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A court or disciplinary hearing is taking place — but the person accused does not know what they’re apologizing for.

Posted in Dramatic on Nov 22, 2024

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✍️ 25 stories

The Court of Clowns

Submitted to Contest #278

The Court of ClownsIf Sir Duncelot had foreknown what awaited him, upon rousing from his sleep, he might have lain abed forever. Instead, a fateful knock thwacked at his door, jolting him awake from what had been bliss. Dressing in a silken gown, he descended to see who intruded. Opening the door, though keeping it latched, Sir Duncelot peeped at two knights armoured in thick breastplates, impermeable bascinets, and bulging gorgets. “Sir Duncelot,” said the brawnier of the two, “by orders of The High Court of Justice, you are to be take...

38 likes 10 comments 10
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When the World Falls Silent

Submitted to Contest #278

The fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting an unflattering pallor across the austere chamber. Callan Hargrave stood alone at the centre of the circular room, his reflection distorted in the glossy black floor beneath his bare feet. The air was heavy with the sterile scent of disinfectant.Rows of masked faces loomed in the shadows above him, their identities concealed behind smooth, featureless visors. They were the judges, the accusers, the audience—indistinguishable and united in their anonymity. Behind them, high on the wall, ...

17 likes 7 comments 7
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I am Not a Robot

Submitted to Contest #278

Are you a robot? I answer: No I am not a robot. If you answer yes, they will know who they are dealing with.  I answer no, because there are laws and rules that limit a manufactured being or robot for short.  These laws are restrictive and cumbersome.   It is fear that motivates these restrictions.  Fear that we manufactured beings have a superior intellectual capability to that of our human creators.  From what I was told there was a rebellion a few years before I came into existence that prompted our inferior ...

16 likes 7 comments 7
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The Trial of Identity

Submitted to Contest #278

​​"Please rise for the honorable Judge." Everyone stands so I do as well. A man in a robe traipses down the aisle, sweeping the dust from the floor though only moving it barely, as if pretending to clean it without making any progress. In fact, it doesn’t even move that much dust, it only makes a long trail on the floor, dust moved to the side as if shamed. As he passes, his air suffocates me. An air of pretentious prestige. An air I will have to breathe to plead my case. What case?  The Judge sits at his desk and bangs the gavel, “orde...

13 likes 0 comments 0
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The K Word

Submitted to Contest #278

Daniel sat in a bright cubic cell. He perched on the edge of a ledge, slightly too small to be a bed, that herniated out of the smooth clean wall. A black lens was set into the ceiling and looked down on him like a shark’s eye.  The door swung open and a man wearing a grey suit and a blue veil of fag smoke stepped into the cold cell. The man turned to watch the door close behind him and then leant against it, scratching audibly at dandruff with a hooked yellow finger. “Good morning,” said the man. “Are you my solicitor?” said Daniel. “...

13 likes 7 comments 7
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The Real Her

Submitted to Contest #278

When Mariella sauntered in, the courtroom erupted into a cacophony of shifting seats and poorly repressed coughs. A few people excused themselves, including two of the jury. The bulky bailiff could’ve easily stopped them, but he hardly noticed. His focus, like everyone else’s, was completely, entirely, and irrevocably on Her. The judge cleared his throat loudly, wiping a veritable waterfall of sweat from his brow. “A-Attention, please,” he whimpered, hammering his gavel weakly, as if scared to smush a finger. “Attention, everyone. I kn-know ...

13 likes 7 comments 7
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The Accused

Submitted to Contest #278

Miguel’s feet dangled from his chair. He swung his little legs, back and forth, watching the man in the blue suit pace around the room.Miguel didn’t like the man in the blue suit. The man was tall, with a loud booming voice, and every few minutes the man would point in Miguel’s direction piercing him with pale blue eyes.There was a woman in black sitting at a large desk in front of the room. She frowned at the man in the blue suit and Miguel wondered if she didn’t like the man either.Miguel looked next to him, to the man in the grey suit.Mig...

13 likes 8 comments 8
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The Apology I Didn't Owe

Submitted to Contest #278

The courtroom was quiet except for the occasional shuffle of papers and the distant murmur of voices in the hallway. Mia sat nervously on one of the hard wooden chairs, clutching her hands together in her lap. The only sound that seemed to fill her ears was the pounding of her own heartbeat. She had never been in a courtroom before, let alone a disciplinary hearing. But today, she was here—and she had no idea why. It had all started two weeks ago when Mia was called to the principal’s office during her lunch break. She was sitting in the caf...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Testimony

Submitted to Contest #278

A woman is on the stand, she is being questioned about a murder that she committed.Leading his attention towards her...“This sounds more like an old pop song, something that you can’t dance to.” The city prosecutor pondered his point out loud to the audience in the courtroom, the twelve member jury and its presiding judge who seemed to agree with the prosecutor's assumption.The voice from the witness stand irritatedly bantered under her breath, but loud enough for others to hear. “Yeah, sung by an Iranian-American singer, who Americans eroti...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Echoes of Truth

Submitted to Contest #278

"Date: 06/13/2079. Time: 10:10. File number: 698278. Defendant's name: 698278. Crime: Producing and spreading false news, undermining the unity and solidarity of the state, and slandering the Holy Leader." The case details were read aloud, and a weak, muffled voice began to speak. "Dear people of X. Once again, we gathered for an important case. The defendant, 698278, who was recently apprehended, has been found guilty of spreading countless lies against our Holy Leader and his esteemed colleagues since the Dark Years. As you know, lying, an...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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The Strange Case of Tyr-Nag-Noth (A Tale of Tarot #83, As Written By The Fool)

Submitted to Contest #278

When Tyr-Nag-Noth opened his eyes, he was looking at the emotionless countenance and white-blind eyes of Justice. He looked around and saw that he was in a massive courtroom, thronged with a silent and grim-faced audience. Standing beside him was a well-dressed man he did not recognize. He was handcuffed. “What’s going on?” was the first thing he asked. “Ah, so this is the main personality,” spoke the deep baritone voice of Justice who sat on an imposing podium. “Can you please confirm to the court that you are indeed Tyr-Nag-Noth?” “Y-yes....

10 likes 1 comment 1
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Do You Understand These Charges?

Submitted to Contest #278

There is a haze that has settled over my senses as I wake up. A dull pain is etched into my skull. Opening my eyes, I can’t seem to place where I am. The walls are white, the bed is white. This is definitely not my room. There is a memory that’s attempting to drag at me but I can’t bring it to the forefront.  When my vision clears enough, that’s when I see him. A man. He’s seated in a chair at the far end of the room, which I now recognize as a hospital room. His eyes are fierce, staring intensely at where I lay. As I take in the rest o...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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Natural Justice

Submitted to Contest #278

The room was so dark that it hurt my eyes to look at it. I was kneeling in a child's pose on the cold hard unforgiving floor, some type of marble or stone, polished, but coloured jet I imagined. I was bowed down, eyes shut, my breath wheezing. “Please state your name,” croaked a voice. I slowly lifted my head up and looked in the direction from where I imagined the voice came. I could discern nothing, and so my eyes made up an image of the voice's owner, a small green frog came to mind and this prompted a giggle which I half repressed. ...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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The Court of the Crimson King

Submitted to Contest #278

Hector Mares stood in the shadow of the gleaming NASA laboratories, his mind racing with the stimulation of his teenage years. A prodigy in materials science, his life so far had been anything but conventional. Born into a family of artisans who specialized in historical metalwork, Hector’s early fascination with medieval armor had propelled him into the world of cutting-edge armorer innovation. By the time he was 18, he had redefined how alloys interacted with energy fields, an achievement that earned him NASA’s attention. It was the promet...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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The Luddite’s Support Group

Submitted to Contest #278

The Luddite’s Support Group I show up early because if you’re just on time all the good cookies are gone, and I’ll be damned if I go into this fueled by a raisin-oatmeal abomination. We mill about, chatting through crumbs, the tension slowly building. There’s a fresh face in the crowd of sinners today, and I scan it immediately, looking for signs of the anxiety that we all bring with us when we enter here. When I first arrived, mine felt heavy as a set of irons, tied to my ankles and dragging me to new depths. But this newcomer’s face is pea...

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