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Center your story around someone who makes an irreversible decision — knowing it will haunt them forever.

Posted in Dramatic on May 16, 2025

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✍️ 78 stories

The Warning

Submitted to Contest #303

The first time Clara stepped into the house on Watergrove Road, she was confronted by an unfamiliar silence. Not the kind that you encounter at a new setting, welcoming you to explore it’s untold stories and untouched corners, but the kind of silence that listens… and speaks back.She had visited many homes before—places seeped with sorrow, where grief clung to the walls like cobwebs.But this house was different. The air here didn’t just sit heavy - it whispered.She clutched the client file tighter in her hand, her eyes scanning the familiar ...

24 likes 9 comments 9
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My Own Worst Enemy

Submitted to Contest #303

Since that day on the lake with my family on Sunday, wherever I go, he comes for me. Sometimes it happens quickly and other times it might take a while, but he always comes for me. And he looks just like me.Well, that’s not exactly right. He looks very much like me, distinctly and undeniably like me, but each time he is always somewhat different.The first time I saw him was at a gas station just north of Tempe, Arizona on Monday morning as I was heading out of town. He was wearing a greasy set of blue coveralls and carrying a tire iron, so I...

17 likes 15 comments 15
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Angela's Absence: A Tale of the Arts Department

Submitted to Contest #303

“Holy f—,” I hissed. The old gal behind Rey’s beefy shoulder emanated Protestant outrage.Rey grinned. I stared at the pink iPhone wallet he’d plopped onto the faux-walnut tabletop.The blue-hair had been shooting rays at the burly Latino with the salt-and-pepper pompadour and matching goatee, battered ear stud, and old-school, all-caps Gothic ink wrists to cuffs. The country-fried Stop Inn had seemed an odd and potentially dicey choice for Rey.I salvaged my fork from the biscuit gravy, wiped it and my Iphone clean, and, using the spare napkin...

17 likes 11 comments 11
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Nanite Heart

Submitted to Contest #303

THE CLAY HAD battled her for a long time. Eira twisted her misshapen fingers against the stubborn material, forcing it to yield as sweat beaded on her forehead. Pain radiated through her wrists—not just pain but humiliation, the kind that comes when your own body turns traitor. Her fingers, once precise instruments of creation, now twisted betrayers, arthritis gnawing at her joints like a sadistic parasite feeding on her talent.She paused, studying the half-formed figure emerging from the clay. Something remarkable lurked beneath her hands, ...

14 likes 6 comments 6
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The Bitter Alchemist

Submitted to Contest #303

The Bitter Alchemist Mira’s hands trembled as she poured the last of the crushed nightshade into the vial, the acrid scent stinging her nose. The apothecary’s shop was dim, lit only by a flickering oil lamp that cast jagged shadows across shelves of dusty jars. Outside, the village of Thornwick slept, unaware of the poison brewing in its heart. Mira’s heart, though—she swore it was still in the right place, even if her actions tonight would brand her a monster. She wasn’t always like this. Once, Mira had been Thornwick’s beloved healer, her ...

14 likes 9 comments 9
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Meeting in the Dark

M B

Submitted to Contest #303

Jaxxor the Jackrabbit screamed as the seemingly solid rock he was standing on suddenly gave out and he found himself hurtling into the darkness. The paladin let out a startled cry before he hit the ground with a thud, right on his rear. “Ooof!” he grunted, his whole body hurt, but he was pleasantly surprised to find the fall was shorter than he expected. He looked up towards the dim light of his companions' torches. “Jax?!” one of them called down, worry in his voice. “I’m alright!” the jackrabbit called up seeing the furry lagomorph faces ...

12 likes 4 comments 4
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The Highest Form

Submitted to Contest #303

Clara looked back out to the street. A few houses nearby still had lights on. She could see the silhouette of a man drinking out a mug in his kitchen, pacing around. It seemed like he had enough going on not to notice her. Besides, the porch light was off. No one could see her from that far.She looked to another window. A cat sat on the window sill, its eyes reflecting the moonlight. It could be staring right at her, Clara thought. She waved."Hi," she whispered to the darkness anxiously."Sabel, is that you?" a woman called out from the sidew...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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The Experience

Submitted to Contest #303

“Go! Gogogogogogogogo!”Fredrick sprang up, seized the side arm on the nightstand, and fired twice as his knee slammed into the ground. He heard the shots bite drywall, the retreating figure vanishing down the hall, and Fredrick dove over the bedframe in pursuit, his shoulder thudding into the doorway as another shot went wide.Footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Fredrick plowed into the landing, heart hammering as his left hand cupped the right. He sighted down the barrel, remembered to exhale, and emptied his clip into the human shape t...

11 likes 10 comments 10
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Soulless

Submitted to Contest #303

Warning: content includes sexual misconduct, violence, and gore.I lost my soul today.It was a gloomy morning. The clouds lingered low, obscuring the tall concrete building ahead. Stale air blasted from the AC above the office front door. My boots tracked dirt across the pristine floor, squishing with every step in an obnoxious squeal. I replaced them with uncomfortable pink high heels, stuffing the boots into the supply closet.No one else was in yet, which wasn’t unusual. Inadvertently I had become the designated employee to open and close t...

11 likes 4 comments 4
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The Serpent's Tears

Submitted to Contest #303

When I was younger, I was happy. How could I not be? I lived with my mother and my father, in our house beside the sea. During the day you could make friends with the sea life, laugh with the seagulls and play with the crabs. At night the ceaseless comforting sound of ocean waves would lull you to sleep. The only thing I wished for was my parents to be happy too. They thought I wouldn’t notice. That I was too young, that their yelling was somehow quiet enough. Yet even a complete stranger would notice the constant tension between them. It ...

11 likes 5 comments 5
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~ Dead Things, Conclusion ~

Submitted to Contest #303

~ Dead Things ~~ Conclusion ~ Nuuakhwahu, The Eagle squatted on the ridge of the roof watching the wooded boundary that surrounded the Hybrid Compound: the primary residence, the barn, the Common building and the six guest cottages. He smiled as his Tribesman Chevayo and The Wolf, seasoned and deadly Hopi Star Children checked their weapons and then disappeared, blending into the scenery. The Royal Drachonian Man-At-Arms, Julrex Zanreck Marius of the Remus Magnus Clan, or Will as he was known around the Compound, waited in front of the main ...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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The Girl Who Spoke Too Loud

Submitted to Contest #303

She first saw her reflection in the shimmer of an old shop window, a face full of angles and questions, framed by hair that wouldn’t sit still and eyes that refused to shut up. She was just sixteen then, carrying too many books and a dream that made adults smile with pity. "The industry eats girls like you," they said. But she knew better. Or thought she did.The audition wasn’t planned. It was a whim—a dare she muttered to herself between subway stops, pressed into strangers and neon buzz. She sang like it was the last honest thing left in t...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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The Nightgirl

Submitted to Contest #303

Trigger Warnings: Emotional trauma, dissociation, implied abuse.I do not know my name,I only know how to haunt my father's grave.I did not used to be the Nightgirl. I did not used to have a home.There were the four walls— wood— and when I inhaled, it touched my tongue,tasting of everything sweet and bitter.The inviting woods. But then, also a house. A confinement.Home would be happiness, I imagined.Maybe I saw it in a dream.I stepped into the next room, those walls engulfed me anew. Yet, still the same.I felt it, the slow thrum under my feet...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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A Killer's Therapy Session

Submitted to Contest #303

The office smelled like cedar and something expensive—floral, but restrained. Callan sat on a low couch that felt deliberately soft. It was meant to disarm him. Across from him, she sat in a leather chair, legs crossed, a pen resting on a legal pad she hadn’t touched.Dr. Leclerc. Fifties, early sixties. It was impossible to tell. Silver hair pulled back into a clean pony. Cheekbones sharp enough to wound. She wore a bone-colored silk blouse, minimal jewelry, no wedding ring. Everything about her was composed, curated. And striking. Not in a ...

9 likes 5 comments 5
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Ida

Submitted to Contest #303

Ida’s gaze shifted back and forth between Lyle and Willy. Her face paled and her eyes widened. “What did you say Willy?” Her voice squeaked out as if she were in pain. “I just told Lyle that our Ma’s granny was a slave.”“Why would you tell him something like that!?”“So, a lot of people have negro blood in them, you are as white as I am.” Lyle said, he looked confused.“But you don’t understand, blacks aren’t allowed to mix with whites, if we have any ancestors that were slaves we are considered black.”“But you look white, like your mom was ...

9 likes 7 comments 7
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