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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about someone whose time is running out.

Posted in Angst on Jan 19, 2024

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✍️ 112 stories

“Only Fools and Horsemen” by Ted Collins

Submitted to Contest #234

Only Fools and Horsemen     It was a damn fine day to be homeless. A terrible forty-eight hours to be anything else. Digby and I had walked for miles searching for a street that hadn’t been ravaged already. He was all umming and ahhing “I don’t think this is a good idea Lester”, “What if the coppers get us Lester?” But we hadn’t heard police sirens for days, just ambulances hurtling down the road to fix up some poor sod peppered in shrapnel. Everyone that wasn’t dead had filed out and gone somewhere picturesque to settl...

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“Let Me Be Young Again” by Camil Allal

Submitted to Contest #234

To my Baby PumpkinsThe war was hard on my parents who never truly expressed how much they loved us. As a result, when my relatives died, the news took ages to reach my ears, ears long dulled by the hairs and pride you collect the longer you live. Algeria became a country of its own, but my parents thought best to fly everybody in the U.K. For our future, much less for the comfort of the native who saw us as trash they would gladly throw on the floor to make sure how we reflect on their high class society. Yet times have changed, and my ...

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“Hopeless” by Kat J

Submitted to Contest #234

Warning: the below story contains graphic imagery, suicide, alcohol abuse, death, mental health issues, and is overall very dark in content. Beware."Hope! Wait- no no no no... please!" Selina sprints toward Hope, whose concrete-encased feet are dangling from the pier's edge. An empty vodka bottle in her lover's hand. Of course, Selina hadn't meant to disappear for 5 years. But intent doesn't mean much. It's impact that matters. And Hope, poor codependent Hope, had been struggling all alone for five years genuinely believing that the lov...

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“New York Minute” by Laura Smith

Submitted to Contest #234

New York Minute Laura Smith The clock read 11:50 PM. Ten minutes left in the day. Ten minutes until a new day started. The unit lights were dimmed for rest, sporadically interrupted by the glow of computer monitors at the desk and on the mobile workstations in the hallway. The dayshift chorus of ringing phones, visitors, doctors, gurneys rolling down the hall, and visits from ancillary services replaced by more hushed tones, the rhythmic beeping of heart monitors, the occasional bed alarm when some unsteady patient attempted to make...

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“RUN TO THE END” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #234

Mama said there'll be days like this There'll be days like this mama said (Mama said, mama said) Mama said there'll be days like this There'll be days like this my mama said (Mama said, mama said) This song kept playing in my head from the moment I woke up. Why today? Well, it was going to be a day like no other. I grabbed my running gear which was the same stuff I wore yesterday. On my own now living in a different flat was like night and day. I could see the ocean and knew that days spent in a swill hole were over. The story had its moment...

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“A mother's timeless love” by Srividya Gupta

Submitted to Contest #234

For me, you were born the moment two hearts were beating within me. One mine, and the other yours, in tandem. And from that day onwards, the rhythm of your heartbeat became the most melodious symphony of my life. My heart became an ardent lover of yours. I thoroughly enjoyed carrying your weight. Those were the only days in my life when I loved it when the weighing scale went up each time I stood on it to measure my weight. When you felt hungry, I sensed a craving for food. I felt your kicks when you felt like stretching your tiny legs. I kn...

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“Prognosis” by Jonathan Shiller

Submitted to Contest #234

This story is about a cancer patient who is planning his funeral. Prognosis         by Jonathan Shiller Dr. Ruben took one look at my sunken face and said, “You need a break. Take a week off and get your strength back.” Months of chemo had worn me down, so I took his advice and slept in until 11 before heading to my appointment. I arrived early and sat in the plush reception area waiting for my name to be called. It ...

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“The Cowboy ” by Dria Caron

Submitted to Contest #234

Derek hated wearing costumes, even as a kid. Store-bought ones irritated his skin, and homemade ones required sewing skills that no one in his sports obsessed household had. Not to mention crippling social anxiety made him especially vulnerable. Like a giant, bright spotlight following him around. He could never shake the feeling that other kids were whispering, laughing behind his back. Wearing a costume exacerbated that. Funny enough, his sister nicknamed him the Ebenezer Scrooge of Halloween (funny for his sister not Derek). He...

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“A Blink of an Eye ” by Heather Koelle

Submitted to Contest #234

A Blink of an Eye Elise heard the lunch trays clattering down the hall on the food cart. She wasn’t looking forward to the institutional mush that passed for a meal at The Pines Care Center. Had she really been here five years since George died? She remembered coming home from Grocery shopping to find her husband dead on the living room floor. She immediately called 911 hoping there was a slim chance he would still be alive. But when the medics arrived they told Elise,We’re sorry, Mrs Collins, but your husband is dead.” Elise sank to the...

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“Uncle George, A Veteran” by Gary Crawford

Submitted to Contest #234

(Contains flashback episodes and violent memories from war) October 1999   Here comes someone. Wonder who it is? Probably wants something. No one ever comes by unless they want something.     I don’t know that car. Who is that? Oh, okay. That’s Steven, my sister’s grandson. Who’s that with him? Don’t know that guy.      Hello, Steven. What brings you way up here? Who’s your friend?    Hello, Barry. Nice to meet you too. What’s that? You’re a journalist? You mean a reporter, ...

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“This IS the Unimaginable Future” by Laurie Rice

Submitted to Contest #234

This IS the Unimaginable Future For my birthday last year I had a friends and family get together and, together, we created a 365 link, colorful, paper chain.  On the day the last link is torn, I will start my retirement after 43 years as an RN.  Given that I never intended to become an RN, or do anything in medicine, it is somewhat shocking to think how fast the time has gone and how far off course from my original goal I have strayed. Oh well, still time for a second run at the first goal but, before I sign off from nursing, ...

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“Borrowed Time” by Debra Demars

Submitted to Contest #234

No one was more shocked than I was. My mouth actually dropped open. I felt great. I looked good for my age. A little tired...yes...but that was it. How could this possibly be? How? I wanted to argue with the doctor. I wanted to point out why this could not possibly be true. But deep in my heart, this explained the tiredness. This explained a few things. Things I had noticed, but refused to think about. Things I kept to myself. I wanted to argue with my doctor, but I knew it would be useless. When the exhaustion reach...

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“The Season of Aries” by Eleftherios Konstantinidis

Submitted to Contest #234

The only source of light in this eerie background, in a glade lost deep into a forest on the top of the holy mountain, came from the twelve torches held by the young warriors, who formed a wide circle. In the middle of the circle stood the “Wise” as everyone knew them; a group of elders, supporters of the old religion; men and women who had gone through a long and painful journey to preserve the ultimate truth. Through the centuries, they were believed to be merely a legend among the public. Blasphemous, pagan monsters in the eyes of the fol...

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“Final Confession” by Elli Price

Submitted to Contest #234

Father O’Reilly made the sign of the cross over the bed. He had given the last rights a hundred times, but every time felt like the first. There is a strange emotional tension around those who know they are dying and are at peace with it. The priest had found a good gulp of whiskey before entering helped him get through. For medicinal purposes of course, or at least that’s what he told himself.Sister Olga had lived a good life, more than 60 years of it as a nun. He had always liked her feisty spirit, although it got her into trouble with her...

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“Being on Time” by Mary Cryns

Submitted to Contest #234

I woke up this morning to the sounds of screaming kids and a blaring television set. Groaning, I looked at my alarm clock which said five minutes to seven. Why hadn’t the kids gotten up yet? I mused, noticing we had exactly 50 minutes to get out the door so I could be at work on time and get the kids to school. As I dashed into the bathroom to get ready, I wondered if the daily hassles of life were worthwhile. I had three kids to raise alone and a career and education to juggle all at the same time. I still remember that first year when ...

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Contest #234

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