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Write a story with a character or the narrator saying “I remember…”

Posted in Dramatic on Jan 10, 2025

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✍️ 162 stories

Discarded Skins

Submitted to Contest #285

CN This story contains vivid descriptions of physical and emotional distress, including unsettling body imagery, self-inflicted harm, and themes of identity and transformation. Reader discretion is advised.*******I remember finding the first one in my closet.I was grabbing a shirt, already late for work, when my hand brushed against it. Warm, rubbery, and yielding in a way that made my stomach churn. I yanked my hand back and stared at the thing draped across the hangers—a limp, hollow version of me, sagging—the husk of discarded scrap. Its ...

47 likes 52 comments 52
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Ancient Villages Beneath the Waves - Voyages of the Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #285

The story of the submerged village under the sea was in the journals from the 1800s found in the lighthouse keeper's house in the attic.The first page of one of the journals began, “Journal Entry 78 - I, Anya, the Storyteller of the Blue Lantern, am writing this beneath the towering sails of the clipper ship Destiny’s Dreams. We are anchored off the coast of what they call California near a large bay. The events I describe are real.”A flat rock rested near the journal that showed a carving of a small boy playing with a dog. A dusty lantern w...

38 likes 24 comments 24
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Grey Matters

Submitted to Contest #285

Two pairs of eyes fixed on each other, neither blinking. One set, bright and blue, are full of life. Those eyes stare purposefully. The other set, not quite so bright or blue, are hollow and drawn and stare without choice.“Robert, what are you doing?” The familiar voice shatters the silence and ends the match in a draw.“I don’t know Grandma,” Robert answers as he attaches himself to the old woman’s leg. "I was outside raking leaves, and I saw Grandpa in the window. He seemed to be staring at me, so I came inside to see what he wanted.”“...

38 likes 21 comments 21
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Hamster Owl

Submitted to Contest #285

Trigger Warning: Crime scene, murder, suggestion of sexual violence.Douglas hadn’t felt his stomach stir on the job for years, not since he was green out of the academy. Something about the blood spatter against the kid’s toys though. It had sent his head spinning, dizziness threatening to undermine his hard-won reputation. The bright, dancing geometric shapes that adorned the red-stained sheets and curtains were not helping matters. Thankfully, the girl’s body had already been removed. He averted his gaze to the ceiling and traced the lines...

37 likes 21 comments 21
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The Longest Day of the Year

Shortlisted for Contest #285 ⭐️

 The freckles on my shoulders were prominent, and the sunburn on his nose had started to peel over. It was a warm evening in June on the longest day of the year, and it felt like it would never end. The birds chirped as the sun poured down on a tiny playground we inhabited. On the outside, we had been kissed by summer just as we had been for the last 12 years. In truth, we’d spent the better half of the day at the courthouse across the street giving it all up. As we sat on the swing set, it was impossible not to feel the oldest I ever h...

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The Uprising

Submitted to Contest #285

Hi. My name is Pete and I’m a squirrel! I’m one of those gray squirrels (we’re actually golden brown, but that’s what you idiots labeled our species for some inexplicable reason) and I live across the street from you over there in the park. You’ve probably seen me and my friends before. We are always out and about. You probably think we are cute, but trust me, we hate you. You suck.I remember when you guys had that whole beautiful, wonderful “COVID-19 Pandemic” thing a few years back. That was the best! Most brilliant idea you guys ever had....

33 likes 48 comments 48
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Death Becomes Him

Submitted to Contest #285

Death Becomes Him - Flash FictionCaution: This story is about the effect on a child after her parents' breakup.After a leisurely breakfast, Lynley finished reading the Daily Times but returned to the Births and Deaths column—hatches and dispatches, as she often called them. Did she know anyone who had died recently? One name stood out: Eric Peterson.She could never forget him, but who else would remember? A list of Asian names followed, and then the names of his four children. Four first names only. Of course. Everyone would assume they had ...

28 likes 32 comments 32
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Moving Mudball Mashes Mind

Submitted to Contest #285

In an age when kids played outside, no, more than that, practically lived outside, and imagination was the only toy most kids had or could afford, a friendly gang of boys, who have been friends for most of their lives, stumbled on a mystery that started with a thrown mud ball. Since the gang ate, slept, and breathed Dick Tracy comic books, Jack, the oldest of the bunch, took the case in hand. It would be a difficult challenge to find the hitman, not because of a lack of evidence but because of the overwhelming amount of evidence. Every ...

27 likes 23 comments 23
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The Final Upload: A Tale of Courage and Sacrifice

Submitted to Contest #285

The air was thick with tension inside the hidden safehouse. Abby, Marsha, Jacob, and Daniel sat around a dimly lit table; their faces illuminated by the glow of a laptop screen. The sound of distant gunfire and sirens had become a grim background symphony in their lives. “I remember when all of this was different,” Abby said softly, her voice breaking the heavy silence. She glanced at Marsha, who nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” Marsha added. “I remember when we were filming makeup tutorials and fashion hauls without a care in the world. It feel...

27 likes 20 comments 20
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It's just the beginning it's not the end

Submitted to Contest #285

It’s amazing, isn’t it? The power of music. It can take you back to an exact place, feeling, situation in a second. And that’s exactly what this song did:I thought that we would just be friends (Oh yeah)Things will never be the same againIt's just the beginning it's not the end (We've only just begun)Things will never be the same againThings will never be the same again, Melanie C, northern star album, 1999I remember sitting in the front of Dad’s burgundy volvo driving the 250 miles from North Cornwall to Gatwick Airport at a ridiculously ea...

26 likes 13 comments 13
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The Ticket Stub

Submitted to Contest #285

I found the ticket stub as I was cleaning out the junk drawer in my nightstand. The words, “Jones Beach Theater” were faded, but still readable on the back of the yellowed stub. A smile crept across my face.“Well, how long have you been hiding here?” I said aloud. My mind drifted to an earlier time in my life, when I lived in New York. “The Jones Beach Theater…”Jones Beach is a barrier island off the coast of Long Island, near where I grew up. When I was young, the outdoor marine theater used to have summer shows - mostly musicals....

26 likes 18 comments 18
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The Edge of the World

Submitted to Contest #285

I remember sitting in an office in 2003, surrounded by colleagues, when a tune came unbidden into my head. I don’t know why I love you but I do … We weren’t hooked up to the internet then. In fact, we were still getting our wages in cash, delicious brown envelopes delivered to our desks each Thursday afternoon.I asked around the office: ‘Who sang that song?’ - and although everyone knew it, no one could name the performer. I went to the pub after work, asked around there, and it was the same story. A familiar tune, but no clue.A couple of da...

24 likes 18 comments 18
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Snowballs, Clown Cakes, And Boots With Buckles

Submitted to Contest #285

Snowballs, Clown Cakes, And Boots With Buckles“I hope we never lose some of the things of the past.”                                                                          &nb...

21 likes 8 comments 8
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Just As I Am

Submitted to Contest #285

I left my tiny room, the television noise from the hallway too much to bear. I went to the courtyard, where three old picnic tables stood amidst a garden of weeds. The old folks from the retirement home sat there, smoking their cigarettes. The yard was surrounded by windows, each one a cold, unblinking eye. Inside the rooms, the dying lay. The air was heavy with the scent of sickness and despair. Another Sunday. Maybe the family would come by after church, to do their duty and keep their guilt at bay. I'd been taken from my home, surrounded...

21 likes 12 comments 12
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Sleep Whispers 'Come'

Submitted to Contest #285

Now I can't return to the patio bar. I can't remember the way. Perhaps I want it too much.He leaned in. His body. Bergamot and citrus. His muskiness. A curl falling before my eye, a knuckle pressing upon my temple. Studied grace. Sleep whispered, ‘come.’ Coruscating tikis. His stubbled jaw, now a hooded eye. Moistening breath warm on my neck, bittersweet. A smoldering cigarette. A Sazerac melting the rocks in a low ball on a high top. I rise from bed. Pink slippers, slightly soiled, spilled coffee. Taking up my fraying shawl, quiet...

19 likes 11 comments 11
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