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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

An apologetic letter or email from an old flame suddenly arrives — many years too late.

Posted in Dramatic on Nov 22, 2024

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✍️ 74 stories

“Dreams Never Been” by Nicholas Warack

Submitted to Contest #278

Homestead Estates was a well-to-do neighborhood: gated, pristine, snaked with fairways, and inhabited by retired, blue-blooded Americans. On a crisp spring morning, Gerald Stevens's slippers scratched the driveway as he shuffled down in his Columbia University Law bathrobe. It was a long walk; all the Homestead Estate driveways were at least fifty yards long. He arrived at the mailbox and pulled open the latch. A short stack of mail sat within. Gerald slid them into his pocket and made the trek back to the house. As he ascended his front por...

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“An apology and a love letter” by Rachel Williams

Submitted to Contest #278

Dearest Charlie, I came across the love letter you once wrote for me. This might come as something of a surprise to you, but I have kept it safe all these years. If you’d have told me a decade ago that I would have kept this personal reminder of my mistake, then I would have laughed. I am sure I should have burned it, tore it into shreds, or something else just to be rid of this weight I still feel when it comes to you. Truth is, I think of you nearly all the time. I want to know what you’re up to, if you still think Star Wars is the greates...

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“The Order of the Ashen Dawn” by Neepa K

Submitted to Contest #278

Mara,I know it’s been a long time, and I don’t expect this letter to mean anything to you now. I don't know if you'll even read it, or if you’ll just burn it, as you have every thought of me for the past several years.But I have to write it. I’ve been carrying this guilt with me for so long that I feel like it’s rotting me from the inside out. I don't think I can go another day without saying what I should have said back then. The truth.You’ll probably remember the day it all fell apart. The day I made the choice to side with them — the Orde...

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“"Just a Short Note"” by Miles Stassis

Submitted to Contest #278

From: Emily —----------------To:   Mac —--------------Date: December 31, 1998Subject:     “Hello, Goodbye.”Dear Mac:“Hello!”Em’ here – just writing to let you know: “I’m out” - “We’re done.” -“That’s it.” I’ve been thinking about it for a very long time and I just can’t go through with the whole thing. You know what I mean, right? It’s over! We’re through. That’s all.I don’t want you standing at the altar either. That would not be fun. Just standing there. &...

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“The Apology You Never Got But Always Deserved” by S.d. Schwarz

Submitted to Contest #278

Hey.I’ve rewritten this email thousands of times and each time, it sounds…wrong. I’m worried you won’t read past the first line, let alone open it. I don’t blame you if you don’t…it’s been five years now. I tried calling, but I assume you’ve changed your number. You don’t have social media anymore, unless you changed your name? Either way, I thought I’d just try this once. You didn’t deserve the way I treated you in the end, and not a second’s gone by that I haven’t thought of you. You were my everything. I was an idiot. I’m sorry I blo...

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“star crossed...” by Laurinda Stanton

Submitted to Contest #278

STORY: FANTASY FICTION LOVEshe held the letter, not in her hand but in her heart . she couldn’t even comprehend how that much time had passed…90 yrs ! she remembered thinking when she was very young ‘I probably won’t even live to 35’. At 12 yrs old 35 seemed like an impossible age to reach, she smiled at the childish thought. Now here she was living with her grandchildren, her daughter and her daughter's wonderful husband. she felt tired, but happy knowing she lived. it was by no means an easy life but it was never predicable or boring. yes ...

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“Forgotten, Never Forgiven” by Carly Becker

Submitted to Contest #278

"Hello, hello, hello!" Rachel's boisterous voice rang out across the restaurant. Samantha peered over the back of her booth, brushing her brunette curls off her forehead. She grinned. “Happy Birthday!” Rachel said, as she set a gift, wrapped in boutique style, on the table before leaning in for a tight hug. "What is this? I told you no gifts!" Sam said.“You know that means nothing to me," she said, pushing the box across the table. "C'mon, Sammie, open it.”Sam took her time opening the gift, her gestures exaggerated as she unt...

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“The Point is You” by Vanessa Shields

Submitted to Contest #278

Saturday, July 28, 1984 My dearest Bertie, I am coming to you now.  That night we were together, Bertie, I believe we linked back to the stars from whence we came. I think we felt the Grand Beginning rumble in our tummies…dancing with the delicious meal we’d shared at Grimley’s On the Oceanside. (I love that you let me feed you a forkful of butter-soaked lobster…that you rolled your blue-sky eyes in taste-ecstasy as you chewed…) Did you know I’d saved three paychecks to afford the meal? I’d wanted to save every cent so I could share a f...

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“How could I have know?” by Daniel Kirk

Submitted to Contest #278

I can still feel the disgusting warmth on my hands, even to this day. Even if all my memories were to fade, that feeling would still haunt me. I have my daughter handle the cooking now, though holding utensils can be challenging. Sherry always asks me if I’m okay, and I always tell her it’s fine, even if the fork I’m holding rattles between my teeth. I’ll be honest I’m scared of the day she stops asking. Though knowing her, the only day that’ll be is my funeral. Odd comfort that would be. Then, I wouldn’t have this feeling in my hands. It re...

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“OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?” by Frances Goulart

Submitted to Contest #278

O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?Precious Catherine:I have so many things to say to you, Catherine. That’s why I decided to set my laptop and phone aside and put the words that follow into the form of an old- fashioned handwritten letter. Handwritten! Who does that anymore? Why? Because it seemed a more honest  and more personal way to say what I have been meaning to say to you  for a while now. Ever since that night after our movie date I when I got that phone call and got up and left. And didn’t come back. Remember you asked me ‘did...

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“A Simple Reminder” by Chris Moznette

Submitted to Contest #278

To you, of whom I still hold dear,             Good morning, afternoon, night, or whatever time in between you decide to sit down and read this letter; I don’t blame you if it’s a far-off time from now.             I hope you’re doing well. Some time has passed since we’d last seen each other, and I thought it was a fine time to reconnect with you and see where your endeavors have left you after all this time. I’ve spe...

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“No More Hiding” by Ana Visneski

Submitted to Contest #278

I never should have left, especially not then.The letter had shown up three months ago, and it had taken this long until I could open it. The name was one I knew almost as well as my own: Kaitlin’s father. That line stuck out to me so jaggedly that I wanted to throw it into the fireplace, followed by anything else in the house that reminded me of him.Instead, I took a deep breath and started reading over. Surely, somewhere in this handwritten piece of trash, he would explain why he had not only bailed but had remained totally absent for almo...

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“Emails from Ghosts” by Sarah N

Submitted to Contest #278

The email came in at 3:19 a.m. — the kind of time when ghosts might decide to speak, or chairs crack their joints. It was sandwiched between the confirmation of my impulsive midnight purchase — a deodorant in a sleek silver metal casing, dotted with blue stars, requiring eco-friendly paper cartridge refills — and another email from a team begging me to finish the survey I’d abandoned halfway through.For my deodorant, I’d picked the Thunderstorm cartridge, but still couldn’t sleep. Sitting on the floor with my laptop still open — because big ...

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“Micheletto” by Daryl Barber

Submitted to Contest #278

MichelettoBy: Daryl Barber 08/26/2024 My dearest Adam, I am writing you a letter to tell you that I still miss you. When we met several years ago, you stirred something in my soul, and I have never forgotten you. I appreciate all your letters and cards. Guess you took my invitation to keep in touch seriously. I know that you told me your wife Jane died awhile back, and I wanted to know if it would be O.K. for me to come over sometime. I never wanted to cause trouble between the two of you, which is why I never came by to see you in person....

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“A Letter from the Bottom of Her Heart” by Mindy Reed

Submitted to Contest #278

After almost a half-century, I finally convinced my mother to sell the family home and move into assisted living. That my mother was ninety-five, while my first born was dead was a cruel irony that has haunted me for decades. When she was finally settled into her new home, I had to face the thankless chore of emptying the contents of her house so it could be put up for sale. When I pulled the junk drawer out from under the cabinet, an envelope fluttered to the floor. I placed the drawer onto of the cabinet and bent down to pick it up. Th...

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