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Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Posted in Character on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 216 stories

To Thine Own Self Be True

Submitted to Contest #95

The unexpected marriage proposal went nothing like the way she’d dreamed; no misty-eyed lover dropping to one knee, no declaring eternal love. Instead, it came on the back of a rabid dog with a sweet puppy face.*The heat eased after sunset, but the air indoors was still too close. Sarah had fallen asleep by the window under the bamboo ceiling fan. She awoke in the dark with a handkerchief wadded in her fist, and for that moment between sleep and alert, she forgot why she held the damp cloth. Oh, Jordon.The lake house belonged to her now, sin...

29 likes 28 comments 28
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Laments

Submitted to Contest #95

Shadows of the towering oaks that stood sentinel over the dead stretched long and lithe in the final yawn of light.I hung back, hesitant, wary and waiting, while the visitor paid her final respects.She stood, a lonely wraith in the eternal breath of a midsummer sunset, a silent statue over an unremarkable headstone amongst a sea of the same. Tall and lean; willowy and pale. Her hair was like moonlight, curled in a wispy knot at the base of her bowed head. Her white skirt rippled on the wave of a gentle evening breeze, the only indicatio...

28 likes 6 comments 6
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White Lobster

Submitted to Contest #95

I like to search for treasures in the sand. I walk up and down the beach with my handheld metal detector and wave it back and forth, listening for beeps. It's soothing, and it gives me a chance to think.The metal detector was a gift from my wife, Sienna. She gave it to me for my fortieth birthday because she said I needed a hobby. She also hoped that maybe I'd find something valuable. Once in a while, it pays off. It's amazing how much jewelry people lose on the beach. Last Tuesday, I found two dollars and seventy-eight cents, a broken digit...

26 likes 9 comments 9
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Draco Vigilans

Submitted to Contest #95

“Touch the dragon.” They chanted. “Touch the dragon. Touch the dragon. Touch the dragon.”I crouched behind a rock in the musty old cave, buffeted by the howling wind on the outside and the scalding dampness of the dragon’s lair on the inside. I was definitely getting a cold after this; I’d just climbed up to the tallest peak of this awful mountain, and my every muscle ached. Behind me, the gaggle of ghosts continued chanting and being useless, same as they had done the entire way up.To be honest, I was sick of their dreck.“Touch the dragon, ...

25 likes 5 comments 5
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Wishing Well Questions

Submitted to Contest #95

I am sitting behind my house trying to place some order to everything that happened. It is a big house, but not really a house at all. It is more of a huge shambling wreck. I just live down in one little corner of it. I am sitting on the edge of a concrete well. It is like an ugly sewer pipe facing in the wrong direction. It is pointing directly to the sky instead of out across and spoiling some idyllic forgotten water course. I know that this place for some reason is important. I cannot seem to remember why. I just know that here some of th...

24 likes 15 comments 15
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Red or Blue

Submitted to Contest #95

Red or blue. Which one do I choose? The choice itself is harsh on my brain, but the timer that the dark-cloaked man in front of me has given is even harsher. I have exactly one minute to decide, but what do I do? There is only one instruction: “Choose the right pill”. Is there even a “right” decision? He also gave me a vague description of each pill’s effect. The red one would make me free, but I would face the consequences. The blue pill would make me a slave, but I would enjoy the aftermath. What does that even mean? Make me free of what? ...

24 likes 11 comments 11
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Our Ancestors Governing Us

Submitted to Contest #95

I’ve spent so much on building my relationship with her and now mom says no. she’s the only lady I find peace with but mother doesn’t want her. She’s not my tribes mate and that’s mother’s problem. Mother is the lone parent I have and I’ve dated thousands but she’s the lone girl who supports my dreams.Her charisma is unique. Can’t get her off my mind. Her words of encouragement and hardworking nature will attract her any man but what of me? She’s an answered prayers from God but I’m bound by tradition. I’m caught up with choosing betwee...

23 likes 18 comments 18
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You Don’t Have to Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here!

Submitted to Contest #95

You Don’t Have to Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here!      “Go home!” she said. Two words. It is incredible how much pain two words can hold. Thank God they weren’t long words, or the pain might have killed me.       I want to say, “I don’t have one.” She would roll her eyes and call me a liar. In the sense that she means, I do have one. I have a place to go, but to me, it is not home, and it never will be. So I place my tongue firmly between my teeth and nod, fighting to hold in the t...

23 likes 0 comments 0
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The Cop

Submitted to Contest #95

I watched from the window as they rolled her lifeless body out into the ambulance. This isn’t possible, I ran outside. “Hey! You! Police! Stop!” I yelled attempting to catch my breath.  “Sorry ma’am, you can’t be here.” “Wait, no she’s my neighbor. I came to tell you that I saw..” “Saw what? She died of natural causes, the woman was 85.” “No! I saw them, there were people in her house. They killed…” “Listen lady, as far as I’m concerned she died of natural causes. If I were you I’d stop talking.” “But..” “I said stop talking, or else. N...

22 likes 1 comment 1
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Thicker than Water

Submitted to Contest #95

It was a rainy day at the funeral. Purviss the Pantherian looked at the reed cocoon encasing the lifeless body of his older brother Arvin's girlfriend, Elise. Elise had been murdered by Wolf people from the neighboring nation of Luperia. The nation of Luperia, home of the Wolf people and Panthera, the nation of Cat people had not always seen eye to eye, because their original kings, Leo I and Sirius I weren't exactly the best of friends, but a treaty signed by their heirs, King Leo II and King Sirius II had allowed for a truce between t...

21 likes 0 comments 0
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the computer virus that infected humans

Submitted to Contest #95

  Gordon had just finished his report about the financial loss of grocery carts to chain grocery stores. He was getting his photos downloaded from his i-phone when he saw something dreadful.  The report that he had worked for the last eight days on was doing something strange right before his very eyes. It looked like an animated little lawnmower was rapidly going from one line to the next, even with the clackity clack of a lawnmower. It was mowing the letters into thousands of tiny dashes. For a short...

19 likes 1 comment 1
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The Other Side

Submitted to Contest #95

THE OTHER SIDE Decapitation is not something Morgan has ever wished for or ever will. Of course; no one wishes such, but in her circumstances, it is something to be afraid of. If caught in the midst of her escape or even found considering such, she will likely face death. That was how she had once thought, but now, she knows that it won’t probably end up in something of the sort: it will. Years ago, huddled up in the corner of her damp cell, Morgan had learned just how cruel the world could be. She thought she had known this before, when bot...

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Too Many Choices

Submitted to Contest #95

TOO MANY CHOICES In the early days of fast food establishments, things were simple. Most burger stands offered just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, soda, and milkshakes. That was it. And it was all you needed.  Even the buildings were simple, most just small stands with windows to place and receive your orders, with just an enclosure for a kitchen. You sat on an outside bench to eat, or in your car. Think of drive-ins without carhops. Before long, more choices were on the menu. Bigger fancier double burgers, secret sauce, chicken...

18 likes 1 comment 1
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Unheeded

Submitted to Contest #95

“But this is what you always told us, ‘Never judge a book by its cover'. But you are judging this book by its cover.”“This is a different matter. This is a different issue. You can’t use that in a matter like this. Here you need to look beyond face value.”“Oh! Mum, here you go again.”“Yeah! I've been around this world far more than you. So many experiences and so many lessons learnt. I know when I see a red alert.”“So, are you saying I shouldn’t get married to him. But he loves me so much. What you think you've heard about him, isn’t any of ...

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"Houston...?"

Submitted to Contest #95

             “Okay,” Houston, my right-hand, said by way of greeting. “We have a problem.” We had worked at the aviary together for many years, and I’d always known him to be an interesting fellow. I no longer considered his gruffness to be a mark of aggravation, nor was this the most unusual greeting he’d given me in recent months. He wasn’t your average right-hand, but I trusted him with almost anything.            &nb...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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