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Set your story in a labyrinth that holds a secret.

Posted in Dark on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 31 stories

The 10th Circle of Hell

Shortlisted for Contest #124 ⭐️

“Virgil?” “Yes, Dante.”  “Um, what’s going on here? I was told there were only nine circles of hell.” “There were only nine circles of hell in the 20th century. But for the 21st century? We needed to expand.” “You needed to . . . expand. Hell.”  “Yes. We’ve added a whole new circle. Well, truthfully, it’s more oblong than circular. It’s been that sort of millennium.”  “Virgil. In all seriousness, I’m not sure I can walk through another realm of the damned. It’s hella depressing.” “Well, you don’t have much of a choice do you? ...

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Labyrinthine Prime

Submitted to Contest #124

My name is Ebenezer, but my friends affectionately call me Ben. Regrettably, I haven’t seen any of my old mates in a very long time, as it has now been 607 days since my incarceration in this godforsaken, labyrinthine, and altogether alien prison. After all that time, my strange jailor’s daily expectations became abundantly clear. If I refused to reveal my vast secret knowledge, I didn’t eat. Fortunately, that had only happened in the inaugural days of my internment, since once I had deduced the pattern, I had been granted access to a per di...

23 likes 6 comments 6
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Amazed in a Maize Maze,

Submitted to Contest #124

I don’t generally like going through cornfield mazes, or ‘maize mases’ as I call them. I am of an age in which I get lost easily, and can have a hard time looking for my car, it’s gray, in a shopping centre parking lot. If something is designed to confuse, it makes it that much harder for me to find my way.           But my six-year-old granddaughter Mia wanted to go through it, and that made it an attractive proposition. I will try very hard for the two of us not to get l...

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True Evil

Submitted to Contest #124

Run! My hand wraps around a flashlight as my feet begin to move. The thought came from my own mind, but the voice was not my own. My hands tremble as I fight the urge to go faster. If my history teacher is correct, these tunnels go on for miles. Can’t risk running out of steam down here. Pounding. It may be my own heart or footsteps trying to keep up, but either way, I’ve got to keep running.  My feet fumble over a rock and I start to take in the situation. This place was designed to disorient direction of a competent adult. What chanc...

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The Secret Cave

Submitted to Contest #124

The Secret Cave          All three of them looked at the mouth of the cave as they approached.          “I don’t know,” Larry said suspiciously. “It looks pretty dark and creepy to me.” He glared into the darkness harder trying to make out anything but couldn’t see more than ten feet inside the opening.          “Well, we gotta hideout somewhere,” Jack said defiantly. “We can’t go back to our houses, that’s t...

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The Strength of a Sister

Submitted to Contest #124

Once, long ago, the barriers between worlds were thin - like the glass of a mirror. One could simply walk from our world into another, even by mistake. Now, though, the barriers are nigh impassible. And yet, one young woman made the journey, all to save her sister. --- ☾ --- Jules took a deep breath. “I’m coming, Lissa,” she breathed and began walking. The forest was silent. Under the night's sky, all the inhabitants hid, holding their breaths in anticipation. The ancient trees loomed over her: great pines whose feathery canopies scrap...

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The Faun

Submitted to Contest #124

Being a young faun wasn’t easy. Especially when you had three older brothers who loved tormenting you. My brother Adalwolf was the largest and strongest, Alfwin, the smartest and Ansovald was the fastest but I was none of these. Even in my dreams, there was no escape from them. At least twice a week for the last year, I had a reoccurring dream that seemed to become clearer the more times that I dreamed it. In my dream, I’m surrounded by tall hedges and was walking toward a shiny object, lit by moonlight. It was a dark, cold night and a li...

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The Connection

Submitted to Contest #124

"Good morning Sunshine." The big orange tabby sat staring at Gloria. "Do you ever sleep in?" It had been the same start to every day going on nine years. Gloria lived in a small seaside cottage in South Carolina. Sunshine had shown up one day after a terrible rainstorm, not very old and very hungry, he stayed. Gloria swung her legs to the floor. "We are going up to the University today, have been invited to lead a group of believers through the labyrinth, I told them eleven this morning, so Sunny boy let's get a move on it." As always ...

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The Name

Submitted to Contest #124

“The knowledge you seek is at the center of a vast labyrinth in the Mountains of Ash. There are several twists, turns, and obstacles. This will not be an easy journey. However, you seem determined. I suspect you will succeed in your quest.” The oracle leans in, dropping her omniscient demeanor. “So, what are you looking for, kid?” I'm startled by this, but I know better than to lie to an oracle. I choose vagueness. “A name." “What, like, the name of your true love or something?” I didn’t expect the oracle to not know. Or to be quite such...

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The Mural

Submitted to Contest #124

The water was flowing quickly on this beautiful and sunny day. The air was crisp and the rolling green hills gave way to the local flora and fauna. He squinted as he stared out into the distance of the rolling plains and saw from a mountain-side a glistening light. It reflected light from the sun, but to, to Pojo or He Who Hunts in his local tongue, it was a sign of the gods. A sign that the gods had spoken to him, chosen him, to go to that spot. Their sun god was the main being who gave all things life. The chemical reactions that it's rays...

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The Reaper's Run

Submitted to Contest #124

The Reaper’s Run By Brooke Freeman Momma drew the coat collar close around my neck and buttoned the last button. She then smoothed the edges of the sleeves before giving me one last quick squeeze around the waist.    "Remember," she said somberly. "The crows are your friend."   I nodded, throat tight and unable to speak. It was time to go. And we both knew it. The town was waiting for us.    It was a cloudy day outside, ominous grey clouds hanging low over the village. It often was on Harvest Day....

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The Labyrinth of Ketu

Submitted to Contest #124

The silence was surreal. After hours of rhythmic drums rattling her bones, heavy woodsmoke choking her lungs, and nearly fifty people passing her around like a doll, Sonia was exhausted. The ritual was finally over.   Her bare feet stung as she stepped through the frosty brush. It was nearly dawn and the sun was threatening to poke its head up from beyond the mountains. She neared the entrance to Ketu, the colossal ancient labyrinth that had existed since before the oldest stories. Its craggy walls loomed before her, a gaping maw ea...

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WHERE IS IT HIDDEN?

Submitted to Contest #124

WHERE IS IT HIDDEN?  The first thing she remembered was a long corridor, which seemed to have not end, that she found herself in front of. But she didn’t know how she got there , whether through a door, going down or up the stairs. Or whether she had been dropped into it. As time went by____and it had to have passed a long time since she was in there, even though she couldn’t say  how much time had passed_____as she kept wandering through passages and underpasses, through tunnels and very strange looking doors, through ro...

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The Desert Labyrinth

Submitted to Contest #124

Note: This story also includes emotional abuse Marenith swirled the sword in a circle around her head. She had lived here her whole life. She had never known anything different than the walls of stone and hedges. She knew every pattern they made. She had traced them over and over and over with her eyes, with her fingers. She had made her own patterns in the dirt with her toes. Boredom often set in. Aside from the Witch, it was Marenith and the Minotaur. She didn't know if the Witch was truly a witch, but the woman who had given birth to...

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Escape

Submitted to Contest #124

‘What are you three up to today then?’ ‘Nothing much mum. Aaron and I are going to play Call of Duty later, but that’s about it,’ Oscar said. ‘Whilst I love that you and your brother bond over video games, wouldn’t it be nice to get out of the house for a while? You could show Sierra around town while she’s here. She and Auntie Kate are going home tomorrow.’ ‘And take her to see what?’ said Aaron. ‘The millions of charity shops and pubs we aren’t old enough to drink in?’ ‘Just find something to do. I want to do some hoovering and you’ll on...

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