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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a character who finds guidance in an unlikely place.

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 27, 2023

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 81 stories

“The Skin They Were In...” by Elizabeth Wagenaar

Submitted to Contest #222

Elsbeth had it all – at least the kids from Central Square, South Carolina, thought so. After someone in that seedy neighborhood of Charleston targeted Elsbeth’s thick, brown pate using a slingshot and an unopened canned Fresca, her driver was forbidden to take her anywhere near that part of town. The vivid scar on her right temple continuously reminded the family matriarch to warn the girl about that target on her back. Rich white girls are easy pickings in that neck of the woods. Her ‘Civics Research Projects’ needed to be chosen with...

3 comments 3
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“The Trajectory of an Advice” by Shahzad Ahmad

Submitted to Contest #222

The movie ambled into a relatively crowded compartment of the imagination of the fragmented community that functioned as my adopted home. It lingered there for a while before ferociously charging towards the outstretched arms of eavesdroppers or random individuals on the grape vine; acting pretty much as self crafted post cards seeking immediate attention! I seek apology of the contemporary hi-tech generation since the mention of post cards amidst the electronic invasion is just like writing with chalk on a smart board! I was acting as ...

2 comments 2
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“The murderer at Bethany” by Herman Labuschagne

Submitted to Contest #222

The few remaining patrons looked up with alarm when he appeared. Everybody knew trouble when they saw it. And although nobody had seen his face before, they knew his kind.From the kitchen she surveyed him with squinting eyes. A largeish woman, somewhere near middle age, looking as if she once might have been almost pretty. A matronly figure, visibly secure about herself and her establishment.The girl who helped her seemed relieved when the older woman beckoned with a quick sideward motion of the head that she could go. The startled young ser...

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“Like a Silver Shell” by Lisa Papademetriou

Submitted to Contest #222

Laid out below her, the silver city shimmered like a mirage. In the distance, it looked clean and bright, reminding Linette of a large, smooth shell that had sat on her grandmother’s shelf when she was young. The creamy dome curled into a hollow interior of iridescent silver. Linette imagined the swooping lines of the gleaming city at night, aglow with lights. It amazed her to think that human minds had, long ago, imagined tall buildings and parks, homes and business centers, and had laid the groundwork that had made this beautiful city—her ...

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“The Power of Innocence and Truth” by Jennifer Stowell

Submitted to Contest #222

The cool, crisp autumn air seems to be swirling all around with leaves of red, orange and yellow encircling Tom as he is walking down Main Street in Higby Harbor. Ordinarily, a walk like this would invigorate him and open his mind to creative inspiration to fill him with excitement and motivation. Today, however, the coolness and light wind are only reminding Tom that three months have passed since he handed in his resignation and halted his steady, well-paying job as an electrical engineer. Having smartly saved the last few years, living...

2 comments 2
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“A Stop on the Way” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #222

A Stop On The WayThe heat of month of June bore down on Harry Wilson, as he got out of his beat up 76 Ford and walked up the hill on Rosewood Lane to meet his next prospective customer, doing his best to remain positive about it in spite of the sweat pouring down his back.Shaking his head as he paused in his walk, to reposition his briefcase,Harry recalled a conversation that he had with his grandfather one week l before he left for college. He met with him that day at the old house and found him sitting in the darkened dining room...

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“Life Line” by R.J. Edward

Submitted to Contest #222

A cemetery is a boring place if you don't know where to look. I'm lucky enough to live here and know all the hot spots. Considering this has been my home for over 300 years now. Every night, all the residents gather together and tell stories of when we were all alive. Yes. I'm a ghost. We all are. I tragically died saving another life. Good for me, right? I will save that for later, though. A stranger came by yesterday. He didn't say a word. He just walked on in, uninvited. Would you believe it? He had on a long black coat and a scarf wrappe...

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“Sea of Discovery” by Iris Diaz

Submitted to Contest #222

“Claire, please go down below. The winds are picking up,” Matt said, as he pulled the hood of his blue parka over his brown wind-tossed hair. Despite his attempt at a calm tone, there was a measure of forcefulness behind his words and an unmistakable fear in his sea-blue eyes. “Matt, should I be concerned?” Claire asked as she grabbed a hold of the rocking boat’s handrails to keep herself steady. A wisp of her long blonde hair blew into her face and he fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear. The earlier soft waves and picturesque sky ...

2 comments 2
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“Snowy” by Scott Taylor

Submitted to Contest #222

“Tony, one more screw-up, and you’re fired!” Tony didn’t make eye contact with his boss. Her instructions were ambiguous, but he had learned not to question her. “Yes, ma’am.” Laura was hard to get along with. While everyone knew it, they still wanted to work for that company. Only after Laura repeatedly rebuked them did they finally decide to leave and find a new company to work for. “What did she fuss at you about this time?” Sarah asked. Tony glanced at Sarah before lamenting. “I missed the ‘mind reader’ part in the job descripti...

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“I Hear The Voice But Cannot See The Face” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #222

The wooden seat felt cold beneath my layered-up bottom. Icy wind blew my already messy hair around and I pulled my half coat tighter around my chest. My hands were freezing and looking a tinge blue so I put them in the pockets of my jacket while glancing around at the almost empty park. My eyes travelled down towards the ground and I noticed that my shoes were beginning to come apart at the toe so I made a mental note to stick the sole to the bottom of my shoe when I arrived home. ‘I’m not sure if I should just buy a new pair’ I thought ‘th...

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“The Fist Fight” by Nick Baldino

Submitted to Contest #222

No one heard the commotion behind McLintock’s tonight. There wasn’t much to see- two drunk guys getting into it over nickel bets at the pool table. One was a heavyset townie. Probably construction, maybe firefighting. Smalltown pride with nothing to lose. The other was me, Bruce Villard. If they had known it’d turn into murder, then maybe there would have been a crowd. But who could have expected that? It was a one-in-a-million punch, a knockout clip that brought his head against the asphalt like those carny sledgehammers. I hear the wind ...

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“Beloved” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #222

Long ago and far away, in the city of Chicago, two small dogs were found in the street and taken to a shelter. They were covered in scars, and some people said it was likely they had been used in dogfighting, maybe as bait dogs. The two pups, a male and a female, were named Nick and Nack. There was something about Nack that everyone noticed: she was so lovable. When she timed out at the first shelter she was kept at, the staff didn’t want to put her down, so they sent her to a second shelter. (What happened to her brother Nick, I’m...

3 comments 3
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“Sweet as Molasses” by Olivia Lake

Submitted to Contest #222

Grandma June was the one who told me about the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. “There was a huge tank of molasses that sat outside,” she began, scooping molasses out of a jar with a measuring spoon. “Well, the tank was shoddily made, and the temperature that day climbed and climbed and climbed. And what happens to my cookies when they get hot in the oven?” “They spread!” I cried. She beamed at me and nodded. “That’s right! You combine weak construction with expanding molasses, and you get…” She flipped the spoon over and slammed it again...

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“A HILL O' BEANS” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #222

A HILL O’ BEANS Born and raised in Pennsylvania, when I was 14 years of age, my life crumbled when my parents were killed in an automobile accident and, for two weeks, I was placed in the local orphanage while attempts were made to contact those that were tenuously related in the hope that one of them would take me in as one of their family.Though grieving, I understood, vaguely, that two families had come forward: a couple from New York who had one child, a girl around my age, and another from Tennessee who had a grown up son; both related ...

2 comments 2
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“Monarch in the Garden” by William Richards

Submitted to Contest #222

Beth sat on the wooden garden bench in the sunshine. A British summer’s day. One of the few months of warmth, between the grey and dreary times.She felt lonely, she realised, despite the glorious day, despite the glorious bird chatter, despite the pleasing wafts of chrysanthemum, and despite the soothing sound of the fountain. To appease the loneliness, she fed the birds.From the bench, she scattered bird food in the grass, and watched the sparrows make reckless lunges and hop off proudly with morsels of food. She loved to feed the birds, ev...

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