Crouton 828

“Quiet as the Grave” by Crouton 828

"My lips are sealed!" I whispered excitedly, as my best friend finally showed me where the secret room was in her house. She had told me about it months ago, but had refused to show it to me, no matter how much I begged. Until today, that is. We had been best friends our whole lives, all of 10 years. Well, almost 11, my birthday was coming up. We did everything together, except for exploring her house, apparently. As we crawled through a tunnel between the walls I whispered, "How did you even find this?" She grinned back at me, then explain...

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“A Tangled Web We Weave” by Crouton 828

Words used in describing a person that some may find triggering. "Everyone, get your stuff in the van!" I heard my youth pastor call. Grabbing my bags, I made my way to the van, pushing against the other excited teens. "Come on, man! Get out of the way!" I grumbled, shoving up against Josh, one of the new junior counselors. He spun around and glared down at me. I just rolled my eyes. There was no way this guy should be a counselor this summer. Counselors were supposed to be older teens or adults that were of exemplary character and loved J...

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“Goodbye Forever” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #89

TW: Suicide: This is a completely fictional story, any similarity of story or characters to real life events is unintentional. This is intended to raise some awareness, because any situation can cause someone to doubt their worth and value to those who love them. Well, today is the day. The last day. The day that I will finally be free. Free from all of the pain, from the stress, from the hurt, from the indifference... free from everything, honestly. I am looking forward to this freedom, to this release. I am so tired... so exhausted with...

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“Love Always” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #76

Trigger: Suicide Date: August 10, 2017 Dear Paul, I saw you at school today. You looked as dashing as ever. I don't think you noticed me though. Why would you? It was our first day of college, and you entered our dream school with an arts scholarship, and the title of "Best Actor" from the summer competition. I entered the semester on a scholarship from good grades and a completely clean record, not that anyone cares. I did try to say 'Hi' to you. I promise I did. I thought about how I would just, walk right up to you, and say, "Hello, ...

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“Just Spit it Out” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #76

I remember the first time I saw Damien. He was playing basketball with some friends. I actually didn't really know him then. He was a friend of the boyfriend of a really good friend's sister. He was pretty decent at basketball I guess, but my attentions were focused on another guy, Jordan. Jordan was all a girl could dream of. He was tall, at least six feet, maybe even six-foot-one, and strong, incredibly so. With bright blue eyes, and brown curly hair, he was the epitome of perfection. I had had a crush on him for four years, and we had kn...

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“Out of Time” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #74

Scene: A young man sits in a dark corner of a small house. He has some sort of electronic device sitting on a wooden table in front of him, casting a bluish glow on his face. His hands are moving rapidly, as though working on something, though it is unknown exactly what. He mutters to himself, occasionally growing in volume, only to settle back into whispers. He is alone. Date: December 31, 2020 Time: 11:00 p.m. Even as I am recording this message, I am in a panic. I have so much left to do, and so little time to do it. An hour. One hour...

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“The Twelve Days of Christmas” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #73

It was the 20th of December and Angelica sat in her room, practicing for the Christmas cantata at her church. "It caaame upoon a Midnight Clear, that glooorious sooong of ooollld!" she trilled sweetly. Suddenly, the door to her room burst open, and her eight-year-old sister, Marta, ran in. "Angelica!" she shouted waving some papers around, "Sing this one!" Angelica stopped singing and glared at her sister, "Get out of my room, squirt!" Marta stuck her lip out, pouting. Angelica rolled her eyes, "That won't work with me. Get out. I need to ...

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“The Tragedy of Migration” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #63

I don't know what year it is, what month, what day. All I know is one morning I woke up, and I could feel the change. The wind was blowing crisper and there was a different smell in the air. Something within me told me, "It is time to FLY!" So I did. I didn't know where I was going or even why I was going. Something within me just told me it was time, and I listened. As I took to the skies, I heard the cries of my many brothers and sisters calling to me. Glancing around, I noticed that we were all spread out, and decided to try to move in a...

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“Fall Beginnings” by Crouton 828

Submitted to Contest #63

“By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire,” I said, finishing the reading of my short story to my class. “Wait, what do you mean ‘by the time you stepped outside, the leaves were on fire’?” my teacher questioned, “Is that the end of the story?” When I nodded, she made a mark in her gradebook and said, “What kind of ending is that? That is not how you finish a story. I’m giving you a D!” I winced. I knew that they wouldn’t understand. This assignment was supposed to be a made-up story about fall, but while trying to write one, I...

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