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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that hides something from the reader until the end.

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 18, 2024

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 116 stories

“Snuffer” by Greg Benson

Submitted to Contest #273

Larry brought his dog to the coffee shop again. I didn’t want to raise a fuss. But then again, what if I’d brought Tippy? Tippy doesn’t like other dogs. Bares her little teeth and lunges at them. We could have gotten us all thrown out of there.  Larry’s dog, Effie, sat right on the table next to his coffee cup, and ate right off his pastry plate. I couldn’t look. Instead, I looked toward the manager, a young fella addicted to his phone. Never even glanced our way; meanwhile, Effie is filling up on bread and custard and god knows what el...

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“What Became of Louisa Millingford” by Duncan Sheppard

Submitted to Contest #273

Dougles and Rosey Millingford, an academic couple who live in a cottage on the edge of the south downs in Sussex have always been very keen for their three children to go to university since they were toddlers.  Their daughter Louisa did not make it to university as she was a slow learner, did not do well at school and was completely ignored by her parents.  They almost disowned the poor girl as well as looking down on her.  Instead of going to university, Louisa worked ways of making a living from home, but that still did not...

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“ Beneath the Spanish Sun ” by Will Bashor

Submitted to Contest #273

The plane’s engines hummed as Logan gazed out the window, watching the rolling waves of the ocean beneath him as the sun set. He’d never been to Europe before, never even thought of Spain until he met Guy. Even in the confined space of the airplane, Logan could already imagine the golden rays of June and the smell of suntan lotion as he lay on the beach. His heart fluttered with a mix of anticipation and anxiety. It could be the adventure of his life. Guy. Just the thought of him sent a rush of warmth through Logan. They had met online right...

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“Coming Home” by Jane Cantor

Submitted to Contest #273

Early Spring on the hillside. No gambolling lambs and nodding daffodils here: the bitter aftermath of winter had not fully let go its hold, and only the lower, sheltered fields of the scattered farms were occupied. Two people, oblivious to the chill, high on the lookout point, alone with their thoughts. The rocky outcrop flared green-red and purple-grey as the sun flickered through the racing clouds. The howling wind whipped her long red-gold hair into cruel cat-o'-nine-tails, stinging her face and blocking her view. She lifted an absent-min...

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“Winter” by Rebecca Martinez

Submitted to Contest #273

Vienna sat on the creaking swing set, waiting for him and tracing her cold fingers numbly on the rust that smelled like blood. As she looked around, the sunset-colored leaves that fell on the pavement were the only glimpse of color on this bleak, lifeless autumn afternoon. Winter was creeping into the year, once more, like an unwanted guest.  She feared winter the way little kids feared the dark. It was a pulsing, throbbing remainder of the way time passed mercilessly and waited for no one. She realized time felt like a race, she had to...

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“The Art of Saying Goodbye” by Sunanna Bhasin

Submitted to Contest #273

My mother and I liked taking long walks once a week. It wasn’t really for exercise. We loved them because you could chat endlessly about private matters all while enjoying the natural suburban beauty that couldn’t be found in the city. These walks were especially stunning mid-Autumn, the time between being surrounded by pure green foliage and completely bare trees. I wasn’t sure if she would be up for walking with me this particular Sunday because it was my grandmother’s first death anniversary. Still, I figured I’d give my mom a call and se...

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“Replica Boy” by Jack Sanger - Author

Submitted to Contest #273

Replica Boy When my parents died, one shortly after the other, in the early 1990s, I was fifty three years old and pretty content with my life up to then. They’d retired after selling their string of pharmacies so, as sole beneficiary to their wealth, I doubled the already sizable fortune I had accrued from my writing. After the second funeral I had the family accountant sort out the house and effects as I'd been too busy with the deadline for a film script to take time off. He was to collect and file all the documentation he might find, f...

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“For Companionship, Perhaps” by Cicada Gerdes

Submitted to Contest #273

You meet her in her garden, surrounded by brambles and thicket. The flowers have long since died, but the blooms stubbornly cling to their branches. A thick silence shrouds this world, one where the only life is you and her.Your breath is shallow, your legs collapsed under you from the strain of being prey. She finds you, a warm hand grazing your cheek."Hello, poor traveler. You may believe yourself dead, but your body persists. Allow me to tend to these wounds and perhaps your will as well."You find yourself in a glass conservatory, where t...

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“The Mermaid's Wedding ” by Rosa Arlotto

Submitted to Contest #273

The Mermaid’s Wedding When Jeanine was a little girl she would dress up as a mermaid and marry her prince at sea.Her adoptive parents had her dream come true.  Steve, her father, the smart accountant that he is had made a few lucky investments and made a bundle and now he and his wife Patti could afford a cruise wedding and were now completing their daughter’s fairytale.  Patti has said to Jeanine:” You don’t marry a person, you marry a family” and so she had invited  and paid for their entire family and a few ...

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“One Of Them Is My Daughter” by S Nicole Langley

Submitted to Contest #273

For almost two years my family and I have anticipated this day, unable to ban the circumstances from our hearts and minds as much as we so badly wish that we could. Two people: the victim who was assaulted, and the one who committed the assault. One of them has been out (of jail) on bail for 21 months, and today, in just a few short hours, a sentence will be handed down by a judge. Why do I even care? Because one of them is my daughter.  I worry about her quite often, and this situation has not made it any better. Yesterday evening...

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“Yellow” by Christee Fontanez

Submitted to Contest #273

Allison steps out of her house and smiles at the crispness of the late morning air. Her brown hair pulled back with a navy scrunchy. Red lipstick and a pair of chunky, white headphones that blue tooth to her phone. It’s her favorite time of year. Fall in the Appalachians is the best place in the world to live. Chilly days with the full sun shining on her face. She likes to think it’s her mother looking down on her from Heaven.She’s headed to the Apple Harvest Fall Festival in a nearby town; the one her mother used to take her to when she was...

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“The Watchers of Bitterwind Road” by Vera N

Submitted to Contest #273

The narrow road wound through trees so thick that they blotted out the sky, casting everything in shadows. Seren Hartley gripped the steering wheel tightly as her car bumped along the uneven asphalt, the silence of the forest around her thick and oppressive. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard, 4:45 p.m. It would be dark soon. "How much farther?" she muttered, her eyes flicking to the GPS. The destination marker pulsed on the screen—Bitterwind Road, less than two miles ahead.  The invitation had arrived unexpectedly in her mailbox...

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“Worth a Gamble” by WRL Battle

Submitted to Contest #273

Five-hundred-thousand dollars. Five-thousand Benjamins stacked on top of each other, cramped into one black, leather suitcase. The bartender doesn’t look that impressed. I know walking around with that amount of cash with me is asking for trouble, but this is a classy establishment. No matter where I look there are at least two security officers within view, and everyone knows there are cameras everywhere. I would like to see someone try and snatch this suitcase away. I think the bartender didn’t hear me. Why else didn’t ...

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“and i felt the universe tilt” by Susie Phelps

Submitted to Contest #273

WARNING: This story contains hints of alcoholism and death. Take care. IN OUR WORLD OR ANOTHER, either ages ago or centuries in the future, a place on the other side of Earth or a place not so far from your own, time paused.In a small, quiet town, there was a boy sitting on the steps outside the library. Snow was falling, or maybe it was the frozen tears of the gods.The boy was reading a book.His ice-blue eyes moved across the page, his pale lips mouthing each word as he read.I stood across the street under a tree, watching him.I didn’t know...

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“Dreams That Fade” by John Britto

Submitted to Contest #273

Dreams That Fade In The Kitchen: Wednesday, September 19, 2023, Ames, Iowa, 8:26 AM Sitting at the kitchen table, Rachel Weber cradled her warm coffee cup with both hands, painfully aware she had mere minutes before leaving for work. The apartment was quiet—except for the soft hum of the electric clock above the refrigerator. She glanced out the window above the sink trying to gauge the early fall weather. The phone rang, shattering her rare solitude. She stood to answer the phone hanging of the wall and felt the chill as she walked past the...

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Contest #273

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