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Write a story during which two conversations happen simultaneously.

Posted in Dialogue on Jun 16, 2023

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✍️ 28 stories

YIL-TAS

Submitted to Contest #203

Content warning: World War II Pacific Theater setting, war violence, deathThe ground is trampled, the soil torn, bugs and tap-roots exposed. In a shallow pit, men are trapped. Bullets race invisibly over helmeted heads dripping sweat. To lift their heads would be to invite death. Not to watch their enemy would also be to invite death. Being in this place at all is inviting death.Yet they are trying to avoid death.One man inches up, rifle clutched against his body, any sound he might make overwhelmed by the unfathomable roar of war all a...

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Every Prompt Everywhere All at Once

Submitted to Contest #203

"Come in Butt plug, Anvil. This is Goldhammer. Roof status? Over.""Take it off. Take it off," Anvil, also known as Ted, says.I shake my head because the beautiful medal with two rifles crossed over a wreath belongs to me now. I took the medal from Ted and pinned it to my chest because I have good aim and he does not.Ted swings his fist at me again. But I am not there. Again."That is strike two," I say, but only to Ted and not into my walkie talkie. That is so it can be a private word joke between two companion friends.Ted does not laugh, so ...

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The Mishaps of Knovas Episode 7: The Mishmash with Markolmid, the God of Exploration

Submitted to Contest #203

Hello, denizens of Myrthol! I, Knovas, God of Logic and Keeper of Time, am about to embark upon a whole new mission, one submitted not by any God, but by you, my loyal supporters! This mission is an odd sort, unique in its design, and understandable as to why no mortal has partaken in this undertaking: the World Rings. Salutations, children of the land of Etemburo! Markolmid, your God of Exploration and Keeper of the Compass (that’sa me, by the way), shall commence with a quest submitted by popular demand amongst the...

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Have Time Will Travel

Submitted to Contest #203

Have Time Will Travel Time is said to flow like a river. And people enter these streams of time, sometimes at the identical moment. Many people wonder if each affects the lives of their other time travelers, entering the ebbs and flows at similar points, but exiting the chronological estuary at some varied journey's end. Another example of a passenger in time would be those who ride a train together, at the same moments of their existence. But there are unrelated destinations for the riders, different towns to work in, familie...

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Sisters

Submitted to Contest #203

Sisters I will not shoot an unarmed woman. She’s not unarmed, she’s holding a nail-gun. It’s not a real gun though. What part of ‘nail-gun’ makes you think that’s not a gun? … A strange, strangled scream from the bedroom. The door burst open. Good morning my love, coffee? Fuck off! What…? I said fuck off! No coffee, no fucking cornflakes.   He blinked. She slammed the front door behind her. … A nail-gun can’t hurt anyone at this distance. It’s a powder-actuated model. What? It’s powder-actuated. As in gunpowder? As in gunpowd...

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Chopped Liver

Submitted to Contest #203

I strained to hear what Sue was saying over the din of my household. Surely, the story on social media wasn’t true. She looked amazing in the picture; her alabaster skin and white hair offset by the deep green around her, like those first few pictures of spring that show a crocus popping up through the snow. Sue didn’t look sick. Then again, who looks like they do on social media in real life?  “Is it a scam?” My husband Bart asked pausing his Criminal Minds episode. I waived him off and focused on my stepsister Sue. Her voice was t...

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Breakfast

Submitted to Contest #203

Soft-white fluorescents lit the Egg Nest Diner, which had only a few tables where customers could sit comfortably in the summer. It was hot, and the dining room’s recently renovated air conditioning blew cold from the corners to compensate for the outdated space’s poor circulation. People who came in dressed for the outdoor heat and were unfortunate enough to be seated near a fan would eat their meals with their legs tightly crossed for warmth, rushing to finish their eggs before the food cooled.  The restaurant thrived off weekend cr...

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Sorry

Submitted to Contest #203

“Hi.” “Hey.” Sitting on the edge of the ramp, grey concrete coats every surface, every view, all dull and lit by industrial florescent linear fittings. Three metres off the ground, they line the hanger, shamelessly eliminating any hiding spots. Except five circuits covering the further reaches are off. A couple all-terrain vehicles, bikes, and the like litter the space, patches of shadows now a plenty. Louise has been staring into them. Everything dirty brown and powder grey, like opening of The Wizard of Oz. They should hire this draining o...

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The Graveyard Shift

Submitted to Contest #203

11:30 pm “I can’t do this Simon,” Maggie shouts from the dark hallway leading to the front door. “Maggie, you can’t just walk out,” Simon replies, his voice getting closer as Maggie continues towards the door. Simon is following close behind her, desperately wanting more time to talk about everything. “Yes Simon, yes I can just walk out,” Maggie shouts as she gets closer to the door, “I told you I picked up an extra shift, so I have to go work that extra shift!” She goes to leave when she feels a strong hold on her wrist. “Do you rea...

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Conversations

Submitted to Contest #203

Conversations Sebastian “I really want to ask her out,” I said.   “Yeah, I just don’t think she’s that into you.” McLean had a way with words. “Seriously? That seems a bit harsh doesn’t it?” My therapist had told me not to listen to him. I was a slow learner. “Yeah, seriously. She never seems that interested, at least as far as I can see. I think she’s more into Steve.” “But Steve has a girlfriend.” I wasn’t going to let it go that easily. “And yet she doesn’t know that. Look, her eyes light up and she smiles every time Steve comes arou...

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Dude

Submitted to Contest #203

It’s my birthday. We are at the beach in the middle of winter. The sand is covered in snow and the lake is covered in ice. He’s very jittery. He can’t stop smiling and in return neither can I.  I love this boy.  He walked us to a clearing. To the left was the beach. To the right were trees that make up a forest.  The last time he and I were on this beach it was summer. There was a party and he and I were barely even friends. I had made a bet whether he was going to get with this girl. Now I’m the only girl I ever want to se...

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Limbo

Submitted to Contest #203

The beeps and whirring of machines filled the sterile air as fluorescent lights glared overhead and the fall of footsteps echoed loudly off the shiny, white walls.  Plastic chairs similar to those found in primary schools were crammed into the tiny room, occupied by sombre individuals, each afflicted by a different malady. A tiny girl with elbow resting at an unnatural angle on a pink pillow, tears glistening on her cheeks, a young man in a flannel top with a bandage wrapped diagonally across his head, covering his left eye, a frail, wh...

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THE KIDNAPPING

Submitted to Contest #203

THE KIDNAPPING A five-year-old Gisella disappeared in the afternoon from the courtyard of the hotel where she was staying with her parents. The last adult who saw her in the courtyard, together with the other children, is another hotel guest. “ But we saw that man dressed in black who took Gisella away” Greta is saying. “ We have to say it” “ Now don’t exaggerate, we just saw the little girl following that man,” Peter replies. “ That man grabbed the child by the arm” Greta insists. “ No, he took her by the hand” “ But first grabbed her ...

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