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Write a story about someone searching for a missing ingredient, literally or metaphorically.

Posted in Dramatic on Sep 27, 2024

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✍️ 51 stories

Add Vodka to Taste

Winner of Contest #270 🏆

With the mission running long and no exfil in sight, there’s little for Valerian and Roman to do besides purchase too many groceries, hole up in the safehouse, and settle old bets. Val stands over the cracked electric stove, carefully stirring a pot of ukha. The delicate scent of herbs, spices, and freshwater fish spirals off the surface of the broth. It smells of home, and Val knows without looking that Roman is sprawled on the couch behind him. “Just be careful not to let the salmon overcook,” Roman calls out. What would be genuine advice ...

113 likes 48 comments 48
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The kid , gothel and the golden book of dreams

Submitted to Contest #270

Dedicated to my brother Santi and to all adult kids who lost hope and left their dreams in the land of dreams.There was a land in Trickily Boom,A magical place where the brooms swept the gloom.No Hogwarts here, no enchanted wood,Just a cabin so plain, yet strangely good.Wool on the walls, the floors, and the air,Everything simple, yet full of care.No grand adventure, no mystical tool,Just the coziest spot, where normal is cool.A pure-hearted kid with dreams in his mind,He wanted to be great, leave the rest behind.Maybe Messi, Ronaldo, or Cli...

64 likes 24 comments 24
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How to add spices to scrambled eggs

Submitted to Contest #270

How to add spices to scrambled eggs (The story is based on real events, but some facts have been invented for dramatic effect) He walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. After looking at the mirrored surface of the turquoise fridge, he tried to turn the porcupine on his head into a usual mop-top, but quickly gave up. His stomach was grumbling, demanding eggs with bacon and vegetables after last night's whisky, and as fat as possible. But his mind was elsewhere: he was trying not to forget the melody he had written in his sleep.  This...

37 likes 26 comments 26
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It Ain’t Just Potato Salad

Submitted to Contest #270

Arianna awoke about an hour before the alarm clock at her bedside had a chance to wail. She shut it off, no longer needing the buzzer. The dread that engulfed her the previous evening almost choked her now. She swallowed hard, and climbed out of bed. Moving robotically, she showered and dressed before heading down to the kitchen.It was impossible to avoid – the cause of all her angst. Still sitting on the table, the envelope addressed to her was disfigured with the words “FINAL NOTICE” in large red letters. She had i...

32 likes 21 comments 21
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REINCARNATION

Submitted to Contest #270

Aisle four of my local grocery store was the least likely place for a flashback but it happened just the same. While I browsed the colorful shelved foods and sundries, my motorized cart, with all its bells and whistles, died. Confident my doting daughter, Elizabeth, shopping somewhere in the store, would eventually come looking for me, I’d no choice but to wait.A kind, young man stopped and asked if I needed assistance, but I reassured him I was fine. Apparently, noticing my POW hat, he respectfully saluted me. “Thank you for your service, s...

24 likes 12 comments 12
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The Ku'u Up

Submitted to Contest #270

“Curses!” I swore as I slapped another mosquito out of existence. “There will be none of me left!”My porter, Calixo, said nothing. He didn’t want to be here.“Come on, my man! It’s been days and you haven’t spoken a word! I know you can understand me.”Calixo made the sign of the cross and spat on the ground. Not speaking, per se, but interaction at least.“It’s just a legend, Calixo. There’s nothing to be scared of,” I said, as I navigated the tree roots and fallen branches of the jungle floor.Calixo stopped walking, abruptly, and threw my pac...

22 likes 6 comments 6
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Much to Talk…

Submitted to Contest #270

Bianca got her boyfriend, Geoff’s text at work. ‘Meet at Manson’s, 6pm. Much to talk.’Manson’s, the most expensive restaurant in town, was pronounced ‘Mansion’s.’ So people wouldn’t think Charlie owned it? Or an added gloss of pretension? No matter. It was a favorite of Bianca’s.Either formal or glib, Geoff could be such a mystery. ‘Much to talk?’ Had some jock set a homerun record? Or had Existentialism found proof of Nihilism’s emptiness?Guys can be so casual. They’d gladly know you biblically before bothering with your pedigree or even yo...

20 likes 8 comments 8
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"The Quest for the Yeti tooth" by Kelsey Donaldson

Submitted to Contest #270

(Content such as "Blood" and Weapons")Dalia dashed through the shadowy woods, a pack of ferocious SmogHags hot on her trail. These Goblin-like beasts, were not to be underestimated. She took a chance, darting down a narrow path, hoping it would be too tight for the SmogHags to navigate. Her gamble paid off when she saw the creatures wedged between the boulders, a triumphant grin spreading across her face. She would've tried to shoot them with her bow, but she knew it was useless; their hide was thick; she swiftly found another path and circl...

19 likes 4 comments 4
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More Child Than Man, More Drone Than Robot

Submitted to Contest #270

An orange flame reflects in Ross Remington’s protective goggles as he solders the wires connecting the AI’s head to its torso. Noticing the beads of sweat forming on Ross’s forehead, Ruth says, “I’ll take over,” grabbing the soldering gun from her husband’s hand. Rex, their previous attempt at creating a sentient being, leans over the operating table. “Stand back, Rex. I don’t want a spark to hit you,” Ruth says. “When you caught fire, it nearly destroyed you. So, remember, ‘fire bad.’” “I don’t think he gets the Frankenstein reference,” Ros...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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Ground Beef

Submitted to Contest #270

When I come through the door, Amy is laying on the couch, the news lighting up the living room, weeping into one of Jason's shirts.I do my best to ignore her, ignore the grief welling in my own throat, and head to the kitchen. I reach in my bag as I start to lay out all the ingredients that I brought. I glance up at the television, Jason's missing person picture and information flashes across the screen. Amy lets out a strangled cry.Frustration bubbles up in my chest. If she would just put in an effort to find him, he was her son after all.I...

17 likes 18 comments 18
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The Love Impulse

Submitted to Contest #270

"Miss, we don't serve his kind in this bar." The bartender looked at Susan, not at me, just twitched his head sideways in my general direction, then pointed at the sign: 'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service ... oh, and No Synths Served'."He doesn't drink," Susan said. "Doesn't eat either. He's an older model. Huxley's been my brother's companion since Alex was a young boy, and that was a long, long, long time ago. Huxley's just here to guard me, keep me out of trouble, aren't you, Huxley?""That is correct," I said to the bartender, who still didn...

17 likes 5 comments 5
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Not by the Recipe

Submitted to Contest #270

"Double-check if you have the recipe," Master said as I was heading out. I paused, took it from my bag, and waved it with a smile. "Don’t worry, Master. Even if I forget it, it's all up here." I tapped my temple. As soon as I left, Mrs. Winfield greeted me with a nervous grin, pressing three silver coins into my hand. “For you,” she said.I quickly declined, knowing these coins meant a lot to her. But she insisted, “Young man, I know my life may not be worth much, but my grandson, due next spring, certainly is. Your master's prescription call...

15 likes 8 comments 8
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Essence

Submitted to Contest #270

The night before, Tom had spent the evening at the pub with his friends. When Helen walked in, he was sulking, and he didn’t even notice her. He had just been beaten at tetherball by Bunting’s son, the one with the scruffy cap and long beard.He, the ladies’ man, with his tight white jacket and confident smile.She, on the other hand, with her red pants, mascara, and daring neckline, certainly didn’t look like a schoolgirl in trouble. In fact, as expected, she stole the show.All she was missing were fishnet stockings and black lace; she had ev...

15 likes 1 comment 1
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The Taste of Resilience

Submitted to Contest #270

Pilar has been absent-mindedly mixing the paella, and the familiar motions are a small comfort in her current tumultuous life. Her friends loved her paella and made every excuse for her to cook it. Pilar, being a true Spaniard, of course, accommodated them, after the necessary pleading…. The recipe has been running in the family for generations, mouth to mouth, never written down, as if the secret needed to be safeguarded. Pilar had the recipe passed down by her grandmother, Dolores, who did not trust her own daughter's cooking skills and sk...

14 likes 4 comments 4
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The Tree

Submitted to Contest #270

The TreeBy Kenneth Poirier There was a man once, not so much a lonely man as his life was fairly fufilling. Just a man like any other man, honest, trustworthy and sincere. He wanted so badly to have a big, beautiful tree in his backyard like all his neighbors. He dreamed of a huge tree with majestic branches reaching high into the sky, and dazzling green foliage. He knew exactly what kind of tree he wanted. When he walked into the nursery to find the perfect tree he saw it right away. He knew almost instantly that this tree would be the per...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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