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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about someone who receives an unexpected phone call.

Posted in Dialogue on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 63 stories

“Paying Dues” by Daniel Nest

Submitted to Contest #30

“More wine?”Julie nods. I head to the kitchen with the empty dessert plates. I uncork another bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and smile. We’ve gone through an entire meal without arguing.I return to the living room to refill our glasses. As I lean over to pour the wine, I place my hand on Julie’s shoulder. She squeezes it gently. There are hopes for a thaw.Just as I sit down, my phone rings. I check the number. My face must be a tell, because Julie immediately slumps in her seat and starts shaking her head. “No,” she mouths.I answer the call.Ju...

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“A phone call from Dad ” by Claudia Cook

Submitted to Contest #30

Prompt: Write a story about someone who receives an unexpected phone call.           The last thing I needed in class was for my phone to ring…while the professor was talking. Professor Bottoms had this rule that if your phone rings in class and you have to go out, you might as well have not come at all.I swear I thought I had put my phone on vibrate because my ring tone is not one of this common ring tones that people can easily ignore. No. It’s the theme song to a popular 90’s sitcom. ...

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“"Us" Once Again” by K W

Submitted to Contest #30

The wind was cold-- a cold cutting to the bone, and it was strange weather for California. I was completely unprepared for the wind to blow and for the change to come along with it.It was a regular day, another day at school. It was another day of the same six classes about an hour long and another day of trying to survive them. Although saying that might be a stretch, sometimes it felt as if all you could was survive the day.This day was a day unlike that. There was a promise in the new wind that brought a smile to my face. Wind symbolizes ...

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“1992...” by Mattilyn Stewart

Submitted to Contest #30

Friday, March 6, 1992, “Jayd, I’m being arrested for murder.”My 30-year-old brother; in tears over the phone, made the distinct croak of a man who was experiencing irrepressible fear. I felt my stomach lurch in utter denial. As though my glass had been snatched from my hand, claret splashed over the kitchen floor as I scrambled to hold something to support my failing legs.“You’re what?”“The police will be at your place in 20 minutes. They want to talk to you.”Shock reverberated through my gibberish as my partner took the phone from me and to...

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“The Call” by Adeline Rose

Submitted to Contest #30

I hear the sound of my phone alarm going off, I try to ignore it and mumble to myself “five more minutes”. The incessant ringing annoys me enough that I grab my phone to shut it off. “Damn it”, three missed calls from my boss and a voicemail saying, very adamantly, to meet her at 7 am to discuss last-minute wedding changes over breakfast. I check the time, 6:30 am. I dart out of bed, a little too quickly so I’m seeing stars. I’m rushing to find an outfit and make my hair look presentable. “Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin’, barely ...

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“I’ll be back” by Grace Shimkus

Submitted to Contest #30

God I hate funerals, the solemn stench of death fills the air, as families weep and mourn the loss of a loved one. I can’t believe it's been 2 weeks since the death of my father, and I can still remember the sweet sound of my father’s voice as he went off that night.  “I’ll be right back. I’ll be home before you know it, sweet pea.” he said to me as I lay down in my bed that night. Little did I know that was the last time he would tuck me in.  I remember every careful detail of that night. From the small sounds of crickets chirpin...

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“The President Called” by Ronda Everson

Submitted to Contest #30

We were foreigners in S. Korea. I was teaching at a small university. I had planned for my daughter to attend the university, but when it came time for her to apply the response way, "Sorry, we don't accept anyone who has been homeschooled." I had homeschooled her the first year I went to Korea because she couldn't speak Korean, and the university didn't pay me enough to send her to an international school. There was an online high school from America, but they said she wasn't old enough and had to wait until next year. I got books made ...

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“Farewell” by Robert Liston

Submitted to Contest #30

Life sucks, and the sooner you figure that out, the better off you’ll be. Now, you might be reading this, wondering when Kelsey Ranport became such a jerk. And to answer you, I would argue that I am not a jerk, but a fellow human being trying to inform you of what can be expected out of life-absolutely nothing. Really, you should be thanking me. Very few people have the guts to be honest about the cruel reality of things-nobody ever told me. The TV flickers on and off for the thousandth time, and yes, I already called the cable guys, and the...

1 comment 1
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“The fate only rings once” by Iren Petrova

Submitted to Contest #30

They say that if you ask God for a sign when you are in an impasse, he often gives it to you in the most unexpected way. Not that I'm not a believer, but I've never felt exceptional enough to receive special attention from the highest authority in our universe. But when my phone rang that morning, all of my outlooks suddenly changed.It's probably cliché to start your narration with a phone call. This is just as cliché as the following story: you walk down the street - desperate from life and love, bitter and unhappy - when the perfect woman ...

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“Feather Scars” by Nicola Campbell

Submitted to Contest #30

Oh God, this assembly is so boring I could die and not notice it. Not to mention the giant shed thing we’re in barely has a breath of breeze to go blow it and the metal it’s made of is actually cooking us alive. Okay, not literally, but it is harder to think when you have to wear full school uniform, including a blazer, on a way-too-early-to-be-summer day. There is no reprieve. Zoning out of Mr Carter’s speech probably isn’t the best idea. He’ll probably ask me about it tomorrow in the school captain meeting we have every Friday lunchtime.It...

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“Want Ads” by Nina Wishnat

Submitted to Contest #30

Mia’s room was pretty much bare. She lay on a mattress on the floor, flanked by a few cans of Arizona iced tea. And she waited. It was what felt like the hottest summer in New York, although it feels like that every summer in New York. She was about to muster up the energy to get up and fill a tin can with water when the phone rang. An unknown number with a 2-1-2 area code. Mia answered the call. Immediately an automated message played. “How would you like to earn one hundred dollars a night? With Bay and Temple’s Cleaning Service, you ...

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“Red is the weirdest color ” by Timi U.

Submitted to Contest #30

I’ve never needed much insight on understanding empathy. Or telepathy. Which one was it again? She looks at me rather confused. “Sorry, could you please perhaps elaborate a bit”, says with a full poker face while adjusting her fancy glasses. I roll my eyes out loud, but inside of the calmness of my own head and take a look at the fossil clock hanging on her wall. 15 more minutes that I paid for. She doesn’t really give a crap about me or my past or my stories, she just waits for the times to pass by with each single patient so that afterward...

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“Happy Birthday to Me” by Angela Lopez

Submitted to Contest #30

I used to believe understanding the function of a noun was the hardest curveball life would throw at me. When you’re younger you don’t know how much more there is to learn. How much more there is to fail. Nothing is quite real yet and you sit on a cloud of make believe and playtime. You believe that if you swallow watermelon seeds, a watermelon will grow inside you like a child. That your parents are soulmates. It usually doesn’t actually go that way. What you perceive is a dream and growing up is like waking up for the first time. A dr...

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“Not Yet” by Angela Ware

Submitted to Contest #30

What does he want? I mean can’t you take no for an answer. I yelled at the phone.Just seeing his call makes me feel good on the inside. He doesn’t know it, but I think about him often. This man has been somewhat after me for 30 years. We have this bond, this tie that binds us. I have never been able to shake it.“Let me block his number. Well if I do that I can’t see when he calls.”Ever since I had a heart attack back in September 2019, he has been calling and texting. When he first heard, he said, “I thought I had lost you.” “Please, it wasn...

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“Caller 752” by Crimson Cochran

Submitted to Contest #30

“Congratulations Caller 752 you just won an all inclusive sweepstakes trip to the Bahamas!” the automated voice squawked over the speaker.Megan rolled her eyes, as it was the 5th time that week she had received a scam phone call. She ended the call and jotted the number down in the note-pad next to her recliner. She was desperate to get the call from her boss promoting her to senior web designer, but she had been waiting for hours upon hours.Megan, or her friends called her Meg, stood up and walked over to the bay windows and stretched, popp...

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