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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about two characters whose paths briefly cross, but are actually going in opposite directions — whether literally or figuratively.

Posted in Dramatic on Jan 27, 2023

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 93 stories

“Rain Girl” by Elisabeth Bridges

Submitted to Contest #183

Sometimes, during these quiet days that hesitate between spring and summer, I still think of him, and wonder what would have happened if I’d stayed. Our first meeting was like something out of a movie; one of those improbable flickers of magic that remind us why life is worth living. It happened at that hour when the street lights have come to life, but the reflected sunset means it can’t properly be called dark. We were standing at a bus stop when the sky burst open in one of those sudden showers that come without warning in the autumn. S...

4 comments 4
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“The Conspiracy ” by Cody Reed

Submitted to Contest #183

 Why did it have to be today? I know Colorado’s weather is unpredictable, and it’s January, but things were fine yesterday. A warm 64 degrees with no storm in sight, and today I look at my phone and there it is. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY snow fall and low visibility in affect until 12 am midnight. Great. And where am I headed now? To the airport to catch a flight I have been planning on taking for months now.I arrive at Denver International Airport or DIA with plenty of time to get through TSA security, and cram in my lines for my up...

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“When we met again ” by Eva Milana

Submitted to Contest #183

When I imagined reconnecting with my father, I had different scenarios each time. In some, I'd run up to him and squeeze him with a giant hug, ignoring the large gap of time between us. In others, I'd hold myself at a polite distance, briefly nodding a hello before walking away, carrying on with my life.  All these years, I imagined how it would be, and the kinds of things we would talk about. If we'd laugh together and be happy again. Would he regret what he's done? Would I find the courage to forgive him?  And finally, would ...

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“Don't Shoot the Messenger” by Jesse Upchurch

Submitted to Contest #183

Content Warning: Physical violence, gore or abuse; Suicide or self harm Bernice could not hold in her excitement. Her shift only had a few minutes left. She could see her relief, Alex, outside smoking a cigarette. She stared past him, to the cars lining up on the highway. She might be a few minutes late, but she was finally going to meet Danny, the boy she had been talking to on Tinder for the last few weeks. What would his voice sound like? Would he look like his picture? What would he smell like? “E...

3 comments 3
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“Arrivals and Departures” by Edel McCarthy

Submitted to Contest #183

                                        Arrivals and Departures The sound of sirens was distant. Smoke billowed, thick and dense. Amid the chaos and screaming, Tess knew she was okay. She just knew it. Someone somewhere was watching over her. Within seconds of crossing the road to join the queue for taxis caught up in rush hour traffic, the glas...

4 comments 4
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“Let's Pretend We're Lovers” by Ella D'Andreano

Submitted to Contest #183

“I love you,” Allison Carter said to the girl holding a knife to her neck in the gray alleys of the subway station. Underneath the sun, the towering buildings and the gleam off the windows in the reflection of Allison’s sunglasses, there was the caricature of what she thought New York was like. People bellowed on their phones, paced past her without looking up, shouted in the corners, talked to the wall, and fell asleep on the floor.  Every time while getting on the subway, ready to act confident and careless like she’s done this her e...

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“Oscar and Fred” by Cynthia Hoskin

Submitted to Contest #183

Oscar and Fred“What is this place?” the old man muttered while dangling his legs over a solid-seeming cloud. He looked around. There were hundreds of similar billows wafting around him. As far as he could see, he was the only living creature. At least he thought he was living, but he had no recollection of arriving.Intermittent breezes felt soft as they lifted a few strands of white hair on the top of his head. Soon he detected flutes piping somewhere far off.“Well, this isn’t so bad,” he whispered as he leaned back into the gentle...

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“The Honorable Battle of the Barbarians” by Raeleigh Wilkinson

Submitted to Contest #183

Everard raced through the dense forest, his armor clanking loud enough for both armies to hear. He paused for a moment, raising his hands as far above his head as his bulky shoulder plates would allow, catching his breath. His metal chest plate gleamed in the dappled sunlight. A twig snapped. Everard spun toward the sound, the arrow leaving his bow before the foe could step fully into the clearing. He fell with a garbled “for king and country…”  Everard snorted. “The wrong king and country. Obviously.”  Everard reassessed his ar...

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“The Layover” by Erin Keagan

Submitted to Contest #183

Subzero temperatures had transformed the torrential rainfall into tiny beads of ice. The sound reminded her of rice being poured onto a hardwood floor. She shuttered as she remembered a man she dated briefly years ago that was into some pretty sexually deviant stuff, least of all masturbating while watching her kneel naked on kernels of rice. The lengths she used to go.    Next to her non-alcoholic beer her cell phone buzzed and lit up with yet another text message from the airline apologizing for the delay. Her flight would start...

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“Earl” by Jen Mackenzie

Submitted to Contest #183

New York was a different kind of hell during August. That sticky heat still lingered from the summer months, preying on those who dared use public transport or run for a cab. No one understood this better than Earl.Earl was a 68-year-old cab driver in New York City. He had experienced thirty eight Augusts in this career, and it never got any easier. The unbearable heat mixed with the complaining, odorous passengers – hell.He liked his job, though, which is why he had stayed so long. There were highs and lows of course, but at the very l...

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“Dancing to Barry White” by Sharon Farnsworth

Submitted to Contest #183

DANCING TO BARRY WHITE 1976 – One week after the Ali-Norton fight. It was one of those small neighborhood bars in Boston's South End. Seedy part of town. Inside was dark, back-lit bar, TV on the wall, neon liquor signs for decoration, a rack of nuts and chips on the far end by the ladies room. Older than dirt and only frequented by locals. So when the two walked in, everyone who could still see straight turned their head.  Interest in the women was obvious. They took immediate command of the room as they sauntered down the ba...

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“Solana and Solanum” by Laura Magee

Submitted to Contest #183

Curg Ridel was not a town in which Solana had ever imagined she would take up residence. The gnome town was bustling for nearly twenty-four hours, with a slight lull for maybe a couple of hours on the dark side of the morning, with emphasis on ‘slight’. At half past noon, nearly all residents, even those who had sung away the later hours of the night were up and about. Those just waking were starting out for breakfast at one of the myriad inns, diners, or streetside vendors. Others, who had the sense to have slept when sensible people slept ...

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“Each Way the Wind Blows” by J K Sylvester

Submitted to Contest #183

The brown, large-billed bird was feeding on this morning of cruising across the shoreline, stretching his giant wingspan and decidedly displaying his dominance amongst the other shorebirds on the ground. He was a predator. He was no scavenger. He was majestic and seemed to react to the stares of importance he felt from other creatures in his environment amid the crashing waves and tides. He held his head and neck high and his keen eyes on the water where his superb eyesight provided a deep look into the mix of sediment and salty currents, al...

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“Who Would Dare Suppose?” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #183

Content warning: WWII concentration camp settingThe light of the sun is fading, much like the strength of the prisoners in striped trousers, shirts, and caps. Since the morning roll call, they have stood at attention as the July sun blazed down on them. Movement, even to sit, would be rewarded with the crack of a gun and the thud of a falling body. Many collapsed anyways from dehydration, starvation, and fatigue. Though beaten and kicked, they were unable to rise, and were dragged to the back of the standing ranks to be piled on top of one a...

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“Port Triton” by Anise Kaljmyer

Submitted to Contest #183

We're almost there. We're really almost there. Purple-fuchsia-brown has told us it's time to decelerate the ship and observe our landing spot from orbit. I know there is still much to do before we land, and it will be even longer before we leave the landing spot and make the journey to Earth. But I'm still excited. We are still closer to Earth than any of us have been for 65 million years.***"Test complete. All systems working."I let out my breath and straighten up. My back is tired from hours spent hunched over the valves, making sure nothi...

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Contest #183

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This week's theme: Opposite Day

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Ended on 23:59 - Feb 03, 2023 EST

Won by Laurel Hanson 🏆

Title: Of Harpers and Heroes

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