...

15 likes 2 comments 2
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What's in Venice?

Submitted to Contest #265

Cat’s eyes couldn’t stop looking at her boots. Tattered and filthy with scratches and scuffs of mud, they were bound to leave a trail that led to her getaway route at the train station. With all the mental energy she had left, she hoped that the trail would just blend in with the rest of the civilian life behind her, masking the scent of her escape both quickly and efficiently enough just for her to get far, far away. She couldn’t stop wondering if she was still being pursued. She began to consider the fact that cameras everywhere would be h...

15 likes 6 comments 6
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The Bridge

Submitted to Contest #265

Following story contains a scene of hunting and killing an animal and also parental mental abuse He knew the forest well. He’d grown up in a village just at its edge and, as a boy, considered the forest his playground, his friend, his teacher. He learned the forest was itself a village in which the trees did not live solitary lives but communicated with and nourished each other. He learned that everything in the forest was part of that village as well. Birds, bugs, earth itself lived by and for each other. He learned you could hold a honeybe...

15 likes 9 comments 9
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Death in a Thunderclap

Submitted to Contest #265

Death in a Thunderclap Upon encountering death at my doorstep, I was unaware of the profound impact it would have on me. The tormented mind of a loved one sought solace in death's embrace, an option he deemed best. Death shared with me its unique perspective, explaining the transient nature of human life and the weight of witnessing souls extinguish. However, as Death ominously hinted at unfinished business with my family, an unexpected turn of events revealed that Death was not who I had perceived. The talk of a place I didn't know and coul...

15 likes 3 comments 3
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My Jane Day

Submitted to Contest #265

"Are you traveling alone to London?" asked the middle-aged woman sitting beside me in the international boarding area."Yes, yes, I am. I'm calling this trip my 'Jane Austen's Literary London' excursion. I'm paying homage to my favorite author as a reward to myself for recently obtaining my English degree. That's how I spent my pandemic years, righting a wrong from years ago."The woman eyed my shoulder-length gray hair and aging neck, undoubtedly putting me in the senior category. "Bravo! Righting a wrong, you say?" She looked surprised and d...

14 likes 11 comments 11
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