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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Start a story that begins with a character saying “Speak now.”

Posted in Dialogue on Mar 17, 2023

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✍️ 86 stories

“Speak Now or What?” by Christine Cameron

Submitted to Contest #190

           Speak now! The words are screaming in my head but will not conjugate onto my tongue. Speak now!            What can I say that will make any difference? She didn’t burn the house down.  Just because the fire alarm blasted me into cognizance at 6 AM doesn’t mean she’s trying to drive me totally insane. She was just warming a bagel in a small cast iron pan on the stovetop and forgot to turn on the ...

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“Home at last ” by Corina P

Submitted to Contest #190

Home at last cw: foul language, swearing “Speak now.” “Mary, please... Don’t look at me like that...” “Who the hell is this??” “Her name is Lucy.” “Really Andy?!” “Mary… I can explain…”  “After I specifically told you not to!” “Yeah but..." "No buts." “I promise, I’ll make this right!” "Only if you kick her out." "Okay, okay..." “Geez, on our counter too? Disgusting.” “Mary, wait!” Andy dashed out the kitchen, his mouth running faster than his feet as he chased Mary down the hall of ridiculously expensive artwork. Mary typed and t...

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“Just climb the tree” by Flower Queens Adventures

Submitted to Contest #190

"Speak now." The command echoes in the spaces between my thoughts. Blinking, trying to wet my eyes and refocus on the figure in front of me. "Do you... do you think that the fish knows that the bears the enemy?" "Christ! We're not doing this again. Always these dumb questions and hypotheticals. Did you even hear a single thing I said?" "Right, because you're so considerate and comprehensible while you're yelling at me." I did hear him. I always hear him. I always strive to do exactly what he says but for some reason I always fall short. If...

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“Easy Peasy” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now,” Kurt told his wife, Madison. She heard her brother, Lionel’s, voice through the phone. “Hello? Mad? You there?” The previous week’s events flooded Madison’s memory. So much unnecessary drama. They hadn’t seen each other since their mother’s memorial. She suggested meeting up. Big deal. She would fly to see her daughter, Wilma, in Seattle. Why couldn’t he meet in the middle? Portland’s halfway between Seattle and Los Angeles. One state each way. Travel is so difficult. And family connection, so important. On Monday, fishing for e...

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“After Breakfast One Morning” by Katie Serra

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now.” A wall of red wood towers over me as I stand in the massive court room. I don’t remember how I arrived in this land of purple giants and I only partially understand how I have offended them. I can’t deny the scene in front of me, however. “I said speak now!” the giant judge bellowed. “As I tried to explain before I don’t know how I got here and…” “Speak louder! Oh, never mind. Uglin! Put the tiny creature on the bench.” I am scooped up before I know what is happening. I am afraid of being told to speak again so I begin as soon...

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“Hearing Audrey” by Daniela Halliwell

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now.” Audrey begged the air as she stopped in the middle of the quiet field. She gazed out at the millions of stars, looking up higher and higher, and from left to right. The beauty was almost too much to comprehend and only added to her frantic overload. “Please speak to me Darius!” Audrey felt the salty wave of frustrated tears swell in her eyes.            “What has brought you here dear child?” She heard the familiar and soothing voice call from above. It was the voice of a m...

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“Where Is Here? - 2” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #190

"Speak now. We want that book, Mrs. Skinner."Mildred's body shook, and her legs felt weak. "What do you want me to say? I don't have it anymore.""The Journal? The one, your son found and gave you. We have your letter to the Smithsonian and your transcriptions. Hand it over."Mildred was tired. She just wanted this blustering man and his driver to return to the black Land Rover with tinted windows to leave. "I don't have it.""We'll go away after you give it to us.""It was on my bedside table last night and was gone when I got up this morning. ...

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“Family Curse” by Sally Bennett Boyington

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now,” said the maker of the mannequin, using the formula the traveling mage had sold her along with the plans. She moved her hands through the complicated motions of the final conjuration. For a moment the wooden mannequin on the kitchen table seemed to prepare itself to utter a sound, moving its head awkwardly on a short neck. It shifted jointed arms and legs like a person stirring in a deep sleep. Then it subsided, just as its maker knew it would. Just as it had the other fifty-two times Dorrekus commanded it to speak. She had cou...

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“Speak Now” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #190

Speak Now “Speak now…” “I will.”            The old preacher stopped speaking, not following his first two words with the finishing ancient but familiar line that ended with “or forever hold your peace…”  The young man who had shouted out his two words from the back had silenced him.            Not many ministers say these words these days, but the preacher was very old fashioned and was well-known for including these potentiall...

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“Sister Margaret Beckwith” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now, Sister Margaret so that Jesus Christ can forgive your sins.” Father Hans Mercharaine said softly from behind his curtained screen.  Kneeling before him was an eighty seven year old nun who had come to him with a request that he hear her final confession.  He accepted the request without hesitation since she had served the Saint Johannes Basilika since taking her vows in 1927 sixty three years ago.   The urgency of her request startled him as he sat in his office preparing a sermon for the following Sunday at ...

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“The Yarn Merchant” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now,” the sultan’s voice thunders like a thousand waterfalls, “and tell me who you are and what you were doing in my private gardens.” “This story begins many moons ago,” I begin in a sing-song voice, “in a city very much like this one. I was younger then and very handsome.” (The sultan and his courtiers gaze at  my wrinkled face in disbelief.) “All the girls were in love with me, but I had eyes for only one of them: Fairuza, daughter of Hakim the spice-merchant.” I half-close my eyes as if thinking of her. “She was beautiful,” ...

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“Curfew and Stuff” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now or forever hold your piece.” This was my mother’s favorite saying when she knew she was winning an argument. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I asked how she was spelling piece or peace. Being an educator, she broke into explaining, although sounding alike. Stop, mom, stop… I meant when you use your favorite phrase, “Speak now or forever hold your piece.” Which way are you spelling it? Well, it depended on the situation… P-I-E-C-E a portion, a single slice of a whole—generic conversation mode without actual purposes. Mostly to ...

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“Transmutation” by Riley Willsey

Submitted to Contest #190

"Speak now" What did she want me to say? She was sleeping with my best friend. I had no words. "It was only one time and we were both drunk. You were out of town..." Apparently my silence has prompted her to keep talking. I wish she'd stop. She does for a second as our food arrives. "Thank you" she smiles at the waitress. Oh how sincere. She starts eating. I stare down at my food. I have no desire for it. When I look back to her, she's talking again. "It's really not that big of a deal if you think about it. I mean, think of how tiny we ...

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“The Creators Are Chumps ” by Hugh Fritz

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now.” Meghna’s words were clipped, her voice hoarse. She transferred the screwdriver to her left hand and flexed the fingers of her right. A faint buzzing reverberated from inside the synthetic skin. “Drew looks,” the face said. A pause, then “at me.” The machine’s words were monotone, its face bland. Meghna’s carpal tunnel strained as she pulled the fingers of her right hand toward her wrist. “Well, she’s not wrong,” Drew offered. “I was looking at her.” “Don’t assign it pronouns yet. The sooner droids consider themselves peo...

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“The Union” by Rachael Hansen

Submitted to Contest #190

“…speak now or forever hold your peace,” the minister’s words died in the empty spaces of the church. Someone coughed. Someone cleared their throat.Graham and Madeline stared across the space of their entwined hands and into the eyes of the other—almost-the-husband, almost-the-wife—with bated breath. You could hear a pin drop. They both knew there was a good chance that someone would, in fact, speak now and not hold their peace. They’d actually discussed what they would do when someone objected to their union at the minister’s behest, in fro...

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