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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character doing something they’ve done hundreds of times — only this time, it’s taken on a new meaning.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 148 stories

“Screwed” by Liz Mallows

Submitted to Contest #101

Sandy loved to drink until it became too painful. So she quit, again. She liked the way alcohol made her forget all her worries. It had not started out living in blackouts, but she graduated to them quickly the more she drank.   Sandy had felt screwed out of life because of difficulties with jobs and men. Child Services had removed her children from her last home, so she was alone. She had lived a life of pain, mostly from not being able to give her children the simple things that life demanded. She went to a counselor after a hospital...

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“Every Day And Every Year” by Oleksandr Chernov

Submitted to Contest #101

Every Day And Every Year Every morning I get up the bed. Every breakfast I eat some oatmeal with eggs. Every daytime I work on a novel. Every lunch I eat buckwheat with a stake and a salad. Every dinner I eat cottage cheese with a banana. Every summer I go to a vacation. Every autumn I collect a couple of leaves. Every winter I ride on a sledge. Every spring I walk in a rain, singing silly songs. Every evening was similar, until I’ve met him. His name was Mirai. And he wasn’t like everyone who surrounded me. He wasn’t a typical person, wal...

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“Address to the Nation” by Anna Harris

Submitted to Contest #101

Although it sat perfectly tucked beneath his starched white collar, Ellis straightened his tie for the sixth time during their brief conversation, a mechanical habit he’d developed over many years. It was a trait he resorted to subconsciously whenever he felt particularly anxious. Of all the weeks for Matthew to succumb to the dreaded virus and send this, this … Terry person to him, a replacement boy stepping up to do a man’s job, why did it have to be now?Knowing how important today was, surely Matthew could’ve made the effort to check hims...

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“The song” by Aparna Bharti

Submitted to Contest #101

I walk the streets that I have walked thousands of times for the last nineteen years of my life. I trudge through them. Mind churning with the thoughts of the notes I still have to revise. I shifted, my backpack flung across my back. My entrance exam for the university that I have always dreamed about getting into is scheduled for tomorrow. My stomach rolled with anxiety. Heaviness replaced the blood in my veins. It thrums, coils, and weighs on my heart. I know there is something I have not studied. Something I don’t remember accuratel...

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“A Garbageman's Art” by Alex P. Gounaris

Submitted to Contest #101

Vinny was a garbageman for almost twenty years, driving his truck around the suburban areas of Brimstone, picking people’s garbage, driving them back to the incarcerator, and watching them burn. But everything changed that night. Boots, gloves, and bright green vest on, coffee lukewarm in his thermos, and his MP3 player loaded with rock anthems, after the usual routine, Vinny was set for another drive around Brimstone, eagerly anticipating for the incarcerator moment. After almost twenty years in this job, his mind was usually absent durin...

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“Quest of sunny winter morning ” by Donatello S

Submitted to Contest #101

Before closing my eyes, I felt relieved. I did it right for the first time. I was curious. When he cried in front of me, he made me think deep and hard about it. I remember sitting on the cement sidewalk inside the college premises and relaxing after a heavy day. The sky was blue and full of fluffy clouds. He came and sat next to me and just sighed heavily. I looked casually him and asked what happened to him. Him: I don’t know mam, why is love so painful? “WHAT? I am not used to this. This is not where my mind works. It is out of my experti...

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“The chaos of Motherhood” by Savi Mahajan

Submitted to Contest #101

Samantha's P.O.VI lazily opened the refrigerator and groaned imternally. Oh no! Groceries are almost finished. I need to stock them up . I changed my clothes into hoodie and sweatpants because my old denims don't fit me anymore and pulled my hair into a bun because they are messy and oily . I placed the baby in the baby carrier and carefully strapped it against my chest keeping one hand on it and used the other hand to wear my sneakers. I winced due to the pain in my lower abdomem when I bend to tie the laces . I then switched off all l...

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“The Windsor Knot” by Spears Flowers

Submitted to Contest #101

As Lewis stood in the bathroom mirror tying his tie, a single tear rolled down his face. Then another, and another, and another. His silent tears dampened his cheek; the saltiness would be palpable to Daisy’s soft lips, but he didn’t swipe them away. He let the tears continue, some even dribbled down to his tie. He had tied his tie hundreds of times in his life, but this was the first time the task had ever made him cry.  He was having such a hard time calming his nerves. His fingers shook and were unsteady, and his pal...

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“He didn't believe in walking” by Charis Crown

Submitted to Contest #101

Jackson walks through the park, wishing his mom would give this up and allow him skateboard with his friends- which he almost never does- ”Mom please.. I'll be back before you say my name” she gives him a stern look of disapproval and says ”Teenagers your age don't know what it feels like when walking through the park.” ” Of course we don't!” how could they when they had a life to live! His mom refuses to listen to her only child and relishes her time with her son for hours on end! His mom points at a blonde girl sitting on a park bench ” th...

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“Dying Magnolia” by Rachel <3

Submitted to Contest #101

The garden is totally different now. Josie blinks at it- once, twice- in the harsh afternoon sunlight, trying to make sense of it. Gradually, the similarities between the way she left it and this jarringly overgrown weed patch begin to stand out. The magnolia tree, which was in bloom when she last saw it, is still there, though the flowers are shriveled or gone entirely. It still casts a patch of shade over part of the garden, where she planted the hydrangeas. Her rosebush, which she was so proud of, is turning brown and needs pruning; but ...

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“The old road” by Cienna Sarah

Submitted to Contest #101

For a third time, Madeline Sanders missed her turn, going around in endless circles. Her fingers clench the wheel, brain throbbing against her skull. The task of driving home should be easy. After all, houses don't move. Madeline has driven this street countless times. Once a week every Sunday for the past year.              Wiping away invisible dirt from her cheeks, Madeline saw the turn coming up again, and this time as she has done so many before Madeline made the first tur...

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“The Way Water Moves” by Chloe Fong

Submitted to Contest #101

The hospital smells like chemicals. I feel a dull ache in my head, the hours I've spent waiting in this room finally getting to me. I look down at my shoes, the mud now caked and dry on the bottom from running here in the rain. I heard the news about four hours ago. I was sitting in my room, cross-legged on my bed watching TV, when the phone rang."Hello?" I asked. "Hi. Is this Stacy Abrams?" I slid off my bed, the phone still in my hand, as a crack of lightning struck the sky outside. I turned to face the window as the dark night flashed whi...

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“Good Luck” by Pita Pear

Submitted to Contest #101

Lia took pride in her academic achievements. She worked to be the best, winning science competitions, ranking in the top 5% of her class, and now it all came down to this. What college would she choose? She applied for almost all of them, some schools offering her scholarships others could only dream of.  “Congratulations!” Everyone cheered as she smiled out to the crowd of family and friends who showed up for her.  The walls were decorated with graduation caps, rolled up diplomas, and streamers to cover the doorways. Everyta...

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“A guess in the reflection” by John Fanidis

Submitted to Contest #101

Wakey, wakey, Mr.Black. It's time for tonight's guessing game. As he slowly opens his eyes, Alex takes a moment to let these eerie words echo in his mind and reflect back to the shadows where they came from. Alex: Alright, I am coming alright. Today I am going to beat you, you know. Shadow: I hope so, Mr.Black. You still have a lot of work to do, though, if you want to beat me in our little game. So please, get up, and come to me. You have to make a new guess tonight. Alex rises from the cold bed, taking a glance at the beautiful l...

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“Mutually Assured Destruction” by Nicola Cates

Submitted to Contest #101

0400, December 14th 1984 at US Army Base 14-N located one hour outside of Augsburg, Germany. The nuclear warning alarm goes off waking up Minute Man Group 24 as they prepare for retaliation.  “God, do they have to run these drills so fucking early? Don’t the damn Soviets sleep?” “You don’t know this is a drill Roswell'' Another soldier nervously whines tying his boots “We've never run one before 0600 this doesn’t make sense” Pulling on his fatigues Roswell starts reassuring his fellow Minute Men though his sincerity is questionab...

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