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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that includes the line “Have we met before?”

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 141 stories

““What happens when you get to the end of things?”” by John K Danenbarger

Submitted to Contest #271

1.     The Hotel Room at the ArtisanEmma was in the bathroom, meticulously applying her makeup. "I'm curious, David. How many people do you know that are going to be there?" she asked.David had been breathing in the feeling of the understated luxury of their hotel room at The Artisan. He supposed he should feel guilty that she had paid for the room, but she had offered, or rather insisted, after he had suggested a less expensive inn further away from the auction.He leaned against the door frame, his eyes now followin...

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“Day Jar View” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #271

Monday’s were an increasing struggle. They shouldn’t have been, and they hadn’t been for an age. Eons in fact. Time was of no consequence to him. The consequences of time were applied to those he encountered. In fact, he was surrounded by time. Even when he went home. Home. Since when had the space he occupied become home? He stroked his nicely named horse on the head as he led him from the stables. Binky snorted affectionate approval.  I KNOW, said death to his steed, WE’RE BOTH GETTING A BIT OLD FOR THIS. Death missed the curious look...

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“The Sun Continues to Shine” by Kate Bondy

Submitted to Contest #271

This is a story about my father who has passed away years ago.I remember when I heard you were gone. The leaves continued to rustle and the wind continued to blow, as if the world had not done a thing to save you.Just like the poem you wrote, remember? The bird that you shot and regretted it, then the sun continued to shine?I remember your smile and your eyes that sparkled like a seraphim and glowed like the everlasting moon.I remember you telling me: Of course I won't leave. But when that epiphany came true, I was left with nothing but memo...

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“We Hunt By The Light Of The Moon” by Thomas Wetzel

Submitted to Contest #271

I was born in a small district in the northern outskirts of Constantinople in 1901, the son of a foreign diplomat. Growing up I sincerely believed that my father was a well-placed and influential man but as I came of age I understood that he was merely a common civil servant who frequently traveled to places that were generally not as exotic nor as significant as I thought, and he primarily did so to attend to the needs of his superiors. Still, I was always excited when I was invited to accompany him on the occasions when he traveled to plac...

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“Pillars of Love. ” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #271

Xavier was sitting next to his wife, wondering if he was merely going through the motions. His wife, Sheree, had her arms folded, she and her mother had virtually never stopped nagging him. Finally, he had agreed to attend this latest trend of relationship counselling, very reluctantly. He stared at the door of the counselor's office, still bemused about whether he had ever known what a real relationship was, if he had really had one.Xavier had a cute wife, but he felt that she had trapped him into a marriage of convenience, that he had sold...

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“Masquerade ” by Suzanne Jennifer

Submitted to Contest #271

“Masks on, girls.” Corrine said to the small group of women she had brought to the grand hall in the Lotte New York Palace. “It’s twenty after seven. Let the evening begin.”Corrine watched her employees file out of the Women’s Lounge with a scrutinizing eye. “Remember,” she advised, “spread out and mingle. Work it. We got this.”A pep talk with encouraging words lit a spark. Through the propped open double doors, one by one the girls, dressed in slinky, form fitting dresses of varied color and length, sashayed, each scoping the sparse crowd o...

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“Pancakes for Supper” by Aaron Morgan

Submitted to Contest #271

It began with the distinct sensation that there was a spider in my shirt.I was getting up from the kitchen table and I felt its legs scurrying up the bare skin on my back.I panicked. Ignoring the strange looks from my wife and two daughters, I sprinted to the living room and pulled off my shirt, squeezing and pinching the fabric as I pulled it over my head, hoping that I wouldn't inadvertently transfer the little devil to my face.I turned my shirt inside out. I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Nothing. I s...

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“We Have Something in Common” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #271

Two young men in their late twenties, George and Frank have just been hired by a large company which sells seeds. They both are working in the warehouse engaged in labour that requires a lot of heavy lifting bags of seed on their part. The two of them were already fairly strong, one reason why they were hired. At first they didn’t talk much to each other, they just quietly did their work, speaking only when they needed some help from the other.  That started to change when George made a sarcastic remark about the for...

2 comments 2
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“Rubber Band Rings” by Samantha Mrazek

Submitted to Contest #271

They knew they were lucky to find a love such as this. One beginning in preschool; hand-holding and kisses on cheeks, crayon-drawn love confessions, and weddings at recess. The rubber bands they’d fashioned into rings didn’t leave their fingers, not for any reason. He was her prince, even though she insisted she needed no man, even at the measly age of three. He was shy and quiet; she was loud and social. She dragged him into the school yard to play (despite his pleas not to) while he took up hours of her time showing all of his books (despi...

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“Missing You” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #271

My grandfather has been missing for three weeks. We reported it to the authorities but they have shown no interest. The police didn’t seem to care at all. Unofficially they told us that they did not bother with anyone who had gone missing who was over 75 and my grandfather was now 82. They advised us to put messages on Facebook almost as if we were looking for a missing dog.Our society now seems to think that anybody of that age has outlived their useful purpose and is costing the state money rather than contributing to the wealth of the nat...

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“The home I found in your eyes” by Selen Cakmak

Submitted to Contest #271

The park was quiet and serene. It was bathed in the gentle light of the early morning sun peeking through the clouds. The rhythmic crunch of gravel beneath my shoes soothed me, while the trees whispered softly in the gentle breeze. It was half past five in the morning, and I was walking home as the day slowly dawned. Life has come to standstill, and I felt like the only person alive. With every step, I feel the morning chill seeping into my soul. I love the early hours of the morning, even though I oft...

2 comments 2
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“Ignorance is Bliss” by Abigail Dotzler

Submitted to Contest #271

TW: contains violence, blood, self-harm, and suicide I wiped my brow and replaced my hat. Prompting my horse forward, I surveyed the field ahead of me. More than an acre still, and no time to lose. My wife worked steadily, moving row by row, planting each seed with care in the ground I tilled. This went faster when both my children helped. I sighed, missing my son and my daughter something fierce. I even missed that girl my son had brought home. Any help, really, would have been treasured.  We planted corn, and I aimed to make a profit...

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“Snowy Echoes” by Saoud Akram

Submitted to Contest #271

Snow fell in thick, oppressive layers over the Swiss Alps, smothering the world in a silence so deep it felt as if the mountains themselves had drawn in a long, cold breath, and would never let it out. From my office at EPFL, I pressed my hand against the icy windowpane, the cold creeping through my skin. My breath fogged the glass, narrowing my view until all I could see was a vast whiteness. The world was vanishing beneath the storm, roads erased under waves of snow, twisting away, hidden beneath nature’s relentless, indifferent weight. Bu...

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“How I Met the Devil” by A. S. Valen

Submitted to Contest #271

On New Year’s Eve, I sold my soul to the devil.Although it felt silly, I must admit, but he did look devilishly good. Dressed to the nines, with an expensive watch to match the silver buckle on the belt, he adjusted his stylish glasses as he appeared from behind me and instantly fit into the crowd. In his hand, adorned with simple white gold rings, he held a champagne glass, which he didn’t hesitate to clink against mine. The glasses made a faint ringing sound, the rosé crémant splashed against the sides, and I looked the devil straight in t...

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“Recapitulation” by Caroline Ray

Submitted to Contest #271

The familiar, yet just-beyond-memory, scent of lilacs drew me out of my daydream. How long have I been resting? Before my gaze can lift to find the perfume’s source, my body demands my attention. My knees creak; a sign of sitting here longer than I would have liked. I look around expecting to see a woman but there’s no other soul in this car as it rattles along its tracks. As more of me is drawn back into reality, the smell of lilacs is quickly replaced with the casual hints of eggs and bacon. I look at my watch hopefully. Damn. I missed bre...

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Contest #271

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Ended on 23:59 - Oct 11, 2024 EST

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Title: The Bench

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