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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a scene in which a character’s behavior or reaction to something is affected by a past experience — without saying what that experience was.

Posted in Character on Sep 15, 2023

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✍️ 51 stories

“Surviving the Apocalypse” by Evangeline Wood

Submitted to Contest #216

The group ventured deeper into the decaying city. The stench of decay hung heavy in the air, a constant reminder of the horrors lurking nearby. Alex couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in her stomach as they approached a makeshift barricade of abandoned cars and debris blocking their path. Carlos, the former marine, began dismantling the blockage, trying to clear a path through the rubble. His large hands and strong arms quickly moved the rocks. Alex scanned the area for any signs of movement but saw nothing. She knew this area would be crawl...

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“Dreading the Sun” by Ray Samber

Submitted to Contest #216

I can’t remember how long it’s been. I could feel as he carefully patched pieces of me together until I was big enough to roll. He was wearing his green scarf, black gloves, and blue striped boots overtop his grey snow-pants and blue camouflage jacket. Flakes of me were falling hard, making it hard to see everything he was doing but he was working hard to create his vision of me. I started out as a big ball, then after a little while longer I had a smaller ball atop that one, & eventually there was three balls atop each other each one sm...

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“Liv's Rules” by Celia Farr-Smith

Submitted to Contest #216

If Peter thought that forgiveness, or anything like it, would ever be on the table of reconciliation between them, he was wrong. Fucking wrong. The word Asshole! wasn’t descriptive enough to embody the feeling that came spitting out of her mouth during the mediation session. Like tiny venomous toads, the words leaped from her lips. Peter didn’t deserve a pardon; it was her time to get even. The hard way. The way that made a person wonder what the hell he had been thinking and wishing that he could just go back in time and say no when it had ...

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“BRANDED” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #216

BRANDED “Is she under lock and key, Sergeant?”“Yessir, Colonel. She’s a real wildcat, sir”.As the sergeant spoke, he turned his head to show the officer the scratches he had suffered down the side of his face and neck.“It'll take her a while to settle down, I reckon. See how she goes with no food for a day”.“Yessir”.The sergeant left his commanding officer’s quarters and strolled across the sandy parade ground. When he was sure he was out of sight, in the shadows of the stockade, he opened his leather gloved hand and stared intently at the l...

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“Respite” by Tyler Duggan

Submitted to Contest #216

Respite         “The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988) ----------------------------------------------------------------         The parking lot exists and then the car, and then inside it: Seth. This may be the dream again, but there’s no telling.         Everything is starting the same at least; he sits in the ne...

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“Her Nightmare Walks” by Fire And Ice Videos

Submitted to Contest #216

         She exhaled and smoke curled through the air around Hale’s fingers as she stared at the gold token in her left hand. Shiny and smooth, it was clearly some kind of metal covered in gold paint to give the appearance of being real. She doubts it managed to fool anyone. Her thumb ran over the raised letters that spelled out 6 months sober. Even though it’d been a year since Avery emptied their two-bedroom apartment of alcohol, it’d only been six months since Hale had touched a drink. Six months si...

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“Our Lives Bound Together ” by Sienna Stephens

Submitted to Contest #216

His hand touched mine. It was cold and felt lifeless, like her hand. I pushed myself away from him, moving further and further back before hitting a wall. Tears crept their ways to my eyes, hands shaking violently, and breath going in and out into a panic. I couldn't look at him, he looked too much like her. The loose curly black hair, dusty silver eyes, and snow-white skin. It couldn't be her, he was different, he wasn't like her. His figure became clearer the closer he approached me. The usual calm and collected turned into worry and pani...

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“Paint Girl” by Jr Wolfgang

Submitted to Contest #216

“No. no, no, no. Please tell me you’re messing with me,” pleaded JR to Brick in aisle 11 of the department store where they are coworkers.  Both employees were fairly new to the company. So they were still meeting others there on a daily basis. The first time JR laid eyes on “Paint Girl” he honestly did not really notice her. He kept his head down at first for most of the workdays. JR can get nervous with first impressions. He tries to keep low profiles but can never stay away from himself for too long.  JR noticed Paint Girl up ...

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“Bird” by Cameron Michles

Submitted to Contest #216

Bird wondered about that a lot. Or maybe it was decided all at once. Or maybe it depends on the weather. The weather. Strange.            She’ll ask her tomorrow. -----            The kitchen clock said 10:07 A.M., but the clock in the den said 10:08 when she finally knocked on the door.            “Do you have a glass of water?” Her cheeks were red and specked with sweat. &nbsp...

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“Fix It” by Diana Glenn

Submitted to Contest #216

“Well, if it’s up to me—” “It is up to you!” “No, I can’t. You know I can’t!” “Silvia!” No! John! The sound of shattering China brought Silvia back to the present. “Oh, come sit down Silvia,” said her therapist. Silvia dazedly reached for the broom next to the kitchen doorway, “No, I’ll clean it up. Tasha, her therapist, put down her notebook, “Silvia, you should sit. I’ll get it.” Silvia came out of her daze as anger bubbled within her, “I can do it!” she snapped, seizing the broom handle.  Tasha’s voice was firmer,...

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“Cold Winds” by Anna Komora

Submitted to Contest #216

She tries to wrap her hoodie closer around her as she steps outside, and tries to take the driveway in several long strides to the running car waiting for her. Sitting in the passenger side of the back, Jenna hears the music, previously blasting, be turned down.  Dale, in the driver's seat, speaks first. “Are you ready for a night of extra fall fun?” He says.  His girlfriend, her closest friend, rolls her eyes in the passenger seat. “I am so sorry about him. We can kick him out at the gas station if you want.”  It only m...

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“The forgiving earth” by Sandra Viviers

Submitted to Contest #216

Mathew’s head was pounding as though there were a million drums beating in it, the pain was excruciating. He felt his body being consumed by fire while his chest felt like it was collapsing onto his lungs forcing his life saving air out. ‘I’m in hell!’ Was his first logical thought. He opened his eyes sluggishly, his eyelids felt as if they were glued to his eyeballs. The air was filled with a grey, foul-smelling smoke, that stung his eyes. In the hazy center of the smoke, he saw a terrible image. It looked like a face, b...

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“Breaking the Girl” by Zach Martz

Submitted to Contest #216

“Officer Pardo, reporting on Patrol duty. Do you read me?” “Reading you loud and clear, Officer Pardo. Is Officer Metz with you?” “Yes, she’s right here.” “We got a call at 39200 West Jenkin Street. Emergency response needed.” “Oh God. Is that the –“ “It’s an industrial chemical lab. Currently closed but they have twenty-four hour security and they should let you in.” Officer Pardo swallowed. “Um, I actually think I’m seeing a robbery in progress right now, so I don’t think –“ Officer Metz grabbed the handset. “We’ll be right t...

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“The "perfect" swing” by Saskia Schleicher

Submitted to Contest #216

I can’t believe the past eight years have led me to this point.  I still remember my first day at practice, like it was yesterday. I was only 7 years old, an anxious little girl playing with all the boys. But the coach was always encouraging me.  “It’s so nice to finally have a girl on the team again,” he would say. “The girls are usually my favourite,” he’d whisper, with a cheeky smile and a wink. “Don’t let the boys intimidate you, baseball is a girls’ sport as much as it’s a boys’ sport.” He always tried to include me, make ...

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“Tender Heat” by M Karthik Raja

Submitted to Contest #216

Thudded on the silicate perfused road, he was squinting at the hot sunrays bubbling around and through his head and body. The heat so permeable that it was fuming the humidity out of the air. And so stirring, it had weakened Deepak's posture as he was dangling and leaning on his friend Ajay's rocky shoulder. On his left stood a series of impatient bystanders waiting to cross the road. And the road was getting charred and churned by the dashing vehicles whistling rustling past each other producing sparks in between them. There stood a woman w...

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