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Write a story that includes someone saying, “You’ve got this.”

Posted in Dialogue on Oct 27, 2023

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✍️ 53 stories

Luella Goes to Forest School

Submitted to Contest #222

Luella was usually hard to get out of bed in the morning, but today, she jumped up as soon as her Mom came to wake her. “I’m going to forest school today!” she cheered, as she leaned in for a hug. Finally, after a year of hearing all about the fun to be had in the woods from her older brother, it was her turn. “What do you need to do before we can leave for school?” Luella’s mom asked. Luella looked down at her pajamas. “Get dressed!” she said. She opened a drawer and selected her rainbow shirt and a pair of polka dotted pants fr...

27 likes 9 comments 9
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Talk is Cheap

Submitted to Contest #222

Twenty years it took me. Twenty long, hard years. Twenty years to discern the meaning of just a few small words. But then, that’s living and living is all we’ve got. “You’ve got this,” my Mother said these words whilst wearing a pained smile and then she let go of her very last breath, letting go of my hand and her mortal coil as that warm air wheezed out of her. The transformation was shocking. I saw the life seep away from her and I wondered where it went. This wasn’t my Mum. Not anymore it wasn’t. She’d left me and she’d left me...

23 likes 12 comments 12
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Reverse

Shortlisted for Contest #222 ⭐️

When I was a child, my hedgehog ate her babies, just popped the little hoglets like popcorn shrimp one night while I slept, blissfully unaware, on the other side of the room. I couldn’t look at her tank without wanting to puke, and even the sight of pink jellybeans set my stomach roiling. Eventually, my mother foisted the infanticider onto my cousin, and as I said my goodbyes, I stared into those beady, remorseless eyes, and thought, “Monster.”But, like… I get it now.The Dinner Table Tyrant glares at me overtop Broccoli Mountain, her pink pl...

22 likes 5 comments 5
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The Avalanche

Shortlisted for Contest #222 ⭐️

Most people think they’d hear it coming. They imagine it like the movies–a low rumble that grows into a roar, as of an awakening giant. In reality, once you pass the trigger point into the convexity, the slab makes almost no noise at all. It sloughs and sighs, a gruff whisper that builds at your back and pelts you with shards, its full magnitude only apparent when it’s too late to do anything. In the next breath, the mountain swallows you whole, using its thousand-pound jaw to crack your skis and snap your ribs and t...

20 likes 7 comments 7
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Mentor

Submitted to Contest #222

TW: Some sensitive content.Mentors come in many forms and their influence can last forever. I always knew I’d meet him again. So, why am I so nervous?There’s a bite to the air the day before Halloween. Smoky fumes rising from decaying leaves pressed down by the tramp of countless feet, catch the throat with their pungent odours. Fortunately, the sky is clear and cloud free which is just as well because I’ve left my umbrella at home. It’s a blue and white spotted affair with a dainty handle which I bought specially. I had planned on wear...

18 likes 12 comments 12
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Fluttering Descent

Submitted to Contest #222

The two enthusiastic visionaries, myself included, had gathered to tell of the dreams we’d recently had. We sank deeply into our armchairs and appreciated how the eight yard lights around us – unlike the slowing degrees of blue and violet having an argument, each one whispering its preferences – cast faded ginger harmoniously. It was as though we were in a field of marigolds. The perfect place for a night full of fantastical stories. Without any warning, my master launched forth into his narrative: To prevent a mortal (he said) from tellin...

15 likes 3 comments 3
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The Guide

Submitted to Contest #222

Gerald gripped the side rail in the entranceway of the museum, turning his knuckles white and palms red. His tie was too tight, his shoes too big, and his socks rather sweaty. They were probably gaining more strength in stench the longer he shuffled his awkward feet near the guest desk.  It was opening hour on a Tuesday, so the crowd was rather light so far. He watched as an older couple entered, followed by a group of smartly dressed women who were holding arms with each other and chatting as if it’s been years since they’ve gone ou...

14 likes 13 comments 13
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clichering.

Submitted to Contest #222

“You gotta bite the bullet, Bridge, and tell us everything.” Kate ordered as she handed her menu back to the impatient waitress after ordering the chicken carbonara. The three forty-something women were gathered at their favorite table in the corner at their favorite place. Every waitress that worked the evening shift knew them even though they only managed to coordinate their schedules for dinner about six times a year which required a marathon of catching up on families, dating and work war stories. They always ordered the bread pudd...

14 likes 5 comments 5
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The Perfect Project

Submitted to Contest #222

"No, no, no! That's all wrong!" I look up from my work at my mentor who is shaking his head, long scraggly white beard swaying with the motion. His bushy white eyebrows are drawn into a frown, nearly covering his eyes. I use my forearm to wipe the sweat from my forehead, trying not to smear anything from my gloves onto my skin. "My boy," my mentor continues, "you are a bright and promising student. You have done this before, and done it well. What is the problem today?" I drop my head in shame. "I'm sorry, master. This project has taken much...

13 likes 0 comments 0
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Can’t Go Back

Submitted to Contest #222

Cassidy stands on the square blue carpet of the tumbling floor, trembling. Her muscled legs quake with anticipation, and her diaphragm contracts, bowling her belly out through the leotard to reveal a smothered, held breath. White chalk cakes her hands and bare thighs. The thighs emerge from her singlet, like pistons of white ivory. She raises her arms high into the fifth position. A cloud of chalk forms and particles of powder rain down over her head.She is beginning her floor exercise routine, which starts with a back-tumbling pass—one...

13 likes 6 comments 6
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Whispers of the Enchanted Forest

Submitted to Contest #222

Chapter 1: The Mysterious Invitation The city of Eldoria was bustling with activity as Alex, a curious young man, walked along the cobblestone streets. As he walked, he noticed something peculiar - a weathered parchment peeking out from beneath one of the stones on the ground. Intrigued, he bent down to pick it up and examined it closely. The parchment read: "Seeker of Adventure, embark on a quest to uncover the hidden treasures of the Enchanted Forest. Meet at the Moonlit Inn at midnight." Alex's mind raced with excitement and wonder...

13 likes 2 comments 2
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It's Not Always The Way It Looks

Submitted to Contest #222

It’s Not Always The Way It Looks  She sat slumped over on the red-flowered couch in my office. Her hair, a dingy blonde with dark roots, was greasy and her face was stained with old makeup and fresh tears.             The police officer stood between us, his rough hands resting on his thick belt which held handcuffs, a radio, and the ever-present tazer.            “I found her behind the school, near the apartments...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Angels Among Us

Submitted to Contest #222

Angels Among Us By D.H.Irving “You’ve got this.” These words greeted the young man as he slowly peeked his head into the large, nearly empty room. Forty feet long by forty feet wide, the room itself was nothing short of an exercise in sterility. White walls, white floors and bare florescent tubing housed in long tin fixtures lit the room in a cool pale brilliance that lent more to the feeling of a surgical setting than the interview that he had been summoned to partake in. Stark and empty, there were no chairs or desks, nor couches or ...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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“Guided by Aurora's Light”

Submitted to Contest #222

Sarah's face contorted in agony as she felt the primal, unbridled energy surge through her, tearing away the civilized layers of her existence. She was a cavewoman succumbing to the fierce forces of nature, reducing her to a creature of raw instinct and primal struggle."I can't do this." She mouthed silently, unable to find the breath needed to articulate her defeat.Aurora, a frail and gentle woman with a perplexing inner strength, bent over and looked into Sarah's wild and desperate eyes. She clenched her hands and released a burst of energ...

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The Mystery of the Adventure

Submitted to Contest #222

Feeling stressed? reads the black and yellow sticker on the door of the bathroom stall. Below the two-worded question is a list of campus-provided resources: a phone number to call, a separate number to text, the email addresses of six counselors, another email address, this one belonging to the whole of the Campus Health and Wellness department, and then a four-step breathing exercise.  “Oh,” I say, smirking. “Well, thank God for that—suicide averted.” I lean over from where I’m sitting on the toilet and open the blue duffel bag I br...

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