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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone trying to atone for a mistake they’ll never be able to fix.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 192 stories

“Blue Heart” by Amalee Bowen

Submitted to Contest #70

        Wind whipped through my hair, tangling it about my face even as I twisted it and tucked it back under my hat again. The height of the crow’s nest exaggerated everything. The sharp bite of the wind, the pitch and the sway of the ship. I wrapped one arm around the mast, even as I leaned out over the ocean. The sea is a temperamental creature, but she wears her heart on her sleeve. Some days she is a tame beast, glassy and clear. Other days she is exuberant, blue and white-capped, playing in the s...

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“Creeds, Part II ” by Megan Faith

Submitted to Contest #70

“So, you want to tell me why we’re going West?” The cowboy asked.  Percy and Aoyama sat together in the train car, trying to eat dinner. Percy had his letter he was writing to Lucy on the table. His plate was clean. Aoyama hadn’t been eating the past few days, his plate was full. The samurai looked at him, that was all it took for Percy to understand. “I’m completely grateful to you, but I would like to know what favor I am returning. Mr. Hisatomo.” “Please call me Aoyama.” He murmured. A waiter passed them, making him press deeper in...

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“Drunken Words are Sober Thoughts” by Zena Jalloh

Submitted to Contest #70

To say I’m nervous would be the understatement of the year. My hands are shaking where they sit in my lap, but I can’t let it show because I acted way too calm when she came into our store earlier. I think it was a mixture of absolute shock and mild panic that made me act that way. I was in the middle of teaching an oil pastel class on how to blend darks to lights when the windchimes on the door jingled. Violet was in the front of the shop, so I expected her to get it, but when a voice that sounded a little too eager and too familiar called ...

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“Green for Healing” by Serine Achache

Submitted to Contest #70

I have always believed that words were special, and I’ve always treated them accordingly.Words like blossom and mesmerizing for example are so beautiful I highlight them in green, my favorite color, whenever they appear in books. Green for happiness.Words like loss, heartbreak, and cruel are so painful I usually color them in grey. Because that's what I believe pain would be if it ever were a color. Grey.And then there are words like unforgiving and death; words that actually scare me. Words I don't even bother coloring, for the simple reaso...

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“The Scientific Method” by Arthur Tiberio

Submitted to Contest #70

The needle trembled in his hand, though at the moment he was nowhere near the state of mind to wonder whether it was nerves or grief that compelled the movement. With his other hand he grabbed the dirty burlap sack from the adjacent table, and stuck the needle between his teeth as he wrestled with the knot.He was regretting his choice in lightbulbs; the incandescent bulbs had been much cheaper, but the orange light they cast made the room seem dirty in an unnatural way, as if the very morals of the air had been defiled. The ragged ends of hi...

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“burning” by Alex Chillau

Submitted to Contest #70

When his prodigal daughter returned, after seven years of absence, my father barely recognized me, so disfigured had I become. When my feeble voice beseeched him, through the car-window-"Daddy," I called, his eyes sprang open, heavy with the sight of his daughter's ghost. "Emily?" he pondered in horror, "is that you?". "Daddy," I cried, "I fucked up." He glared at me and his metal grey Porsche came alive, "I don't have time now," he said, as my guilt flashed through his eyes, "I'm late for work." "Oh, Emily," she used to say, my darling dea...

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“THE ATONEMENT” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #70

The once-a-month cookery group would gather in what was called the Club Room of a residential complex in which the Pintos lived. Pinto’s wife Jay always hosted the event and the small group now came together. Jay welcomed the members. She was less than 30 and was good looking. She was dressed in a sari and her hair had been knotted into a bun. Kate was a member and she came dressed also in a sari. Jay told the group “Today we’ll see the new soup which can be heated and served even for a week. This will be demonstrated by madam Liyan.” Liyan ...

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“EVA” by Sunshine (:

Submitted to Contest #70

Every night, the thunder comes to haunt me. I hear it in my dreams, like crackling fire. I hear it outside every time it rains, which happens to be a lot. My sister always holds me every time it happens. My mind wants to shut down and my heart rate goes a mile a minute. I remember the night it came back. I jumped onto my bed and looked out the window. The thunder screamed with yelps of pain and begged for help with the rage of a billion fires. I covered myself with my blanket and started crying. My sister came in and woke me up. I was dreami...

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“It Ended” by Amber Soha

Submitted to Contest #70

"Phone check," Sarah said. "Okay, here," Said Jason. "Who's this?" she asked. "She's a new coworker who's been added to the group chat," he said. "Why is she sending you so many smiley-face emojis?" "It's a group chat; they're for everyone, not just me." Jason feels himself getting irritated, though he's trying not to. His cheeks are red and burning and he's trying with all of his might to keep himself from jumping up snatching his phone out of Sarah's hands. He stands up and begins to pace around the bed. "What's the matter?" she aske...

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“Holy Dip” by Priyanka Choubey

Submitted to Contest #70

Trigger warning: rape   River Ganga was flowing beautifully and making that spring evening cool and calm. People after taking the holy dip in the auspicious water of Ganga were ready with earthen Deepak (a lamp Indian use to offer prayer) to worship. But Nanda was sitting still at the bank of the river since morning staring the water asking to herself how all those sins can be washed away in the river Ganga? Nanda heard from her elders that whatever wrongdoings you do every bit of that flow away in the holy water of Ganga. But she was c...

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“Looking up Luke” by Frank Aguilera

Submitted to Contest #70

Looking up LukeThere was a sheet of paper stuck between the knob and the frame of my front door. It was damp and yellowish. I hesitated before taking it, and wanted to crumple and drop it in the waste bin without reading it.Was it a message or a threat? I had no reason to expect threats or messages from anybody. Unless it was from the kids yesterday afternoon who ran their bicycles over the front lawn. I yelled at them, and they turned their heads and flipped me the finger.I didn’t want to unfold the sheet, and find a ‘fuck you’ note written...

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“In The Dark” by Sam W

Submitted to Contest #70

Before the sun rises, Natalia bathes in the dark with cold water. She dresses in silence. All her clothes are plain-black pants and blouses, grey turtlenecks in the winter. Her father buys her clothes. Natalia has no time to pick them out herself. She doesn’t mind. She and her father are, after all, still in mourning. And this way, she can dress in the dark without risking a fashion disaster. Today, however, she left her clothes out hanging on the wardrobe door. Today she wants to wear a dress. Natalia gets ready and does her ...

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“😈The Medellin Cartel kids😈” by Dennis Love Jr

Submitted to Contest #70

My name is Dennis Homer Love Jr. As a child in the 1980s I became the first underaged person recognized by the United States government for helping efforts involving the CIA during the Ronald Reagan presidency. Many other kids were recognized after me, but it seems there efforts were not life threatening as mine were. I was privileged to work with or along side of some of Stephen Shaffer's clandestine work involving such people as Barry Seal, Pablo Escobar, Manuel Noriega, Oliver North and South American people that were to be used in an arm...

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“I am not your mom” by Sambulo Kunene

Submitted to Contest #70

I was a teen mom. I became pregnant while I was still in high school. It was such an embarrassment for me and my family. We were a very pious family. It is a pity that pregnancy is a condition which cannot be postponed or cannot be concealed. My mom and dad were sitting and eating dinner, when I walked in with an apron and a tray ready to serve dessert, and suddenly my mom said: "Wait a minute, freeze! Are you gaining weight? You are gaining weight aren't you?" I was taken aback. I knew what was happening, except I had planned on telling the...

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“What We Owe To Each Other” by Bonnie Remmot

Submitted to Contest #70

“Sierra, open up!” she pleads, pounding at the door once, twice, five times. “I know you don’t have to work today.” The gentle autumn shower drips over her glasses, but she can still see a shadow make its way across the living room window. The door pulls back just as she starts pounding again, her fist falling through the open doorway.  “God. Finley. What is it,” Sierra moans, and then squawks when Finley pushes her way inside. “She fucking escaped, Sierra, like fucking James Bond or something.” Finley uses her sleeve to wipe away...

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