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Set your story at a talent show.

Posted in Christmas on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 7 stories

Eat the Cake

Submitted to Contest #114

I always get sick the day before the talent show. Some think it’s the Ghost of What’s to Come, because you know you’ll be sick the next day. All over town, stomachs turn over and twist when February 8th is around the corner. Being the band-aid ripper that I am, I’m always the first to show up at town hall. Why prolong the inevitable? I put on my loosest jeans and my biggest sunglasses, and I report for duty. Crystal is waiting with the clipboard when I roll up to the folding table that gets trotted out once a year for this very purpose...

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The Shadow of Gong

Submitted to Contest #114

DONG! DONG! DONG! The echo of the gong violated every crevice and corner of the auditorium. The vibration was a parasite clinging and shaking every organ in Anabel's body.  "Mauricio!" yelled Anabel. "Stop!" DONG! DONG! DONG! Mauricio grinned, showing off his dimples and pearly whites as he banged the mallet. His buddies egged him on, hands over their ears.  "Please stop," she grunted as she attempted to pull the mallet from him. Mauricio let go, and Anabel flew backward, landing hard on her butt, sliding across the stage. Th...

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I fell in love with a girl at a talent show

Submitted to Contest #114

"If you happen to forget your place or blank, just take a deep breath and just keep going. No one cares. "- said my dad. My dad had a tendency to move his hands empathetically when he was really trying to convince you of something. Like a magician waving a wand, or a Jedi knight trying to convince you this aren't the droids you were looking for, his heart was always in the right place. It's too bad this hand-waving, fatherly advice technique only made things worse for me. It made me think he didn't have enough confidence in me to be saying i...

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Korean District Talent Show

Submitted to Contest #114

“Welcome to Osan, Republic of Korea (ROK) for the 1984 Korean District Talent Show” read the banner out in front of the Recreation Center.  This recreation center was twice the size of the one back at Kunsan, Air Base where I had come from.  The talent show was to pick out performers to represent the Tops In Blue which was a six month duty in a traveling show of the best of the United States Air Force.  In my audition, I had managed to make the district show as one of five performers chosen from Kunsan to go to Osan by singing...

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I am Foo Ling-Yoo

Submitted to Contest #114

"We're up next!" I informed my assistant, Mary. "Remember, tonight you are a distraught Chinese lady, speechless in grief."Mary nodded as she picked the hem of her costume, a dusty green cheongsam I lent her for our university’s talent show.A giant cardboard setup divided frontstage from the back where I, Mary and the other performers waited. Techno music blared over small talk and footsteps to and from the restroom. Markos the emcee made an announcement I was too nervous to catch details of.Finally …"Good evening, my fellow students!” Marko...

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Top Dog

Submitted to Contest #114

After a long drive we finally arrive. I jump out of the car and stretch my legs. My nose is in the air, twitching like mad. I smell a mixture of tomato sauce, donuts and animal droppings, and it brings back fond memories. It can only mean one thing: it’s show time! Last time we were here I won a medal. I hope I can make Mum proud again.  I strain on the leash and we go to the grass so that I can relieve myself. That feels better. We make our way through the car park to the entrance. There are people and dogs mingling under the patio. ...

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The untalented Mr. Bertie

Submitted to Contest #114

Albert Davis was without a doubt the most peculiar 8-year-old to have ever graced the halls of this school with his presence. Let me tell you why. For one, little Bertie was an avid reader, ever with his nose in a book – quite literally for he was fairly myopic – whatever the setting. In every conversation he would always fervently argue the existence of dinosaurs in the past, no matter how many times everyone would tell him there was no need to and that their existence was scientific fact. He really loved small hats, he believed they added ...

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