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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

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 141 stories

“Wee German Lairdie” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #271

July 17th, 2092 (80 A.E.) Northern ScotlandIn the misty hills of Scotland, hundreds of corpses lay strewn across the blood-soaked earth, each bludgeoned or pierced by sword and spear. Their souls seem to linger in the air, awaiting their passage to the heavens. The faces of the fallen are etched with shock and fear. Scots lie among Anglo-Saxons, Germans, French, and Irish—all caught in the chaos of battle.The once-proud fields of heather, tall grass, and wild bushes are now stained red. A few stragglers remain, stumbling through the carnage,...

2 comments 2
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“The Horsemen ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #271

“Have we met before, sir?” Marsha asked the man sitting at the far side of the counter. Marsha was tending the counter of the general store, and felt a twinge of recognition when she looked at him. He was different to say the least. Marsha had the distinct impression that he was a sailor: Beneath his tricorn, his brown hair was tied back in a manner popular with seafarers, his skin tanned and weathered. He seemed to be still quite young but his blue eyes held an aged weariness. He wore a greatcoat, which would open on occasion, and Marsha’s ...

5 comments 5
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“The Library on Vine Street” by Abby Johnson

Submitted to Contest #271

I often find myself completely immersed in the pages of a book, a habit that has been a cornerstone of my life since childhood. From a young age, I discovered the transformative power of storytelling—each book a portal to another world, a refuge from the chaos that often surrounded me. My childhood was anything but serene; my home was marked by the constant clash of my parents' voices, filled with arguments that echoed through the walls like a never-ending storm. One parent struggled with alcohol, their laughter often replaced by silence and...

2 comments 2
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“Scent of Jasmine.” by Atan Solp

Submitted to Contest #271

“In the hour between the dog and the wolf,” when the streets were still light and the walls of the houses were already casting deep shadows, a white Ford pulled up to a small house on a dead-end street. At its front entrance, cordoned off with yellow tape with the menacing inscription “Police. Crime scene. Do not cross,” a police car was parked illuminating the facade of the building with red and blue flashing lights. A little further away were parked a fire truck and an ambulance. Firefighters and paramedics were bustling around.A man in a ...

2 comments 2
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“Sleep Paralysis” by Brian Callaghan

Submitted to Contest #271

‘Wake up, wake up,’ John Miller heard the psychologist attempt to pull him out of the dark in a dominating, yet cautious whisper.  Even if he had wanted to, John knew he wouldn’t budge a millimeter unless one counted muscles being drawn tighter and tighter as moving. He heard the doctor’s voice, he knew what it wanted of him, but he knew it could have been the voice of the ten to fifteen psychologists with whom he had met before and who all endured the same non-physical response. They had to accept: John Miller was frozen. He was frozen...

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“The Tree, The Time, The Nothingness” by Vasileios Kafanelis

Submitted to Contest #271

I have stood my ground from when the Argentheians placed me upon this earth, and I stood alone for many generations more. It was a fate’s bleak hand that planted me, and a man’s hand will be my undoing, any moment now. I await now, any moment. I thought there was no soil enough to satisfy their souls. But wait, I still stand, but not alone anymore, for another tree they planted next to me. And with time, I got to know a friend, or so I thought… A different me, how can this be? Any moment now, you will see.Time passed, and the different me st...

0 comments 0
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“Deanna Upended” by J Hublick

Submitted to Contest #271

The last time Deanna held a baby, she thought she was having an aneurysm. The pain in her head had been so severe, that she stumbled to the couch like a deer that had been shot with poor aim. She lowered the baby to the cushions to take her head in her hands instead, and she collapsed, incapacitated. Then the toddler waddled in looking for a snack. Before long, all three of them had joined together in a chorus of screaming distress. When the mother finally got home, Deanna couldn’t tell who was responsible for which fluids dripping into the ...

3 comments 3
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“Welcome to the Monster Matchmaking Agency” by C. K. Melon

Submitted to Contest #271

The town was coming alive as Jacob Scrub walked down an orange, sunlit street. The overhead lamps flickered on as he heard a police siren and several dogs barking in the distance. He turned off the main road, checking his watch as he followed the winding path into a nearby neighborhood. The time read 5:33pm. My ticket's for 5:45. I should be right on time.The leaves rustled passed in the cool autumn breeze as he found himself at the end of a one-way street. The quiet assortment of houses looked lifeless, many in complete disrepair.&nbsp...

1 comment 1
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“So We Meet Again” by Dahlia Z. Leblanc

Submitted to Contest #271

Her laughter was what I imagined life to sound like. I have always struggled to find a reason to go on but after meeting her, she became my anchor. My reason for living. My life. We often talked about the future and about raising children together. She wanted a little boy first, I wanted a girl but honestly, I couldn’t care less as long as they’d have her smile. The way her eyes almost disappeared because of her cheeks when she smiled yet the spark in them was visible still and brighter than the first star in the night. But just like the sta...

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“The Favour” by Fi Riley

Submitted to Contest #271

Dominic hated industry events. Actually, he loathed them. He preferred the word loathed. The way it sounded as it rolled around his mouth, taking form. Hate was so common. So abrupt and throwaway. Harsh and sudden, revealing an ugliness. Loathe was smoother. More sinister. It sounded soft, sumptuous, seductive even, despite its meaning. It suited him. He smiled to himself. Always tinkering with words. Always spotting the most creative angle to take. He was good at this. Hence, why they had asked him to attend tonight’s event. He loved the wo...

3 comments 3
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“Railway to Scotland” by Savannah Wagner

Submitted to Contest #271

"Dear Diary, the date is September the 1st of the year 1851. I finished reading Jane Eyre, and now I must complete my needlepoint—Uhhhh!” Clara Ashcombe threw her journal across the candelabra-lit room toward the wall, nearly knocking over her used tea set from the morning.“Mum would be furious if she saw you chipping the wall.”“I’m unwell, Sister.”“Clearly.” Her sister, Abigail, paused to temper her judgmental glance. She sensed the genuine pain in Clara’s eyes. “What troubles you, Clara, dear?”“My life. My older sisters have found husbands...

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“Split Infinity” by Jack Sanger - Author

Submitted to Contest #271

Split Infinity His mind was daydreaming about it as he drove his car towards the Lakes. It was a sort of poetic indulgence, applying the quantum world to the human.  The beauty of entanglement is that no matter where one person is, he or she is automatically connected with his or her soulmate, even if they are light years apart and are destined never to meet. And as one performs an act, then at the same moment the other does the same. They are interlocked for eternity, He reached the pub grounds in the Pennine village just as the even...

2 comments 2
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“LifeHack Inc.” by D Gorman

Submitted to Contest #271

[REALTIME: OCTOBER 4, 2024. NEW YORK, NY.]In seven years of working as a Dupe Curator for LifeHack, the world’s largest media marketing agency dealing exclusively in the alternate timeline clout chasing trend, I’ve never felt the need to freelance. I already make more than I’ll ever spend in the fleeting moments between work and sleep, but like most artists, I am a slave to my own ego. So when a woman calling herself Mrs. Marley requested an in-person meeting with the “genius behind Lily Prefontaine” to talk about a freelance job, I couldn’t...

1 comment 1
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“I Knew It!” by Dane Haylett

Submitted to Contest #271

I know I'm not crazy,This man on my left...I've seen him before. The city is huge so I see lots of people each and every day, but for some reason. His face seems so familiar. Should I ask if we've met? That would clear things up quickly wouldn't it, but what if he says we haven't even though I swear we have...Am I crazy?It has to be fate or something right? I mean we're the only two in the Roman history section of the library. I've never met anyone else who gives a crap about Roman history. Maybe I met him in college?No, he can't be, if his ...

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“Island Cruise By: Anika Gupta” by Anika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #271

As the cold ocean breeze hit my face, and as my hair rustled in the wind I saw the sun setting behind the ocean. “ Maya, come look at this!” I called out, and as soon as I said my six years old sister's name she came running out from her room, and jumped up and down trying to look over the railing of the cruise.   As I was grabbing a chair for Maya to stand on, she started to yell something about a big rock, and the cruise ship sinking because of it, and it sounded like the Titanic, but then when I came back to her she looked like she h...

1 comment 1
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Contest #271

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Ended on 23:59 - Oct 11, 2024 EST

Won by Kate Simkins 🏆

Title: The Bench

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