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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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✍️ 113 stories

“A life completely unexpected ” by David Nutt

Submitted to Contest #273

A life completely unexpected The hedgerows and fields were a seductive green with the occasional bended heads of the wheat fields as I looked out of the train window trundling its way North. I had been away for four years living with a group of aboriginals people south of Ayers Rock, not far from Alice Springs. It delighted me to see the English countryside livestock, enjoying the lush spring grass. They seemed docile and tranquil, so different, from the scorched barren lands of central Australia inhabited by wild animals.I was going ho...

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“In the Park” by Jane Davidson

Submitted to Contest #273

The park was beautiful. A bright green, grassy expanse sloped gently down to a stand of trees and then to a lake. There were two pathways winding through the landscape, and water fountains on both of them. There were benches and picnic tables, with a few people sitting at them while others wandered around, taking in the sights and scents of the area. Everyone seemed relaxed. Bella and Malcolm walked along side by side, but she knew he was really coming here because she liked it. He would sit and work while she enjoyed the park and made frien...

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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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“Blackout” by Joseph Murray

Submitted to Contest #273

BlackoutI am lost in my own thoughts again. I blink my eyes rapidly as my focus returns. Was I daydreaming?Yellow road lines travel down the center of the dark red convertible I’m driving. I guide the car back into the right lane. Luckily, there is no oncoming traffic on this two lane road. As far as I can see, there is nothing at all out here. No other cars, no foliage, just a whole bunch of yellow desert and blue sky. The only thing breaking up the unending flatness is a brownish landmass in the far distance…Is that a butte or a mesa…...

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“Love in Greek” by Travis Brown

Submitted to Contest #273

Sunlight streamed into the large university lecture hall, illuminating suspended dust particles in the still air. Philosophical Studies Professor Kelly Bloomfield stood with spirited passion. Her striking beauty and youthful energy contrasted sharply with the seasoned wisdom in her words.Under the glowing vintage chalkboard, her chalk screeched as she wrote the day’s big question: “What is love?” Setting it down, she turned to her students with eager eyes. “Do I have anyone bold enough to answer this universally complex question?” Silence fo...

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“The Last Heist” by Winnie Yu

Submitted to Contest #273

10 minutes until I noticed. Sloppy. It was a Wednesday. An ordinary day. It was particularly grey and overcast, with straggly clouds looming above, looking like they had their own agenda. It seemed that the sun had given up and gone home for the day, despite it being rather early in the morning.  Walking down Jefferson Street in Carlsbad, California, it wouldn’t have been easy to see somebody tailing you. They could have easily been another member of the crowd, rushing to meet family or friends, or trying to get to work on time. However...

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“Paradise Beach” by Dave Weeks

Submitted to Contest #273

Paradise BeachThe BeachRachel Grace sipped the last of her margarita and set the empty glass on the small table nestled into the sand next to her chase lounge. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the salt air, and then let out a long, satisfied sigh as she opened her eyes to look again at the sun that was now dipping close to the horizon’s edge. Rachel, in her mid-forties, had the body of a woman well-versed in yoga and palates. She wore a simple, modest one-piece bathing suit that still managed to draw Jarod’s eye along the cur...

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“Storage” by Jonah Buck

Submitted to Contest #273

Derek first became aware that there might be trouble tonight when the enormous man with pages from the Bible duct-taped to his body armor stuck a rifle barrel under Derek’s nose. The man appeared from the nighttime shadows and poked the weapon through the security hut’s open window. “Where is it?” The man’s English was heavily accented with some Eastern European dialect. “Whoa, hey, whoa, I’m not looking for any trouble.” Derek instinctively jerked back and tried to stand up and back away. The cheap plastic lawn chair in the security hut to...

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“The Curtains Weren’t Right” by David Inkling

Submitted to Contest #273

Now, I will admit, it was the disarray in the curtains that had upset me most. I am writing this for you so you understand, since you have asked so many questions, some difficult questions persist, festering like truth, like a piece of meat caught between your teeth. I will speak about it no more. I cannot speak about it, as you know. I decided to see the walls as red. I imagine them in my mind. I cannot not see in this mask anyway. It is easier in the end to see what I want to see. And there is something calming and satisfying about a roo...

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“Not for a Minute” by Marilyn Jones

Submitted to Contest #273

Sundays in November tended to draw very unlikely characters to area churches in town. Congregants were quick to welcome all, for tis the season to give and be generous. Food drives abounded. The little churches in town were no different. On Tuesdays, the Methodist church provided a hot meal. On Thursdays, the Baptist church provided one as well. Sundays nearly every little church served lunch following the morning sermon. It was no surprise when visitors stayed. The generosity of the older members was exceptional. Having lived through the Gr...

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“You Can't Tell A Book By Its Cover” by Elaine Monaghan

Submitted to Contest #273

Wanting something or working towards a goal is expected, in fact, it’s what keeps most of us grounded. They say opposites attract. However, I don’t entirely believe that to be true. Sometimes, people are attracted to one another, due to having that same energy that gets things done. That was the case for Sean and Sue who met in high school. He excelled in sports as she did in many academic clubs. She ran for class president and won in a landslide. It was the first time a girl had succeeded in that endeavor for their school.After college, the...

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“Hohenheim Hauntings: Explained” by D. Rohan Rowal

Submitted to Contest #273

Trigger Warning: Mental Health, Self-harm, Gore Ethan von Hohemheim has been a subject of several news articles and conspiracy theories in the past decade. In particular, the circumstances of his death and the surrounding events has been a constant point of interest for the paranormal activity community.  Ethan was born the sole heir of Greggery von Hohenheim, the custodian of the Hohenheim estate. From a young age, Ethan showed a great deal of interest in creative pursuits. He moved out of the estate when he was 18 years old in order t...

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“Release” by V. Bowman

Submitted to Contest #273

Mister Livingston was knocking on the thick bulletproof window. He was screaming in the sounds of a wounded animal, as his throat was partially flooded by tears. His legs were shaking, and the whole of his body was galvanized. Yet nobody even bothered to reply to him, in these dirty concrete walls, poorly decorated with a heavy automatic metal door, a disproportional dispense, and the silent window.Nobody except for the intercom – a tiny patch of yellowish white machinery with a tiny red lamp in the top right and a few slits, serving as a sp...

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“How to Take a Picture of a Sad Queen of Spades” by Barbora Jiřincová

Submitted to Contest #273

He took the camera and clicked the shutter just as the swans took to the sky. It was a dreary winter day. It's a winter's day, the kind of winter where toes freeze, but the landscape lacks a comforting blanket of snow. The Vltava flowed no slower than on hot summer days. Swans and ducks flocked to the shore, where tourists and natives scattered crumpled bread across the water's surface for the birds to eat, utterly oblivious that the breadcrumbs poisoned those water birds.The photographer had had enough of ducks, geese, and swans; enough of ...

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“The Man in the Entrance ” by Marlee Seamann

Submitted to Contest #273

The elevator doors slowly screech open, empty. I quickly walked inside before the door closed behind me, a few others following suit. The small light above the door lit up as it closed ever so slowly. A man near the front pressed the close button in quick succession. The door wasn’t going to close any faster, I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth closed, suffering the obnoxious clicking noise in silence.  The door finally closed, and I already wished it hadn’t. The walls were pale brown, faded at the edges. The singular light bulb stuck ...

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Contest #273

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This week's theme: Locked Away

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Ended on 23:59 - Oct 25, 2024 EST

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Title: Venus Buried

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