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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character who has reinvented themselves, but realizes it's not always easy to outrun your past.

Posted in Character on Dec 29, 2023

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✍️ 62 stories

“No Junior League” by Mary Lynne Schuster

🏆 Winner of Contest #231

You are sure you want to do this?   Running away. Starting over.  It’s not as easy as people think. You have to give up everything.  Oh, that part’s easy. Everyone thinks we are all traceable, that you can’t really hide. But, see, everything is tied to your identity. Your papers. If you change those, you are a different person.  Fingerprints? If they’re in the system, if you’ve ever been fingerprinted, it’s a little trickier. But it can be done.   Oh, tha...

66 comments 66
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“Justice Will Be Served” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #231

Sunrise painted the rain swept rocks of the castle gold as she poured poison into her husband’s morning whiskey. The fire of the spirit would mask the ice of the paralytic which had been crippling Lord Blackstone for months.Lady Gemma Blackstone had everything arranged for the death of her husband would be slow, deservedly so. Revenge was a dish best served cold and Algernon Blackstone liked ice in his whiskey.Gemma watched the chest of her hated husband rise and fall. His crackling breaths came in stutters. The poison had started work on hi...

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“Soulless” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #231

A soul was a weighty thing to carry. Florien had never realised how heavy it was until this moment. Sarah Jane looked at him with luminous eyes that were sunken into her pale face, her soul shining through the shadows of pain and exhaustion. An uncomfortable shame churned in his gut. He’d nearly killed her. He’d gone feral, giving in to his primal instinct to hunt, and he’d hunted her.It had taken years, centuries even, to reach the level of clarity that he had today. He could almost pass for human… almost. He drank ‘stil...

16 comments 16
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“One More Week” by David Cantwell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #231

One More WeekAfter three long years in prison, sleeping on that thin, pathetic mattress, a real bed has never felt so good. That being said, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to get up this morning to an alarm. It's the first day of the new year, and my first day at a new job, I’ve never really had a job before; I can’t really call selling drugs a job.It’s hard to believe it’s been just over a week since I got out. December 24th, what a crazy and amazing day to be released. My wife came to pick me up. By the time I was out the front...

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“The Nacho Table” by Hilary Yelvington

Submitted to Contest #231

Margaret could smell fresh pizza dough, brushed with butter, covered in tomato sauce and mounds of cheese. Deep dish pizza, one of her favorite indulgences, sat on a table in front of her, steam rising off of the top of the gooey white mozzarella, the savory scent as real as the sound of the rain pattering against her office window. She kept her eyes squeezed shut and watched as the Margaret in her visions lifted a large slice from the pan, cropping off the stringy cheese that clung to the sides and plopping the pizza on her plate. She was a...

14 comments 14
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“LateNight with Victoria Hamilton” by Melissa Taylor

Submitted to Contest #231

“People are fascinated by you and by your story. Do you want to share a little bit about it with me?” My eyes are wide as I look down at the table in front of me. I’m searching for the words to begin. Do I want to tell anyone about it? I feel strongly that I do. Why? Any time I’ve spoken about my life I’ve always said too much. I spend hours painstakingly going back over every word I said and replaying every glance and every expression I saw on someone’s face as I told my story to them.I take a deep breath in and let out the air in a te...

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“My Time In Hell” by Scott Taylor

Submitted to Contest #231

Why do I write? What do I write?I was asked these questions recently. The answers are simple.There are times in life when the world purely sucks. We can either wallow in self-pity or do what we must to push through the bad times. The more this story is told, the better off this world will be. Don't believe me, read on."Nurse Tatum, I know I need to go to rehab. As soon as I get home, I will make the necessary arrangements.She glanced at my charts, shaking her head, before handing the paperwork to the hospital therapist. "You should stay here...

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“THE PHOENIX ARISES” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #231

THE PHOENIX ARISES This story is true; compiled of facts from personal knowledge and conjecture derived from newspaper reports and there are three main actors.The first was a gangster from Chicago, name o’ Murray Humphreys, an associate of Al Capone and the brains of The Outfit, who, once Capone was imprisoned for tax evasion, left the windy city and settled in Norman, Oklahoma. Humphreys, a main player in Capone’s rise to the top, though he was not Italian, was revered for his money making ability.The second, another gangster, from New York...

3 comments 3
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“Echoes Of Time” by M B

Submitted to Contest #231

The brown-furred Jackal opened his eyes. The dim light of dawn cast light on the interior of his small quaint cabin. His new modest abode consisted of a stove, bed, table, wash basin, and a chest. It was much smaller than the rooms he used to sleep in.  The jackal's ear twitched as he could hear the steady thunder off the coastline. He pulled back the covers, revealing his toned physique. As he eased himself out of his cot, the gray patches in his fur were revealed - gray patches from scars beneath. The young male then staggered to th...

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“The Old Canvas of Finn Vanderberg” by JR Lane

Submitted to Contest #231

“The Old Canvas of Finn Vanderberg”Amsterdam, NetherlandsDecember 2018Finn slumped into his chair behind the reception desk. He closed his eyes and scratched at the discolored scar on his forearm. He tapped into the internal hit of adrenaline, buried somewhere deep in his mind. He ran, ducking in and out of traffic. He tracked his prey. Not too close but, not too far either so as to lose sight, he reminded himself. A feeble voice brought Finn back to the present. Just like that, the exhilaration vanished. The mundane settled back in.“Ah...

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“Oceanside Offering” by Cameron Cheevers

Submitted to Contest #231

I open my eyes, only to find the sea. It’s crashing, bubbly sounds envelop me. I lick my lips- they taste of salt and stale breath. I feel the ache of the rubbery chair that acted as my bed deep in my bones, and I come to the conclusion that I fell asleep out here last night.  Since I lost her, these things happen more often than I’d like to admit. I uncurl myself from the position I’ve been in for hours and stretch myself up towards the sun. It’s a golden day, the kind where the sun warms your skin so kindly, it feels like you’ve b...

7 comments 7
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“Longhorn” by Curtis Doucette

Submitted to Contest #231

Planet Ceramxylop - Northern Hemisphere, Yi Kon Region - 01.04.5054 - 15:23 hrsThey thought he loved the speed, that he was addicted to the tunnel, but Farrez never told them the truth. Most of the men chased the tunnel for the thrill, seeing how far they could push their Mech-Suits before passing out. These war machines were made for speeds that the pilots weren’t and some simply wouldn’t accept such limitations. There was also the purity of the moment, forcing yourself to be absolutely present because if you fell out, you would fall down.&...

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“The Quiet Game” by Elisa Skoett

Submitted to Contest #231

(sensitive content: implied abuse) “Let’s play a game.” Ryan’s voice is low and quiet, a whisper through the inky blackness of Finn’s bedroom. The room is only illuminated by a small sailboat-shaped nightlight, its blue threads of light sewing shadows on the walls. “The quiet game,” she says, “you remember that one, right?” Finn nods. It’s the same game Ryan asks him to play at night sometimes. Hide in the closet. Cover your ears. You only win if you stay quiet. Finn pretends to zip his lips shut and throw away the key. In the near-darkn...

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“It didn't have to end this way. ” by Mari AL

Submitted to Contest #231

**This is not a story of redemption but of revenge. The main character is unreliable - you need to read the story to understand what I mean. Some passages imply sexual violence but it is never said outright.**I hate anybody who gets hung on their traumas, they’re weak, they are pathetic. They are the vermin that need to be exterminated. And it’s always the same people, have you noticed? And they can’t help but drag it on, from generation to generation. To make matters worse, these people are the ones multiplying like rabbits. Maybe my kind i...

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“Drive Bye” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #231

It was when Graham was putting the bins out that his world changed.  Again. His world. The current one. That world was met by a part of his previous life and as the introductions were made, his carefully constructed routines and rituals crashed to the floor and smashed and buckled, reminding him how naked and vulnerable he had always been.  The illusion of this life was over, and perhaps it had never begun. He felt the car pass him, more than saw it. There was a familiar presence there. Eyes peering at him analytically as t...

2 comments 2
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Contest #231

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Ended on 23:59 - Jan 05, 2024 EST

Won by Mary Lynne Schuster 🏆

Title: No Junior League

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