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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 320 stories

“Weeping Maiden Rock” by Deanna Salser

Submitted to Contest #98

By the time I realized a storm was coming in, it was already too late to make it to the shelter. It had come on fast, faster than I had ever seen, and I had lived out here over ten years. I thought I knew the weather patterns but apparently I did not. An hour ago the sky was clear, with not a cloud in sight. Now the wind whipped my hair around my head and half the dome overhead was filled with the towering shape of a massive cumulonimbus, lightning jigging and jagging within it. Pieces of plants and trees flew in the wind that buffeted me as...

2 comments 2
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“Just a Backstory” by Cheriel Ann Pael

Submitted to Contest #98

Everything intends to change when someone made a decision. But a decision was also because of unexpected stumbled blocks that unfortunately become their downfall. I used to have an obstacle in every step I take. That’s fine, I can find another road then. I used to let another day pass without any improvement to myself, that’s fine, I’m young and I have decades to go, I think . I used to read than to find someone to talk to, that’s fine some students and other people will come to me to have a little talk. I intend to make everything flow in...

3 comments 3
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“Behind the emerald door” by J.I Strydom

Submitted to Contest #98

As if needed, Benjamin arrives. He offers a cup of dark coffee -two sugars, no milk to Zane. This routine was already set in motion before Benjamin came to work with Zane. Every morning at exactly 8:15, not a second later, the butler, whether that is Benjamin or the guy before him, Stewart, or even the man before Stewart, would enter Zane’s oversized dressing room with the black substance.  Then, a little bit later, at precisely 8:45, breakfast should already be severed but still warm as if just served. Out of the bowl the second the ...

2 comments 2
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“Father Water” by Catherine Githui

Submitted to Contest #98

Rinje sat beside the river and watched it flow with fury. It was always so violent. Every time she watched it flow, she would feel some sort of calmness. She always felt so good. The river was called “Father Water” it had divided the two valleys. The valley of light and the valley of Truth. Theirs was the valley of Truth. She never knew why they were not allowed to cross the river, to the other valley. It was forbidden. But the people, they always met at the river. When farming, when fetching water to drink and for their home duties and to j...

2 comments 2
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“The Search For the Truth” by Anna Kerr

Submitted to Contest #98

All was quiet, but there was a nice breeze. I found myself closing my eyes, and allowing the wind to touch my skin, cooling it off from a long days travel in the sun. A breeze was rare; unheard of even.  “Come on, we have to go.”  I opened my eyes to the sound of Austin’s voice. He looked concerned, as he often did; I was sometimes convinced he only had one facial expression: worry.  “Just let me grab my bag” I tell him, only to see him holding it up in his right hand.  “I got it, right here; let’s go” he demands,...

3 comments 3
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“FORBIDDEN FRUIT DISOWNED CHILD” by Rumana Wangara

Submitted to Contest #98

It didn't occur to me that one day I'll fall in love, one day I'll not feel complete unless my love is with me. Normally people fall in love with men since Adam and Eve, but times have changed and people fall in love with the same gender. Going to the mall and as I choose the items I find myself staring at this beautiful lady well curved dark skin tone and this cute smile not forgetting the brushed white tooth. I had to make a move cause I couldn't withhold the emotions in my heart. I immediately new she's the one I've been looking for. ...

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“The Queen of Exile” by Hannah B

Submitted to Contest #98

Her knees banged against the side of her armored pony, the steady clop of it's hooves striking against stone nearly drowned out by that of the ocean. Far, far below her, icy spray clawed against the cliffside, reaching for its prey way up high. Fand didn't give the lively sea so much as the bat of an eyelash, instead drawing her horse away from the edge and further inland towards the distant treeline. Rock ceded to grass, barren landscape meeting the abruptness of ancient trees and their burrowing roots. Fand frowned at the redwoods, but...

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“Hiraeth Fodern” by Dhruv Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #98

The only waitress at Marvin & Friend’s diner was accustomed to spending the late hours of her shift smoking a cigarette and listening to Hall & Oates on the old, crackly speakers. She didn’t know who Marvin was, or why he’d opened the diner, nor did she care. There was no cook behind the small window into the kitchen - on the rare occasion that a trucker or drug addict came into the diner late at night, the food was packaged and ready to be heated up. She just went back into the kitchen, threw it in the microwave, and played with her...

2 comments 2
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“Banished ” by Alia More

Submitted to Contest #98

There was once a boy named Alejandro. He was born in Colombia in 1958 and stayed there for half of his life. His father told him to always be a proud, strong and honest man. No one knew that he liked boys and wanted to become a girl. He knew he had to hide it from everyone, especially his family because they didn't accept people like him. No one understood how he felt. He had to lie to protect himself even though his father told him to always be honest. Over the years he became a handsome and an intelligent man. He always had the highest gra...

11 comments 11
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“Wanderlust ” by User Name

Submitted to Contest #98

From beneath the shadows, every night, a cloaked man emerged, his face white against the black contrast of his attire. Every night, he walked through riverbanks and mountains, valleys and forests, villages and pastures, surveying with great detail. A curious little beeping instrument was attached on his temple, as if burned into his skin. Its light blinked red on interval, like fireflies. At times, especially on tours to the forests, it beeped more occasionally, more frequently, it was then that the man stood perfectly still. When finally, t...

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“The Route Untravelled” by A. Padhye

Submitted to Contest #98

What are origin stories and what emotions do they convey? Origin stories are bumper jackpot of emotions. They can give you each and every emotion according to your desire. If you are happy, it will tell you the tales of victory. If you have incurred loss in your life, the storybook of origin will tell you the tales of struggle and subsequently the path for victory. In short, it will motivate you in free. Just ask the eldest member of your house and you will get to know the origin story. People are mad to spend money and attend classes of a m...

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“Keenan's Footsteps” by Rachael Lee

Submitted to Contest #98

His life was fine until they found out about his so-called ‘curse’. He’d heard of curses like his, been told he was the one unfortunate boy out of millions in decades to be ‘chosen’. He’d heard of magic here and there even before he’d known about his curse but it was rare in his time. It used to be flowing, in the air everywhere, but not so much now. He wondered why. His particular curse, he’d found out, was called the Astrophy curse, meaning, everywhere he went, the beautiful innocent flowers would bow to the ground and crumple, smeared wit...

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“The Ocean Will Not Take Me Back” by Amalee Bowen

Submitted to Contest #98

The ocean would not take me back. The depths had lost their luminescence for me. Now their waters were dark and murky. I fought against the force of the water pushing me up towards the surface, trying to claw and kick my way through with my frail limbs. Even as I struggled to swim down deeper, I could feel the air being crushed from my lungs and the further down I swam the more I could feel the pressure in my ears, around my fragile skull. Saltwater forced its way up my nose, until I was choking on the smell of seaweed and preservation sent ...

2 comments 2
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“My Struggle ” by Mathic M

Submitted to Contest #98

What was my home? Was my home where I lived or some other place?  I Thought my home was my family, but boy was I wrong. My real home was the military or maybe I should say the battlefield was my home. I was drafted at age seventeen, a prodigy they called me. I didn’t know what that word meant, but I knew one thing for sure and that I needed to join. I needed The thrill of war because it fueled my desires. One of my favorite parts of war was having my comrades side by side with me.  I do have to say my favorite memory from the war...

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“Seven Minutes” by Euan Lim

Submitted to Contest #98

TW: car accident The hospital hallway is white. The floor’s slapped with the occasional red and brown tile, the grout the lightest gray, though nobody’s looking except for Creed. “Hello?” he yells, stumbling down the bright corridor, light glaring off the walls. “Hello, excuse me! How do I get out of here?” There’re double doors in front of him, and he hopes they lead out, because he’s been in here for too long: he doesn’t know how he got here, only that he’s not supposed to be here right now. Before he reaches the doors, they slam open, and...

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Won by Mary Sheehan 🏆

Title: Blessed Home

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