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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character discovering a surprising strength in either themself or another.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 56 stories

“The Cricket Ball” by Kenneth Allan

Submitted to Contest #146

It all began when the cricket ball hit me and I wasn’t even batting. It was the company’s annual cricket match, where all the men and women compete against each other. Everybody took part, and the teams weren’t segregated. Instead, women played alongside men from the same branch and quite a few of the women outperformed their male colleagues. It was just as well I thoroughly enjoyed this company event as I’m not a company man. I was a bowler and a fast one. . They feared my bowling among the other teams and I didn’t spare the ladies in o...

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“Gretta” by DM Schwartz

Submitted to Contest #146

GRETTA Little Gretta Bunnell from Austin, Minnesota. A girl whose greatest aspiration in elementary school had been to become the next iteration of her teachers. Her frumpy, dreary, bland teachers who were pleasantly content with the slowly suffocating weight of anonymous, irrelevant mediocrity. The epiphany occurred in high school. Freshman year. First semester. Ms. Dowager’s third period PE class. It was a grey September morning. September in Minnesota often meant intermittent snow flurries. Sporadic white flakes drifted and swirled on ...

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“ Cat Tale” by Rodd Dana

Submitted to Contest #146

A Cat TaleThe tense looking group of men looked up as ‘Doc’ Redding entered the hospital’s waiting area.John Beck, their Safety Manager, his sixth cup of coffee splashing onto his pants as he jumped to his feet, demanded, “So? What’s the verdict?”“Catch your breath, John. Looks like we’ve had a miracle.”“Ya’ mean he’s gonna make it?”“By all rights your man should be dead. That twelve thousand volts melted the steel of his safety boot but didn’t even singe his big toe.”They all turned hearing a loud voice, shouting, “Doc, we just heard! The h...

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“Why so hysterical?” by Laura Tensen

Submitted to Contest #146

A cute woman, eleven o’clock. Not drop-dead gorgeous, but just about good-looking enough. It’s even better that way, the pretty ones are way too confident. This young lady probably wouldn’t go completely unnoticed, but won’t be much in the spotlights either. I bet she’s a bit shy, and fairly easy to charm. Let’s give it a try.  “Hi gorgeous, why are you sitting here all by yourself? You’re not gonna tell me you only came here to read a book right?”She seems irritated.  “I did actually just come here to read my book, nothi...

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“A FOREST OF MYSTERY
 by Laura Molina Arango” by Laura Molina

Submitted to Contest #146

The young kit looked up to see her mother gazing down affectionately at her, but there was something in her eyes that suggested that not everything was well. The tabby kit noticed her father wasn’t in the nursery, as per usual, so she meowed “Where’s Dad, Ma?” Moon Feather’s eyes darkened as she tried to make her tone sound cheerful, “Oh! He is....off somewhere, don’t worry about it Fern Kit.” Fern Kit frowned but said nothing, instead nestling into her mother’s side and falling asleep within moments. “Moon Feather!”, the noise of ...

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“Finding Beauty in Order” by Ashley Provo

Submitted to Contest #146

The mixed candies in the glass bowl were a source of stirring anxiety for me. I should have been focused on what the good doctor was saying to me, but it was so hard to concentrate; the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and brown shellac glinting in the light of the fluorescent bulbs overhead.            As if they had a mind of their own, my hands moved independently, fingers plucking the individual colors from the bowl and arranging them in symmetrical lines along the coffee table. It ...

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“The Power Of A Jam Tart” by Kirsty Ralston

Submitted to Contest #146

In my better days the hands in front of me were used to gut fish and to keep the old lady steady on the waves. Now they shook viciously as I struggled to place the lit cigarette to my lips. Those were the good old days. Spending weeks on end at sea – working with the moving unpredictable mass beneath me – then returning home and showing Mary my often full creel. Mary. She lost her battle with cancer three months ago and I lost the love of my life.Our children returned home briefly for her funeral only to swiftly disappear back to the ma...

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“Finding Yourself” by Brennan Antonuk

Submitted to Contest #146

Scene l: Dancing Free Sofia stood, her posture sloppy, next to her three sisters. Livia was bragging about how she was going to win and trash talking them. Maya stood away from the group, her arms folded, hands tightly gripping her elbows nervously. And Amari gazed at the forest, a faraway look in her eye. Sofia made a clever but daring comeback to Livia, reminding her older sister that talk wouldn’t help her pass the tests. They both fired nasty remarks about the other like gunshots. In the back of her head, Sofia knew she should act be...

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“A Real Person” by Devon Ashe

Submitted to Contest #146

It was that smell. The acrid smell that could not be confused with anything else ... ever. Only those that have had the unfortunate experience of finding a dead human body can know what I am talking about. The smell was strong this time and even as an experienced first responder Sam took a minute to get some vapo-rub to put under his nose. The person who had called was nowhere in sight - nor was the body - but you could smell that it was close. Sam had worked with Barb for almost a year, and she was a pretty good partner. It was kind of...

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“The Reassuring Light ” by Bri Cole

Submitted to Contest #146

I placed a hand on my chest as I looked out of the bay window. There was a light that shone brightly, and I couldn't help but feel connected to its magnetic pull. What was it about this light that took away my anxiety, fear, and worries? Before I knew it, I was no longer in the structure I called home. I was standing in a tropical rainforest, as though I had floated on a cloud to get out of its confinement.There was a translucent waterfall and different animals of all types. I heard the faint laughter of a little girl in the distance, and qu...

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“Ascending the Staircase of Life” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #146

     William Skupski stands in the darkness at the bottom of the Stairs of Life seeking more perfect direction in his climb to the light that will guide his journey and help others in completing their journeys.       Often stuck in the back of his mind clawing to get out–the principle he thought should guide all actions in life–but for which William  never had found the answer most satisfactory to him,“What Would Jesus Do?”        On the deepest em...

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“Winning The Game!” by Tarina Kay

Submitted to Contest #146

 I’ve finally found answers of my life’s journey. A clearer path that I was meant to learn for my own purpose of what I feel I am to be. I found a guiding light within the midst if my own darkness and that light I believe is to be shared. This is my souls truth, my life paths divine purpose. With a new found understanding in all I’ve been through, it’s all been needed, as it led to me! What I’ve been seeking has truly been seeking me! I now have embraced this clarity of all that I needed to see, all the diverse aspects of me. Before my ...

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“Self Reflection” by H.W. A.

Submitted to Contest #146

I have to ask myself if I look good before I leave. My reflection will tug its face out of mine and scrunch her mouth and raise her eyebrows and go “hmm” like a bitch before saying “Yeahh, I guess.” I didn’t know I could sound like such an asshole before this started happening but I’m not a huge fan. I tell her she should try being nicer and she just flips me off and asks, “Why would I?” and I really don’t have an answer for her. Unfortunately, she is stuck in a mirror and I understand why she might feel resentment. I take longer putting t...

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“The Blue Light” by William Nelson

Submitted to Contest #146

The Blue Light This story is going to be in a poetic form and way, so you must try in your mind to visualize what I am about to say..... You are going to take a little trip now so close your eyes, and vicariously to your mind you will realize..... A little walk along the beach by the roaring sea when your extra sense tells you, something is looking at me ! Soon these thoughts start wandering through your now mind of mass confusion as your eyes are focused on something that appeared to be an optical illusion. This is what it wa...

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“Finding Strength Through a Window to the Past” by Mari Eygabroad

Submitted to Contest #146

"Why?" Rhyane called out as she wept, her tears mixing with the water cascading down her body. A shower usually made her feel better, like washing away all her disgrace, but it wasn't working this time. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around her, not bothering to dry off.  She walked to her bed and stared at the scattered divorce papers. "How did I get here? I don't understand." She shoved the papers out of the way, climbed into bed with her towel wrapped around her, pulled her comforter up over her shoulders, and s...

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