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Center your story around something that’s hidden.

Posted in Dramatic on Sep 19, 2025

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✍️ 39 stories

The Amber Culling

Submitted to Contest #321

Pastor Billy "Salvation" Sweetwater had fallen further than Lucifer himself, and that was saying something, considering Lucifer never had to shovel goat shit at six in the morning.The rusted Cadillac wheezed to a stop outside Sunshine Acres Petting Zoo, chrome bumper held on by duct tape and divine intervention. Billy adjusted his tie in the rearview mirror, the silk now frayed at the edges from too many repo men grabbing it. His phone screen showed zero missed calls. The faithful had moved on faster than rats from a sinking ship.Two hundred...

33 likes 31 comments 31
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The Negative Space

Submitted to Contest #321

My mother collected light for a living, but she never shone any on me. In her darkroom, tucked behind jars of ferricyanide, was a box of negatives marked with her severe script: 'DO NOT DEVELOP.' I cut the string, ready to finally see the darkness she'd hidden. The chemical smell hit me first. Stop bath and fixer, developer and hypo. Scents that belonged to Dorian Vanderman, not to me. I was forty years old and still felt like a trespasser in this sacred space. The red safelight cast everything in blood. Awards lined the shelves like tombsto...

22 likes 14 comments 14
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The President's Teeth

Submitted to Contest #321

CW: Human trafficking Agent J — case handler of the dead, the dirty, and the gone — noticed as he began reviewing photos of the women in the newest folder atop his desk that, well, his teeth started making noises, broadcasting voices and whirring sounds. “That’s odd,” J thought, opening and closing his mouth. For the first time in years, before him was a case where maybe nobody died, disappeared. And it all felt wrong. He was good at his job. His stomach never churned at images of decaying corpses found up in the hills or along river banks,...

16 likes 4 comments 4
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Hidden

Submitted to Contest #321

The boy, Ax, had been prepared, from infancy, for leadership, the wise holder of secret knowledge. Each morning, his tutors, Brothers Ka and Mer, reminded him his future held great promise.Now, twelve years old, Ax understood little of what awaited him. They assured him, “In the future, you’ll understand more than we can say. You are chosen. We humbly serve you by pointing out the right direction.” The brothers never used the word ‘hope’ with Ax. They didn’t want doubt to creep in, but for Ax to be sure.Surrendered to them by his mother when...

12 likes 6 comments 6
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The Two Shades

Submitted to Contest #321

The battle of Ambershale is over, and now the chaos begins. The men in my spear-line break rank as the enemy's horns signal retreat. I don’t bother ordering them back. Our victory is a crushing one, and the soldiers are ravenous. They hunt the fleeing enemy to feed the thrills of war a little longer, before the pain of our losses sets in. With sword and spear held high, the men rush forth to the village, and I run against them, back to the hill where fighting was the fiercest. I don’t seek thrills or spoils. I'm looking for my brother. Today...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Two Lives

Submitted to Contest #321

My mom died twice when she was giving birth to me. That's never something that you expect your mother to say, especially not something for her to stay so humble about. I feel like if that happened to me, my children would never hear the end of the miracle it was, that me and them were both alive. But she never told me that, not once. Not in the 17 years I’ve been alive. I had a terrible childhood, from my perspective. The feelings associated with memories, no matter how they might have influenced who I am today, never leave. But I can never ...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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Time for a Break, I Think

Submitted to Contest #321

“Okay, I think those are good levels,” Dr. Lynxala - a Patheurian - said as he double-checked his spreadsheet.Wormholes were the ultimate workaround for the pesky speed of light barrier and Dr. Lynxala was studying them. He was the head of the Blackdeep research facility: a place so secret that even the admiralty of the Alliance of Planets was unaware of its existence.Dr. Lynxala’s long, furry tail wrapped around his left leg, as it always did during these tests. One wrong number and the anti-protons that power the generator could either col...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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The Linen Closet

Submitted to Contest #321

For six months, the door had been haunting David’s dreams.It wasn’t a monstrous door. It didn’t drip blood or whisper warnings. It was, in all its remembered detail, painfully ordinary: white paint, chipped near the brass knob, located in the upstairs hallway of the house he’d grown up in. The second of four identical doors. But in his dreams, it was always locked. And behind it, he knew with a certainty that survived the waking world, was something vital. Something he’d lost.This certainty became an obsession, a low-grade fever that blurred...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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Run From

Submitted to Contest #321

Ever since Kenny was young, he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. Growing up he saw his father fade in and out of his life and his mother try and pick up the slack, becoming exhausted. This left young Kenny still struggling with the loss of his brother just a few years prior, still burning his mind. Quiet, nerdy, and not very outgoing, he started smoking and going for adventures through the galaxy of Weidustu. He wanted to be rich, not very exciting, hearing many times that “if only I were rich” conversation between adults. It was so...

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The In-N-Out Between Worlds

Submitted to Contest #321

The desert never really sleeps. It hums. A low, static buzz beneath the stars, the kind of noise you only notice when everything else stops. Out here, just past midnight on the I-15, even the billboards look like they’re dreaming. She keeps one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around a gas station iced tea that’s mostly melted now—watered down and over-sweet, like everything else that used to mean something. The air conditioner gave up around Victorville, so she’s got the windows down. Desert wind slips in like a ghost and sticks to h...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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The Hedgewalker

Submitted to Contest #321

Aletris had heard whispers of a small town to the south, a place said to welcome those with certain gifts. Each day in her hometown had become fraught with suspicion. Despite her best efforts to help with births, prevent unwanted pregnancies, and tend the frail, suspicion dogged her every step. Some women averted their eyes when she entered town; men sneered with open hostility.After weeks of gnawing unease, Aletris packed her few precious belongings, tucking her most prized herbs and notes into a leather satchel. She boarded a wooden ship ...

9 likes 3 comments 3
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Fertiliser

Submitted to Contest #321

“Conrad! Conrad, dear, come and have a look for yourself!”My wife’s voice reaches me as I push the patio door open with my shoulder, precariously balancing a tray of lemonade glasses in my shaking hands.I pause and glance for a moment at the amusing sight she makes, a plump figure squatting down on the grass, her face partially shadowed by the ridiculous large-brimmed straw hat I insisted on placing over her white curls earlier that morning.She turns and stares at me. “Don’t you think they’re simply marvellous?” she gasps, her eyes two glitt...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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treasures within

Submitted to Contest #321

On my global adventures, I discovered an adorable inn in a secluded village where I decided to stay for a few days. This charming establishment, nestled between verdant hills and ancient trees, offered a unique blend of rustic elegance and modern comforts. The inn’s architecture reflected the local traditions, with hand-carved wooden beams and elegantly patterned textiles that celebrated the region's heritage. The warmth of the hospitality was incredible; attentive staff provided personalized service while sharing fascinating insights into ...

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Trespasser

Submitted to Contest #321

Someone was in Cassius’s cottage. He stood frozen amid the soft snowfall as he tracked how the prints emerged from the far side of the forest, wandered through the clearing, and eventually ended at Cassius’s front door. The marks couldn’t have been made very long ago. The snow only began to fa when Cassius shot the buck slung over his shoulder. Its body was still warm. “Being retired used to mean something.” He growled. He slid the deer off his broad shoulder and into the snow with a grunt. “The audacity.” Th...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Out of the Woods

Submitted to Contest #321

Out of the WoodsMy father loved adventure. My mother loved the idea of it. I—well, I existed somewhere between, mostly invisible in their curated chaos, living in a prison gilded in gold. At ten, I was officially the guide for their latest obsession: Paradise Lost, a luxury forest retreat where guests could “experience the wild, authentically,” as long as it looked good on social media.The public was too blind to see the secrets and manipulation festering behind closed doors.I was draped in a cloak stitched from moss, pine needles, and feath...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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