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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about two people living together who have opposing sleep cycles, and only cross paths at dawn and dusk.

Posted in Character on Nov 10, 2023

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 49 stories

“One house of Two Worlds” by Robert McReynolds

Submitted to Contest #224

 In the Chicago apartment at the crack of dawn, the front door slowly opens and a high yellow African American woman enters wearing a nursing uniform. She has low cut light pink hair with a bang to the right side and green eyes. Dropping her keys in a box beside the door, she hears the TV going in the background." Layla, if you fell asleep with the TV on again, we're switching what bills you pay." yells Dia. A female voice responded from the bathroom, "I was watching the news, there was another attack last night, and I can't afford...

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“The Tragedy of Day and Night” by Ryan Carlson

Submitted to Contest #224

   Stoic, straight, sentinel. That is how he stood basking in the glory of the life-giving sun. Thus, was his duty, every day, standing at the end of the row with his cousins and his friends. Stand basking in the heat and the love of the precious sun. Silently, they stood and magnified the house, guards against intruders.     He was not an individual with a unique name, but he was a sentient being.  He controlled the end of the row. He protected those who could not bear th...

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“The Long Shift” by J. I. MumfoRD

Submitted to Contest #224

Skinner spun around to face the lamp and opened his robe. He was flashing a tiny sun. A tiny, personal sun. It was too bright to look at, and his tiny studio flat was entirely engulfed in the white glow. The therapist said at least an hour a day, no sunglasses. He enjoyed the light. It was just his imagination, but it felt warm. The evidence for light therapy was a bit sketchy, but his therapist seemed to believe in it. The NHS even paid for the light and three weeks of CBT. Skinner shuddered at the thought of how much this would have cost ...

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“Sun Crossed Lovers” by Victoria Moreira

Submitted to Contest #224

“Hey stranger,” James gently shuts the door behind him then strides over to his wife to give her a sweet good morning kiss. The dawn's early light illuminated their tiny apartment and gave Lorna a morning glow. James' heart panged at the sight. Lorna blushed, as she always did. “Hey, how was work?” About a month back, James started a new job working at the loading docks, unloading trucks throughout the night. “Oh you know, the usual. Tom was telling me this hilarious story, you gotta hear it-” Lorna placed her hands on Jame’s chest. “I’m ...

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“Volatile Notions” by Lilliana Hazel

Submitted to Contest #224

Trigger warnings: language, manipulation, and suggestive actions *** Rays of early morning light slanted in through the slits in the blinds, the sun refusing to be shut out completely. He’d kept them shut, not for himself — he’d been up for hours — but for her. She always stayed up late, forever sleeping the mornings away long after he’d started his day.  It was always like this.  He woke before the sun, workout clothes donned, just as she was turning in for the night. Some days they crossed paths, politely nodding as one lef...

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“The Button” by Richard D

Submitted to Contest #224

THE BUTTON Was it really possible to get tired of the view? Sergei asked himself this very question as Africa swept past his window, as it had done roughly every 90 minutes for the last 18 days. The view from the small window in the Space Station’s Multipurpose Laboratory was spectacular. Sergei would no doubt enjoy it far more if it wasn’t for the button. Two wires, electrical contacts, a spring, and a rectangle of plastic. All that stood between life and death. 5 days, 16 hours, 48 minutes and … 20 seconds ago things had gone wrong, s...

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“Crepuscular” by Lauren Normac

Submitted to Contest #224

It was quiet. Dawn washed the dishes from the dinner she and Noctus had. There was a lantern lit on the table, but her eyes were better than a human’s.           She went through the mail. For this, she did stand close to the lantern. The only mail for her was from her brother, wondering how to find her.           Dawn smirked. I live near the big Pit. How hard is that to find? she wondered.       &...

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“Shift Work” by Sam Tobin

Submitted to Contest #224

*Trigger Warning: War, Death, and Gore* I can’t sleep. I don’t need to check what time it is because I know it’s not quite time to get up yet. I can still see a little bit of sunlight peeking around the black-out curtains that have become so essential to surviving shift work that they should be Air Force issued at this point. I’m too tired to get up but too awake to sleep. The front door to the apartment opens, but I can’t see who it is because my bedroom door is closed. Is someone breaking in or is my husband home from his shift? I’m too ...

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“Whisper” by Raquel Belury Rosenberg

Submitted to Contest #224

Catherine doesn’t know where I go at night. I am grateful that she has yet to ask. I want to tell her now more than ever.  I can see the death in her eyes. The lies are dissolving what was once a mystery. In its place is suspicion. The corroded threads of our relationship are exactly why I wish she knew, but also reinforced why I simply cannot tell her. “How was work?” I ask and her attention jumps to me. Her eyes work me over. I wonder if she looks at her patients the way she’s looking at me. Wondering what the hell is wrong with them....

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“Faces in the Ceiling ” by Regan Cannon

Submitted to Contest #224

The only thing more exhausting than getting no sleep is the attempt to get that sleep. Your eyes have stayed shut for- well, you don't want to end the streak by opening them just to check the time. If they've been closed for as long as you think, then surly you'll fall asleep any minute now! Yeah, that's totally worked out in the past. You crack your eyes open and the popcorn ceiling greets you with melting and shifting faces. It feels like all the sleepless nights have come back to laugh at you in the form of shadows. You even hear one ...

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“They Have What We Want” by Daniela Nowak

Submitted to Contest #224

  At 6.43 am, Mirek enters through the door of his shared house in Mile End, London. Kicking his Dr. Martin’s off while raffling through his wet curls from the rain, he crosses through the narrow corridor into the small kitchen. A singular golden string shines across the room, exposing little specks of dust twirling in the air. White walls are washed in shadow. Wooden floor lays cold beneath his feet, waiting to be heated by the furnace. He opens the fridge and squints from the bright light. A bottle of Corona stands on the fridge ...

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“Night Time Lies” by Emma G

Submitted to Contest #224

“I’m off”! “Okay see you tomorrow, have a good shift” my housemate yells from her room.“Yeah thank you, have a good rest of your day” I yell back and step out the front gate. It’s six thirty in the evening and Annika thinks I’m headed off to the Coppersmith Hotel for my night shift. “Night shift, in a hotel in the south bank, the Coppersmith” I remember reciting to Annika a few weeks earlier when she moved in.  “Night shift? I could never, I’m such a morning person. What do you do in the hotel”?“A bit of everything, ...

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“Dueling Hours” by Clarissa Salman

Submitted to Contest #224

His kisses are the sunrises I’m never able to see. Mine are the sunsets he comes home to. It is the only way we are able to tell time anymore, by our short kisses and wishful longings. We live for the passionate yet fleeting touches; An embrace of fingertips as we pass each other in the hallway, or a touch on the shoulder to indicate that yes, I am still alive and so is he, even though we are now ghosts to each other.  He and I were once the same. We slept until the first few rays of light woke us up. We had breakfast at dawn when our...

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“Tick, Tock...Boom” by Susan Downs

Submitted to Contest #224

“John, wake up! It’s five a.m. We live on Planet Earth, not Mars. You can’t sleep all day!”‘um’ was all Jocelyn got from her response.“You’re going to make me fat John. I can smell the Steak all the way up here in the bedroom. You’ve got me eating Steak and potatoes for breakfast…again!”“No…no, Joce. I’m sorry… I didn’t make potatoes with this dish. Please, I just fell asleep not too long ago. I’m really tired.”John pulled the covers over his head and in a question muffled by the covers he asked his girlfriend if she tried his new recipe yet...

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“cultured” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #224

My sister has twice tried to convince me that Daylight Savings Time becomes permanent this year. A common conspiracy, it seems: my wife and three coworkers thought the same. Some national miscommunication in 2023. That bill hasn’t passed, people! I insist, sending them all the same NPR article.  My sister has a hot date with the bike shop boy. At breakfast, I ask questions. Still sleepy, she slurs her answers. I’ve been buzzing since 6 am, two cups of coffee like bees in my brain. She, despite the time change, is still late waking for...

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🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story before dawn. Your character has woken up early for a particular reason.

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Start your story with someone saying “I can’t sleep.”

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Contest #224

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This week's theme: Night Owls and Early Birds

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Ended on 23:59 - Nov 17, 2023 EST

Won by Mallory Jones 🏆

Title: Goldfish

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