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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

A character finds a clue or object linking them to a stranger.

Posted in Character on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 59 stories

“Delayed Encounter” by Andrea Krist

Submitted to Contest #271

Gena sat in the metallic chair with her back pressed to its dismal cushion. Her hips and lower back ached from the lack of padding and she could not help recrossing her legs yet again. She sighed as she drew her backpack closer to her side and switched the hand holding her open book. She was trying to read, but the uncomfortable seat was connected to two more on either side of her and none of the chairs had an arm rest or a barrier between the seats. It meant there was nothing between her and the mother with her young son on her left or the ...

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“Cache” by Nathan Dantoin

Submitted to Contest #271

A beadless rosary, a rusted railway tie, four pennies (1912, 1972, and 1968: twice), a padlock key wrapped in twine, and a treble hook red/white crankbait. Cache’s metal detector had returned the small haul swiftly before sunset. The end of the peninsula was cleared for the day and he tightened the drawstring pouch at his waist. The walk back to the harbormaster’s shack was a short walk across the rainbow bridge.The happiest folk spent the better part of fifty years clamping a myriad of styles of padlocks to the bridge. The saddest among the...

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“Stranger” by Clementine Shovels

Submitted to Contest #271

Stranger I don’t usually find myself in strangers homes. Yet here I was. Standing cautiously in acluttered, musty, hallway. A short, bearded man, with the name Renee, beckoning meinto his lounge. Yes. I had won the auction. A beautiful velvet green evening dress.“Renee” who I foolishly had believed to be a woman, had been messaging me.I had always been an anxious woman. Even though I hovered over this peculiar man myheight did nothing to suppress my racing thoughts.“Charlotte. Please come in. Come in. Sit.” I wanted to run. I managed a smile...

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“The Reflection Encounter” by Cristina Ticu

Submitted to Contest #271

Carl had always been a traveler at heart, constantly on the move, searching for something he couldn't quite name. He had visited countless countries, stayed in crowded hostels and strangers' homes, all while following an invisible path that led him farther from the familiar and deeper into the unknown. Yet, no matter how far he traveled, there was always that nagging feeling in his chest—an emptiness he couldn’t shake, like a piece of him was missing.It was during one of his routine searches for his next adventure that Carl stumbled upon a w...

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“Yellow and Blue Make Green” by Todd Williams

Submitted to Contest #271

        Twain was right about the truth. Strange things happen in life, and according to my late mother-in-law, they happen for a reason. I don’t know where you stand on the cosmic universe and where we all fit in it, but the following story will make you question the moving parts of the past, present, and future. It’s my story only because I believe it to be, but it may be yours as well because life is one big game of connecting the dots. Maybe we passed each other in our dreams, and you unknowingly s...

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“Taken In: A Winter Coat Tale” by Gail M Feldman

Submitted to Contest #271

I wanted to keep that coat. I guess it was a fair trade, though. Maybe not. It's not that I had a sentimental attachment to the coat; it was given to me by one of my old lovers, and to tell you the truth, I can't remember which one it was. It was either Jim or Lester. Both of them gave me clothing on a regular basis. I never asked. My other lovers gave me jewelry, or food, or nothing, as it suited them. I wasn't particular; I didn't choose my lovers, or allow myself to be chosen by them, in order to receive presents from them. It just worked...

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“Threads of the Past” by Daron Thompson

Submitted to Contest #271

The small antique shop on Birch Street was a place most people didn’t notice. It sat wedged between a laundromat and a bakery, its dusty windows filled with forgotten trinkets and relics from another time. People passed it every day, oblivious to the stories hidden within its walls. But for Nora, it was a sanctuary. Every Friday afternoon, she wandered through the narrow aisles, her fingers brushing over the old books, rusted pocket watches, and faded photographs. It was her escape from the weight of the world—a chance to get lost in the liv...

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“Blood and Ink” by Gary F

Submitted to Contest #271

Content warning: This story contains themes of substance abuse, physical violence, and mental health.Julian stumbled over the sidewalk; his eyes pointed down to the ground while he walked. "Another wasted night" he mumbled in self-deprecation, lifting the foam cup of whiskey in his right hand to his mouth and taking a deep gulp. He glanced at a gash on his left forearm, opened from the fall he had taken earlier that evening. Blood snaked down to his wrist, tracing the edge of a tattoo - faded now after many years, but surprisingly still...

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“The driftwood chandelier” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #271

Alicia loved beachcombing whether it was on the local beach near where she lived or on one of the more remote tropical beaches she visited while on holiday. The windowsill in her living room was filled with unusual objects and when the light captured them in the late afternoon the colors flickered and danced across the room. There were colored glass bottles, broken pieces of crockery, well washed by time, rounded into interesting soft shapes. A dried seahorse hung from a nylon string in the window and sea urchins and shells filled the bench ...

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“Penny” by Charlotte Sheffield

Submitted to Contest #271

The woods never spoke to me. The trees would rustle and shake their leaves down to the soft dirt. The wind would sing along with the canaries’ shrill. The water meandered through the pond, carrying its occupants to-and-fro. It danced and shouted and sent its blessings to all. But not to me.The cabin behind me glowed with life; its orange walls doing nothing to conceal the joy inside. A dog barked. A woman shouted. A glass broke. They’ll keep up their dances and play until the dawn breaks. Perhaps some rest after. Rinse. Repeat.They don’t see...

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“The Ring” by Shannon Slamka

Submitted to Contest #271

Sarah wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and stared into the closet crammed to the ceiling with boxes. Coming home was hard enough but packing up her grandfather’s life as if it never happened left an emptiness that she had no idea how to fill. She gingerly pushed one of the tightly stacked boxes but it didn’t budge. His house was always tidy and guest ready, the only items he displayed openly were pictures of her though her life, every achievement, every play or game he was always there rooting for he...

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“Smiley stranger” by Carolyn Samuel

Submitted to Contest #271

“Anyone coming with me today” Lauren asked, swapping her sit-at-the-desk heels for trainers, reaching for her waterproof and checking in the left hand pocket as she put it on. She wasn’t surprised by the silence and dismissive waves in response because it was drizzling outside. That was ok. She liked to walk alone anyway.  She wondered if she would see him today.  “Happy walking” the receptionist, Ellen, her favourite colleague, whispered at her cheerily, hand held over the mouthpiece of the phone as Lauren walked through. She turn...

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“The Genie and the Girl ” by Arica Vesperina

Submitted to Contest #271

The breeze was cold for summer. It had a chill only recognized by wintery melancholy and a sun only recognized by summer exultant. A girl barely under 20 with rigid curly hair and deep cobalt eyes. Stared at the sky with clouds slowing moving around the world, ready to cover the sun. Though she often pondered what she may look like with less potent features, she felt no strain in her attributes. She looked to the ground with nothing on her mind; she walked on a broken concrete path with partially overgrown flowers and weeds bending through a...

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“A Figment of Imagination, A Coincidence or Stark Reality?” by Pete Gautchier

Submitted to Contest #271

Prompt: A character finds a clue or object linking them to a stranger. A Figment of Imagination, A Coincidence or Stark Reality? As the sun descends below the horizon, I find it to be the ideal time to take casual strolls along the beach front near my home. I would say it is not the most pristine of beaches covered in a mixture of sand, gravel, rocks, and high cliffs; nonetheless, looking out over the still ocean waters with the glowing horizon affords me much solitude and comfort as a writer. Rarely is there anyone walking t...

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Contest #271

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This week's theme: Familiar Strangers with Barnes & Noble Press

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Ended on 23:59 - Oct 11, 2024 EST

Won by Kate Simkins 🏆

Title: The Bench

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