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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character who has a ‘hot and cold’ personality — or is affected by someone like this.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 30 stories

“Few and Far Between” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #134

“He fell again,” my husband mouths to me, then returns to his phone call with his-brother-who-I-cannot-stand. “No, no. I’m right here. I can be there in twenty minutes.”Of course he’s going out in an ice storm in the middle of the night. Of course he’s the one my father-in-law calls, a man who patently favors my husband’s inept older brother and overindulges his younger one. Of course he’s riding to the rescue. That’s what martyrs do. My husband paces, phone still in hand. “Did the doctors say anything else—what caused the fall?” D...

67 comments 67
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“Postcards to Nowhere” by Kelsey H

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #134

Six weeks after his father left, the first postcard came from him. “A postcard,” his mother said. “Where’s the return address? Where’s the goddamn cheque?”The postcard read Greetings from Perth in a swirling printed cursive. That was all the address they got. Three months after that they moved out of their house and went to live by the graveyard. At night he kept watch through the gaps in the metal slats of his blinds. He could see the high steel gate black and gleaming in the glow from the streetlight, a shadow falling all th...

15 comments 15
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“I Don't Know When I'm Coming Home Again” by A.R. Eakle

Submitted to Contest #134

This is where the day started: ice cream, root beer floats, and pancakes for breakfast. Followed by three hours of cartoons, forts, and hide and seek. I was it, of course.  By noon, both girls were down for a nap. But me, I cleaned the kitchen, picked up the living room, and starting preparing lunch. Frozen pizzas. By the end of this weekend, the girls wouldn’t want anything other than to live with me. It was after lunch and we were watching a show Aubrey picked, the five-year-old. She was twirling her curly, blonde hair around a finger...

19 comments 19
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“Show's Over” by Poppy Jackson

Submitted to Contest #134

My coffee is too hot to drink. Across from me, Nadia unloads the contents of another sugar packet into her tea before tossing the wrapper onto the table, adding to a growing pile. She stirs her drink too fast and the spoon clanks against the edge of the glass in a way that makes my teeth hurt. Liquid slops out of the glass but she says nothing. I blow on my coffee. ‘We need to talk about what happened.’ I say. She nods. Silence is unusual for her, a woman who’s made a living with her voice. She can’t meet my gaze and her eyes are cast down...

15 comments 15
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“Twinkle, Twinkle” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #134

Sterling put the finishing touches on his gift for Astrid.‘Truly cosmic,’ he thought. ‘She won’t believe it…’She would arrive at any moment and he wanted everything to be perfect.Hearing the doorbell spurred him to stow scraps of wrapping paper and ribbon. He poured wine into the crystal glasses, and placed them on the table next to her gift.He faced the door, and said, “Yes!” He opened the door to the love of his life, looking beautiful as ever.She said, “Hi! I now have non-binary, preferred pronouns for my hands. No longer left and right, ...

11 comments 11
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“Help, I’ve broken time.” by Holly Guy

Submitted to Contest #134

Broken corkscrews pile up in the well-decorated, glass jar besides me. They overspill and jump out the jar, rolling onto the stained carpet. Red stains. Red stains everywhere. The lit cigarette burns me as it kisses my fingers. I let it go. It can join the corkscrews on the carpet. Shakily, I try to push myself out of the sofa which sucks me in. As I find my way to my feet, the world spins. A humming in my ears starts chanting a death song and my vision taunts me with a fake reality. My head lolls forward and I’m propelled through diffe...

10 comments 10
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“Falling Down” by Kate Winchester

Submitted to Contest #134

***Author’s note*** as with all of my stories, this one can be read as a stand-alone; however this one fills in a gap in my Falling Forward story. It’s also related to Falling Apart. He had outdone himself this time. She thought. The deep red of the dozen roses were all blushing his shame. A brown plush teddy bear sat leaning against the glass vase. Unable to sit on its own, it drooped to the right. Ethan’s guilt was evidenced in the eyes of that teddy bear because despite its sewn on smile, they both knew wh...

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“The Man in The Mirror” by Anna Mayo

Submitted to Contest #134

I looked out across the room. I saw him in the reflection of the mirror as he reappeared next to me. His presence was cold, bare. I whispered; He stared; I spoke. “Please, just hold me. Just hold me and tell me you care. Hold me when the stars come out, and hold me when the sun wakes. Hold me in your arms. Shelter me from the pain. Hide me from the evil doings of those who passed. Please, just keep me safe. I don’t want to lose you. My craving for your love grows with every kiss. I need to be held. Please, just hold me.” “I wish you knew h...

3 comments 3
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“I Think It Might Rain” by McKayla Hall

Submitted to Contest #134

Twice in her life, she has been told, “I feel like I am walking on eggshells around you.” Coincidentally, both times have been by people she loved and trusted the most. A part of her knew there was a connection between her and being told that, but she couldn’t stop blaming the world. How could it be her fault when she’s the one who suffers the most? People never thought about how she felt. They never thought about how she doesn’t want to feel this way.  She has tried to explain how horribly exhausting it was. She has tried a thousand t...

7 comments 7
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“In stars we trust” by Liv Valen

Submitted to Contest #134

My doorbell just kept ringing without pause. When I opened the door, Isaac ran right away into the bathroom like a dog being chased and said ‘heyyy’ very prolonged, door to door.  “My scientific research proves that if seven seconds after entering the apartment door, you pee already while still having your coat and backpack on, you’ve been only about five to ten seconds from the event horizon.” He said while he took off his coat. “I’m really glad you made it.” I nod appreciatively and turn on the PlayStation, passing him a beer, lik...

5 comments 5
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“I belong to him ” by Hannah Free

Submitted to Contest #134

He didn’t mean to, he never did. I stared deeply into the mirror, wincing at the figure that gawped back at me from the dirty glass. My fragile frame was ever so slightly hunched over. My eyes wide, alert yet holding very little life behind them. Dark red satisfaction spilled from my nose and the paint of my own mistakes formed a halo of blacks and blues around my left eye. I no longer felt disappointment in him, this feeling had long moved on from him and onto myself. Yet again, I’d let myself down. Shame loomed over me in the same way he d...

14 comments 14
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“Breathe.Hold.Release.” by Cheryl Anderson

Submitted to Contest #134

“What kind of person stands over their mother’s casket crying in relief that she's dead?” I brushed away tears trying to rid myself of the shameful thoughts. But they kept coming. “I’m so sorry dear,” came a voice and soft hand on my shoulder. It was one of mama’s high school friends. I gave her a hug without uttering a word and turned back to mama’s lifeless body. I’m supposed to honor my father and mother. Since daddy died a few years ago my trips home became less frequent. I knew the pandemic would mean less going out for her so I returne...

3 comments 3
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“Night Sky Of Faith” by Charlotte Kelly

Submitted to Contest #134

My body was bruised and sore. The water was running in the bath, and I could smell the vanilla candles burning sweetly through the air. It had been 3 days since I left my family home and came to the hotel room with him. When I had gone home over a week ago, I told them all I was just home for a surprise holiday. How could I be honest? They loved Dave, almost as much as I did. When he arrived at the house, he was angry. I could see the fire in his eyes, but he played it so relaxed and cool in front of everyone that I almost thought it might b...

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“The Heart of the Family” by Mattea Wise

Submitted to Contest #134

She heard the door slam and flinched. By now, she’d learned to deal with Raul’s outbursts, but they were never pleasant. She’d much rather be doing anything else than babying her younger brother, even washing his dirty laundry. She wrinkled her nose at the thought and braced for the impact of his attitude. “Why does this always happen to me?” “What happened?” Raina asked, tensing slightly in case he decided to direct his anger at her. Again. “They turned down my scholarship request again.” “What?? Why??” “They said I didn’t have my grades up...

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“The Window ” by Claire Cervino

Submitted to Contest #134

Katie laid in her bed, her light purple comforter pulled all the way up over her head. All that could be seen of her was some blonde curls that rested on top of the lilac comforter. A phone glowed a soft blue aura from under the sheets - the only light in the dark room on that warm June night. An open window brought in hot, stifling south Georgia air but that little vortex also let in a soft breeze and the chirping of the crickets which made Katie feel not so alone. Then she heard the noise Katie dreaded for the past few hours. The faint ec...

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