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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character who’s always thinking of things they’ll say to people, but who ends up saying very little when they finally get the chance.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 219 stories

“Liberty” by Valerie June

Submitted to Contest #76

   In loving memory of Bubbles.Speak! Speak! Speak! I tell myself. Just move and speak, it shouldn’t be that hard. The thing is, it’s very hard. Humans don’t understand anything about anything, especially when it comes to listening. They just do, do, do and talk, talk, talk. Why can't I speak, or laugh, or walk? Why, why, why? I pause to listen to my family as they sit down at a table next to me. Listen! I shriek out furiously. I watch a little human child with short brown hair pick up a rod with buttons, or as I call it, the ...

22 comments 22
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“The Words I Can't Say.💬” by Jade Orien🍀

Submitted to Contest #76

As we sit in a movie theater eating the snacks that we brought. My mind fills with words I can't fix my lips to say.It's Saturday night & I am on a date with a boy from school.He isn't just any boy.His name is Ethan Pollock. I've had a crush on Ethan since the 6th grade; we are now sophomores.During science class, he asked if I would like to go to the movies on Saturday.Without a doubt, I excitedly said yes!Now here we are.In a movie theater watching the movie "13 going on 30"I stare at him as he sips on his coca-cola drink.then his eyes...

4 comments 4
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“Popcorn Ceilings” by Scott Skinner

Submitted to Contest #76

Tate might have a weed problem. He might have a chemical imbalance. He might be completely normal, just like everyone else. He’s not sure. One thing he knows is that the days he can harness his ‘I don’t care’ attitude are easier. On those days he thinks screw it, it doesn’t matter. Instead of would that be stupid to say? Why did I say that? Are they looking at me? Tate listens to Dax Shepard’s podcast. Dax is rich and famous. Tate is a B average student and his mom pays his rent and his other expenses, even his weed. Dax is in touch wit...

4 comments 4
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“Being Bi In India” by Aditi Ojha

Submitted to Contest #76

I promise I'm not a creep. Well, I try not be but sometimes I just can't help but take a double take (sometimes a triple too) whenever I see a beautiful girl walking around. And hey, it's not I'm the only one who does that. Sure, there aren't a lot of bisexual girls in this country who openly showcase their interest in a girl and end up looking like a lost puppy gazing at a random stranger. But hey, cut some slack alright? There is a really good reason as to why I stick with just looking and lamenting over my singlehood instead of shoo...

1 comment 1
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“Café Lat(t)e” by Kevin Schenk

Submitted to Contest #76

There she is. Such a cute face and those freckles are adorable, too. She is always on my mind and I often wonder if she likes the same things as me. I think I will ask her for her phone number today. I will say "Hey, I have seen you working here a few times. Want to hang out sometime?" No wait, that sound stupid. I can't say that. What a weird thing to say. No, I need to be cooler. Maybe more something along the lines of "Are you doing anything after work?" I mean her shift probably started. It's only 10a.m. but I guess I could ask her wha...

1 comment 1
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“What I Wish I Had Said” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #76

The following story is a true story. It probably will be rejected as non-complaint because it is reversing the #5 proposal. I wrote about what I said to a person as a child, which was too little; and then what I am always thinking I should have said now that I am an adult of nearly 78 years. Still, it is cathartic for me to express this if only one person reads it. What I Wish I Had Said When my mother was pregnant, expecting me, it was the height of the Second World War. My father had been drafted into the Army during and was ship...

2 comments 2
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“Memory Boy” by Tiffany 🌻

Submitted to Contest #76

Usually, your classmates wouldn't assume you have dementia or can't speak. But for someone with a memory loss problem, I hear them whispering about me every day. I have no interest in friends, and I have never thought of myself as a people person. My mother used to tell me to try and make friends, but all they do is talk and talk when I can't even remember what I wanted to say or why I wanted to say it.I'm in ninth grade and entering a new high school. What can be worse? Oh yeah, I'm apparently a "troubled student." I was expelled from my ot...

5 comments 5
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“Milkshakes and Cheap Shoes” by DREW LANE

Submitted to Contest #76

Gabi's foot rubbed the coffee spot by his seat in the tube as details of his evening with Eva replayed in his head. The dry octopus, the circular conversation, her vanilla perfume - Gabi rubbed his face as he felt his stomach twisting. He should have never accepted to meet her again. Paula, his therapist, would sneer at him, the next day and he would mumble and twist his fingers. Not only had he met Eva again - when he was supposed to tell her they were incompatible - but he had also not fulfilled his part of the deal with Paula. For the ten...

8 comments 8
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“Half the Truth” by Bonnie Clarkson

Submitted to Contest #76

Trigger warning: mentions of alcohol abuse            I’m ready to throw my cell phone against the wall.            After a week of bad reception, I returned to the store where I bought it.            “What can I help you with?” asked the clerk.            “I’ve had this cell phone thirty-one days, and the person I’m calling ...

19 comments 19
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“IF MY HEART COULD SPEAK” by Tazmin Shaikh

Submitted to Contest #76

Cherry had always an extraordinary imagination. No other homo sapiens could have a vision like him, his friends believed. He could have talked with his cat JoJo. It was like he could sense and comprehend, the enunciation and intimate convictions of all incarnate things. What a miracle child!A generous, introverted, clever, young man was born to a middle-class south Korean family and got a name, ‘Kim Choi-Joon’. The lengthy name had to adjust in the city of dream, and he momentarily rendered it cherry.Cherry’s father had the ambition to make ...

0 comments 0
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“The Awkward Cadence” by Holly Fister

Submitted to Contest #76

I wasn’t eager to leave my Honda haven, where Evan guessed what I was thinking before I said it and the Accord surrounded me with preventative safety features.“If I could whip up masterpieces on the laptop like you do in one sitting on the couch, we wouldn’t have to go to these get togethers. But networking is key for my job, babe.”I nodded and looked out the window at the house where his co-workers and clients had already begun “networking.” Music and laughter escaped as another couple slipped into the party. Their exuberance repelled me li...

0 comments 0
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“Monolingual” by Jude E.

Submitted to Contest #76

Author’s Note: Due to the story being published on an English website, there will be no foreign languages spoken in this story, however, because of its nature, please take in consideration that the character’s thoughts are meant to be in another language, hence the title. Judgment was my weakness point. It is my weakness point. It’ll always be my weakness point. Forever. No one likes it, yet everyone seems so ready to give it for free, as if it’s an ugly weight they carry around and want to get rid of. And in educational facilities, perh...

3 comments 3
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“The Invisible Mind” by Rosa Malidando

Submitted to Contest #76

Every day I watch thousands of people pass me on the street thinking me a fool and paying me no mind. For all they see is an old Indian woman, planted on the cold, stone sidewalk. Long, gray hair down to the breasts, wearing a faded coral dress and a pale lavender shawl with little gold spots on the borders around the shoulders. But if they stopped to look closer they would see the rough, scarred hands of a cook. The silver wedding band, no larger than a piece of thread, from a deceased husband. The wrinkles on my face that have each a story...

2 comments 2
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“Thinking, Thinking, Thinking” by D. Alfonso

Submitted to Contest #76

Jamie stalked home, weaving in and out of the street crowd. They paid her no mind. She hadn’t hoped that they would. Still, she was too lost in my thoughts to care. Ooh, Oliver made her so mad, especially after everything he said about her. Called her an aloof rich kid in front of everyone, saying she had probably bribed the teachers, so she wouldn’t have to do anything. It was all a lie, of course. Jamie worked just as hard as any other student. The next time he said anything to her, she swore she was going to snap at him. Tell him that no ...

0 comments 0
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“An Introverted Point Of View” by Penelope Rose

Submitted to Contest #76

"Class is dismissed!" The bell stopped ringing and I grabbed my bag, slowly put in my books and homework, then watched the other students rush for the door. I was new here, so no one was waiting on me to come over and hang out, or go to the park and just chat.  I waited in the back of the classroom.I had some things I wanted to discuss with Mrs. Cran before I went home.While I waited, I studied the floor, letting random thoughts pass through my head. Why had they chosen this type of floor? When had they put it in? Had it alway...

2 comments 2
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