Write a story that includes the line “We’re just too different.”

Posted in Angst on Jan 27, 2023

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✍️ 66 stories

Opposites Attract Nothing but Pain

C.C. Knight

Submitted to Contest #183

In the corner of my eye, I catch dark wavy hair and an all too familiar smile, with the dimples and hazel eyes to match. And somehow my heart goes into overdrive, beating out of my chest but at the same time feels as if it has stopped altogether. There is only one person who never fails to elicit such a visceral reaction out of me and that would be Jason Davis. Some people fall in love with the wrong people sometimes, or however that song goes. We all know this, we’ve all been there or at least seen it haven’t we? Well, my wron...

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We Are a Burning City

Teddy Karelefsky

Submitted to Contest #183

We Are a Burning City “Follow that car!” I yell, slamming the taxi door behind me. Without hesitation the driver hits the pedal. Sweat pools on my brow as we speed past a blur of gray people and black cars. Keeping my focus on the beat-up, red Toyota she drives, we chase her around the corner. The hard turn slams me to the side of the taxi. We speed up, running three red lights, and screech to a halt when the Toyota parks at the airport. I'm fumbling to unlock my car ...

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In the Wake of World

Emily Williams

Submitted to Contest #183

I saw you. A large duffle bag was slung over your shoulder, your sister’s hand tightly in your own. Your back was turned to me, but I knew it was you. I recognized the tattoo on your forearm you’d gotten after we graduated high school. You had called me after your appointment and showed me the intricate symbol that was now embedded into your flesh. I loved it. I got my first one soon after and you were there, just as you promised. The world was much simpler than before all of the fighting and the chaos. The last time I’d seen you was th...

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Different Part Deux

Colleen Ireland

Submitted to Contest #183

“That’s not what I mean.” “Of course it is. We’re saying the exact same thing, just in different ways.” Sabrina scowled. “No. I’m saying we’re two different people, and you’re saying we’re just too different. It’s not the same.” James laughed out loud, not because he thought it was funny, this Friday afternoon exchange with his girlfriend on a city sidewalk, but because it’s what he did when exasperated; he laughed. It was an annoying tick that got him in trouble on a few occasions, like this one. Botoxed brows straining to pin...

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Lucky Girl

Kasey Fisher

Submitted to Contest #183

I poured my cup of coffee, mindlessly scrolling through my phone, another week gone with nothing to do. I put my head in my hands and sighed dramatically. “You ok, Mrs. Collins?” Marta, the housekeeper, asked as she dusted the nine thousand dollar grandfather clock. Nine grand on a clock. Reason number three hundred and twenty-seven we were opposites. “Yes, Marta, I’m fine. Thank you.” I forced a smile. “And please, call me Juliet.” She smiled and nodded, but we both knew she never would. She took her job far too serio...

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What the Heart Wants, Wants the Heart Too

Vincent Paiement Désilets

Submitted to Contest #183

The woman had left quite an impression on me with her uncanny eating habits. But the most attractive feature in anyone is passion—intense, unrestrained passion. In this dull, mechanical world, when someone still has a spark in the eye, that light is contagious. What was she so enthusiastic about? Meat. Someone who can find excitement in the mundane is always a keeper. Since we’d met, on our first date, she occupied most of my mental screen time. My friends, they’d said of cou...

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Of Magnets and Men

Kathy Trevelyan

Submitted to Contest #183

Of Magnets and Men We did have some good times. At the beginning. The problem was that I convinced myself we were still having them when everything had demonstrably gone to shit. I’d feel frustration bubbling up, irritation fuelling my itchy discontent. Then I’d look into those deep, calm brown eyes, and I’d think I was ‘being silly,’ imagining things.’ I’d agree with him when he said it was all in my head. But it wasn’t, was it? You see, Alex was so plausible, so beautiful, still is I suppose, although I haven’t seen him for a year. Exa...

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"Has He Hurt You?"

Malaika Shaikh

Submitted to Contest #183

The 90 degree heat of this August day was getting to my head. Sweat rolled down my face in little beads, I wiped it away with the back of my hand. I was in a parking lot of traffic, cars honked, people were yelling from their windows, some woman had even gotten out of her car and was leaning against the driver side door. Clearly the heat wasn’t doing much to the people around me, as a teenager in the car to my right scrolled aimlessly on her phone. An older man in the car to my left flipped through a newspaper, whil...

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Tourists

Telaina Eriksen

Submitted to Contest #183

Tourists Alicia knew she should have broken up with Darren before their trip to Hawaii, and the fact that she was standing at the edge of a Native burial ground, in the middle of the night, telling Darren to come back to the hotel property line, really reinforced that she should have followed her instincts. She heard Darren’s drunken laugh as he turned on his phone’s flashlight to see the map he’d purchased yesterday at a musty thrift and antique store in Lahaina. Alicia thought that Darren was going to have the map framed for his office...

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Rise

Sherri Moorer

Submitted to Contest #183

Terra tilted her head to the canopy of stars over the glade. A cool wind blew from the trees surrounding her, covering the area with the energy of the earth and stars. She stretched her arms overhead, the silver bond around her wrists sparking in the full moonlight. Your energy is mine. “This tribunal is called to order,” Alinta said from her throne on the north end of the circle. Her dark form glowed with the fire of her magic, warming the space in front of Alysia. “Alysia, you are charged with magic negation. How do you plead?” Terra’...

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Deep Shallows

Polly Orr

Submitted to Contest #183

The trip was going sideways. It started normally. Your average hallucinogenic haven. By the third Saturday of each month, I typically need to retreat to that haven to purge the nine-to-five, nine-to-five, nine-to-five drudgery. The little hippy girl down the road made me two heart-shaped chocolates that I took with me to the woods. She sold them for twenty bucks a pop but would drop down to ten if you brought something shiny or interesting to sweeten the deal. This time, I’d brought a lavender urchin shell that washed up on the beach with al...

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The Follicle Chronicles - Pt.3: Hirsute Pursuit

Jim Firth

Submitted to Contest #183

Nothing is complicated with Mace. According to him, infiltrating Madam Scanlon’s private grounds will be as straightforward as ‘taking a dump’. Sometimes, I think we’re just too different to work together, but he has this undeniable knack for getting things done.He parks his pickup truck next to the compound boundary so we can scale the wall. ‘Mind the drop on the other side,’ he warns me. ‘And watch out for the moss.’ But I slip on the green slime, and tumble off the wall into a hedge that provides perfect camouflage. I wriggle do...

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Feathers and Fur

Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #183

Feathers and FurThis is a tale,Of forbidden love,Condemned by all creatures,And doomed from above.Noah understood. It wasn’t just man that should not be alone. All of God’s creatures crave companionship. Life is constructed in pairs.The farm was a veritable smorgasbord of livestock- cows, horses, pigs, and chickens. A small army of cats patrolled the area in search of rats, mice, ground squirrels, and other undesirable forms of life. Farmer John and his wife Betsy lived in the big old house up near the road. The only lonely soul was Monty, t...

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Carl's Cuts

Wendy Rogers

Submitted to Contest #183

“quack, quack, quack, quack….” Carl groaned and turned over, rubbing his eyes. He touched the snooze button on his phone. 5:30, he didn’t have much of a commute. The barber shop was just downstairs, but he wanted to be ready for the day. He got up slowly, steadying his feet on the floor. He walked over to the window, and moved the curtains aside, no sun today, only grey rain drops on the glass. He felt a soft, light touch on his calf. Looking down, there was Phoenix, the calico that had shown up on his doorstep over a year ago. Car...

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My Neighbor The Cat

Denese Wright

Submitted to Contest #183

My Neighbor The Cat is a short story about a stray cat and the impact she had on the lives of two people, who were also trying to make it out of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic hardship alive and with their sanity. While leaning my head against the back of the sofa one day, a stray cat walked into my living room and meowed at me. I was unpleasantly surprised, knowing they tend to wonder into peoples kitchens and I really didn’t like cats. It was careless of me. I usually keep the doors closed. My name is Jo-Anne, an...

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Contest #184

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

Theme: Opposite Day

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Ended on 23:59 - Feb 03, 2023 EST

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Title: Of Harpers and Heroes

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