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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a highly-strung character learning to slow down, or someone pursuing a quieter way of life.

Posted in Character on May 31, 2024

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 55 stories

“As Easy as Lighting Wet Wood with a Candle” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #253

"I won't have it," Lady Nimmo said with her hands on her hips. "There has to be another way." The mighty victor over shadow elves and dragons sought an edge in this argument but found none."But there isn't," Trungen said without emotion. "I will hammer the cork into place. You three will sail to the fleet.""I won't leave you behind, and I'm not leaving the stumpers." Battle scenes flashed through her mind. Dragons shooting fire-bolts. Stumpers on fire. A shadow elf slicing her father's face with a knife."The stumpers and I will be fine.""Wit...

19 comments 19
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“Rest for the Wicked ” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #253

It’s taken me fifty years to appreciate being alone, but it doesn’t do to mention it in public. I was always a social drinker and never enjoyed imbibing by myself. The doctor suggested, Naltrexone, but said, ‘The best remedy is to stop drinking. Period’. ‘That’s not easy, Doc’. ‘Enjoy some quality time,’ he said. ‘Go on holiday or get a hobby.’    Alas, my hobby was the problem. They prescribed Naltrexone at the clinic, but after I got the all-clear, I ditched the last tablets. The side effects were fairly unpredicta...

47 comments 47
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“Stillwater” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #253

I believe reality is relative, especially when what you see from behind a screen is designed, produced, and created by someone else. Our visitors come searching for the real world, a place where the sun shines, and they can touch the reality around them. We were going to give it to him, though he won't like what he’s going to get. Sally and I sat in our usual spot, the weight of the slow summer afternoon heavy on our shoulders, almost forgetting we had a job to do, when he finally stepped off the train.  Lo...

26 comments 26
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“Saturday the 14th” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #253

The two surviving counsellors ran in opposite directions, screaming into the woods.Jacob Mara’s shoulders sagged. Each year, he got a bit more rotted. And each year, these camp counsellors got faster. Or did they stay the same, and he was getting slower? Now, there was a scary thought: would one day come when he couldn’t catch any of them? He adjusted his hockey mask, which had stayed with him through thick and thin, through life and death. And then he crashed through the undergrowth after his quarry.The topless blonde in a thong split left,...

14 comments 14
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“ Disconnect to Reconnect” by Charity Cummings

Submitted to Contest #253

Allie Walker stood on the porch of her cozy beachside cottage, a gentle breeze playing with her hair as she watched the waves roll in. It had been six months since her transformative digital detox in the Outer Banks, and life had taken on a new rhythm—one of simplicity, balance, and quietude. But just as Allie had found her peace, a new challenge emerged on the horizon. Her old friend, Sarah, had called earlier that day with urgent news: their childhood home, a quaint bed and breakfast nestled in the rolling hills of Vermont, was in danger o...

22 comments 22
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“Secret of the Andante Hand ” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #253

The Secret of the Andante Hand It had been one hell of a night at the department store of Teri Davenport, a woman of about 40ish who is oftentimes mistaken for someone much younger. That night, three of her employees called out leaving her to manage the store pretty much by herself.  The big bosses would deal with the absenteeism of course, but it usually came too late to be of any use.  She usually had to pick up the slack.   "Sell, sell, sell!",.she muttered as she set about the process of closing the store for the ni...

10 comments 10
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“Burning Skies” by Julia Zhipa Philippova

Submitted to Contest #253

- That's it! Do you get me? We gotta go back, - the man yelled.- No. I gotta be there.- You'll die there. How do you not get it? Everything we're doing is so messed up. We're done. Hear me? Done. - His voice was drowned out by the chaos. The crowd around them was screaming and running away. We were stuck in this war zone. I knew there was only one way to end it, - leave. Right now. Stop acting like yourself, pretend that nothing is happening around, just start over. But it was my life. I have been working my whole life to become a famous war...

12 comments 12
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“I Only Have a Minute” by Beverly Goldberg

Submitted to Contest #253

I realized the time and jumped up from my chair next to Mom’s bed in the nursing home, almost knocking it over, and said, “My God, look at the time. I’m going to be late.” Then I slipped on my coat, and turned back to place a quick kiss on my mother’s forehead before running out the door. I heard my mother’s quiet, “Of course, Emily, running late…” as her eyes closed.Reaching the airport just on time for the 10:30 shuttle to DC, I grabbed the first empty seat and smiled at the stewardess, who smiled back saying, “You really cut it ...

12 comments 12
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“The academic - The artist ” by Lucia Wei

Submitted to Contest #253

“Drip drip” my eyes unfocused as my head started to spin “Drip drip” The work I'd been slaving over for hours was being painted a lovely red colour from the red ink dripping from my nose “Drip drip” I was tired my hours of work being covered with that beautiful, shiny red blood, I could care less about that ruined work the fuzziness at the back of my head taking over, my eyes focusing on the continuous drips of bright luscious blood falling in almost slow motion one by one drip by drip. All of a sudden my mom barged into my room, the do...

2 comments 2
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“The Witch” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #253

The WitchShe was the only one getting off the four-thirty-seven. The light was behind her as she walked toward the tiny station house. Her white cotton dress with the large sunflower print danced around her long legs. The sunlight broke into a million rainbows as the breeze played with her ginger hair.The train only stops twice a day in these parts. The ten-fifty-two going east and the four-thirty-seven going west. Being station master is not a full-time job. I merely close the feed store twice a day. Everybody knows.The advantage of the job...

10 comments 10
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“The Last Cast” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #253

When Charlie Calisher was shoved into early retirement he made a promise to himself; he’d fish until he got bored. Boredom was not the goal. Boredom was a worry, an admonishment, a sentence that he was beside the point. He’d been at it since May and was still not bored. He’d had exceptionally good days when he’d land 23 fish, hooked, and lose, another seven, and extraordinarily bad days like when he caught nothing but a chill after slipping on a slimy moss-covered boulder, filling his waders with icy river water, and losing his rod, a $950 T...

4 comments 4
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“The Giving and Receiving of Gifts” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #253

Mrs Enid Galbraith, born in the reign of Victoria, and more than a decade before the old queen’s death, was, much like her hens at this time of year, no spring chicken herself, but if they could withstand the frost, she was ‘bloody shair’ she could. Her legs, though swollen, hadn’t failed her yet, and her back, though bent, still had strength, and if her arms could bear ‘the weight o’ twae tin pails, yin filled wi’ sand, yin wi’ witter’, and she could make it down to the coop past those rickety steps with ‘twae pund o’ feed in her apron powk...

8 comments 8
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“A Cheetah's Rear View Mirror” by Joseph Ellis

Submitted to Contest #253

I’m surprised you didn’t ask about the Olympics first. “What is it like to meet all those athletes? What are your favorite moments from the interviews? How did it feel to race the sprinters in mock competition? Do you think it’s fair that you’re not allowed to compete?” Those are the questions I get asked the most. Oh and then you could ask if I actually like Vitaflakes, the cereal of victory! The world needs that question answered again. Ha!Or you could inquire about the arcade games that bear my face. Gamers still ask me, ironically, if I ...

7 comments 7
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“A quieter Kind of Life” by John McPhee

Submitted to Contest #253

By John McPhee“Well, here’s to no more daily deadlines, you lazy bum,”Dave said as he clinked his beer bottle against mine.“Daily?” I scoffed. “Try hourly, my friend. Ever since weput the paper online, practically every story has to be updated constantly throughout the day. “Man, I always hated that part of the job.”I took a swig of beer and continued. “It’s always ‘get that story online’ and then it’s ‘where’s that update’ like three times a day.Remember when old George gave me shit that time on my update about a fatal house fire, I wrote t...

8 comments 8
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“Becoming Meghan” by Nancy Wright

Submitted to Contest #253

As Sirenuse stood in the doorway of their bedroom, holding her I’d rather be drinking wine coffee cup and watching her new husband sleep, she thought for the millionth time how much she would like to kill him. Not that he was a bad guy. He was great, as sweet as could be. This whole place was sweet as a peach, but dear god was it boring. And even after a year and a half of sincerely trying, Sirenuse still had no idea how to do boring. She had no idea how to be this Meghan character she had created, either. Mostly because Meghan, the fictitio...

4 comments 4
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Contest #253

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This week's theme: Slow Down

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Ended on 23:59 - Jun 07, 2024 EST

Won by Maria Adamkiewicz 🏆

Title: One thousand and three wishes

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