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Write about a character doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

Posted in Dramatic on Mar 28, 2025

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✍️ 84 stories

Mouths Full of Rain

Winner of Contest #296 🏆

I didn't mean to create a frog cult. I named the first one Cletus, after a guy my dad used to buy pills from. It felt right. Greasy name. Like something that would survive the apocalypse by crawling into the crawlspace and licking the mold off the copper pipes. Cletus stared at me through the glass like he knew I was broken. Like he approved. Dumpy tree frog. Litoria caerulea, if you’re trying to impress a vet tech. People call them “Dumpy” like that’s an insult. Like their weight’s a problem. These frogs don’t give a shit. They sag and spre...

97 likes 56 comments 56
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Three Wishes, Minus One

Submitted to Contest #296

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions; Lena’s was paved with three wishes, the last one granted on a rainy night when she thought she could save humanity.The rain fell in sheets across the windshield, each drop illuminated momentarily by the passing streetlights before being swept away. Lena’s eyes burned from twelve hours behind the wheel, her third consecutive day pulling a double shift. The Uber app chimed—another pickup.“Five more rides,” she whispered, massaging her temples where a headache bloomed like ink in water. “...

36 likes 17 comments 17
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Brown Eyes

Submitted to Contest #296

The ends justify the means, right? I mean, that’s what they say so it’s got to be true, right? So this should make me feel better, right? It’s for the best, right?So why does this still make me want to skin myself?“You know it has to be done,” Crystal says. She tries to sound firm and convinced as she hands me the charmed necklace but her trembling hands and Aiden’s grim expression give it away: they know as well as I do that this is wrong.“Kye would hate this,” I whisper, glancing at the heavy closed door leading downstairs where Kye sits l...

31 likes 35 comments 35
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Broken Oath

Submitted to Contest #296

Sir Leofwine Westbrook sat down at the table with his superior, to the ever so delicious meal of pottage. He wasn’t too hungry, nerves wrecked his stomach and he felt nauseous. It was a big day, some might argue that this was the biggest day of his life. Last time he was so nervous was the day of his official knighting, the day he became one of the King’s main soldiers, swore protect Him and the Kingdom with his life.But from this day he was to become even more. He would be taking the position of his boss and will become The Lord Commander o...

28 likes 12 comments 12
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Night Over Odessa

Submitted to Contest #296

"The sea whispers secrets to those who dare, but it keeps the cost for itself." — O.B.Ostap Bender squinted through the haze of cigarette smoke, the tang of salt and diesel thick in the humid air of Odessa's port. It was July 1927, and the Black Sea coast pulsed with life—dockworkers hauling crates, gulls screeching over the waves, and the murmur of illicit deals threading through the chaos.Ostap had drifted into town ten days ago, a lean figure in a threadbare jacket, chasing whispers of a Turkish gold shipment snared by Soviet customs. The...

27 likes 11 comments 11
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How to Kill Five Billion

Submitted to Contest #296

How to Kill Five BillionJanuary 1st, 2063 – 00:37 a.m. Genesis 3.0 LaboratoryNothing in the lab suggested the new year had arrived. The monitors were the only source of light, and instead of cheerful tunes, there was the steady hum of air filters above, like a great machine quietly breathing in the dark.In a pool of light at the far end of the room, a young woman in a white lab coat sat motionless. She stared at the screen, and if not for the subtle movement of her eyes across the data, one might have mistaken her for a mannequin.The data up...

24 likes 14 comments 14
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The Airplane Problem

Submitted to Contest #296

7:07 AMEthan’s fingers hovered over the radar screen, tracing two blips hurtling toward Logan’s single runway—Delta 722, an aging 737 with a catastrophic hydraulics leak, and KLM 143, a packed A380 crippled by an engine fire.The situation was simple: one plane would get the runway; the other would need to go down someplace else.Following landing protocol, the choice was clear: Delta 722 had entered Logan’s airspace seven seconds earlier than KLM 143. Ethan opened the comms.“Delta 722, Boston Tower. Cleared to land Runway 22L, wind 270 at–”An...

19 likes 10 comments 10
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All Things Considered

Submitted to Contest #296

Clark looked at his creased hands, surprised that the redness he saw on them vanished so quickly. Footsteps heading towards him brought his gaze up. “How are you doing?” He had answered that question more times than he could count in the last few hours. “All things considered, I’ve been better.” That always got the polite chuckle, a firm handshake, and a perfunctory hug or slap on the shoulder. At the moment, he couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t answering that question. The person in front of him moved away, and suddenly he recalled. H...

19 likes 6 comments 6
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Rubato

Submitted to Contest #296

CW: intimate partner violence.Twilight music streamed through the neighborhoods Alita walked. Short stretches of street were still life with manicured yards, birdsong, and distant traffic, followed by longer stretches where the houses sat close together and evening news from various sources competed for her attention. Then block after block of bikes overturned and strollers parked outside front doors. Parents yelling, kids screaming, dogs barking—the sounds of life flowed effortlessly, invitingly, leading her on.Alita’s favorite, though, was...

16 likes 10 comments 10
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Doing the Wrong Thing Right

Submitted to Contest #296

The town election for mayor was going to take place within a few days. Bill certainly knew who he was going to vote for. There was no doubt in his mind as to who that should be, and definitely who it should not be. He was driving to his best friend Bob’s house to help him with his election campaign, knowing that such help was very much what Bob would want. Bob had done so much for him in the past. He had assisted Bill in getting his first job, which had led him to the fine position he held now. Not only that, but he had introduced Bill to hi...

15 likes 0 comments 0
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Double Doors

Submitted to Contest #296

As I approach, my hands start to tremble and my feet grow heavier, my breath tightens as if anticipating the initial nosedive on a rollercoaster. That feeling of lightness, of being suspended in air. A flood of emotions as I see the brick sidewalk is still as cracked as I remember, and the plants near the doorway, still white, the smell still too-rich, floral cologne. I twist the purple bow wrapped around my wrist as I walk to the metal gate surrounding the porch. My parents must miss us as much as we miss them, if they keep this stuff lying...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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The Right To Die

Submitted to Contest #296

Dr. Linden’s hands shook slightly as she scrubbed them with soap. She counted a full two minutes, then turned off the tap, dried her hands and looked in the mirror above the sink.A light layer of makeup concealed the red splotches on her pale skin, but her eyes were still puffy. Steel blue, eyes that her interns would describe as intimidating, and were now rimmed with red, only brought down slightly with eye drops. She was a doctor, Dr. Linden reminded herself. It was her job to hold it together for the sake of her patient. Whatever she may ...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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Grave Secrets

Submitted to Contest #296

(Contains themes of dying) She lies on her left side, the skin of her right hip stretched over the protruding hip bone. Her legs are smaller than my 8-year-old’s. I touch her pale, clammy skin, feel the coolness, the lifelessness. I speak gently, just out of habit. The cloying antiseptic smell, with its undertones of earthiness, raw and slightly acidic, reveals the early stages of decay. “Hi, Annie. It’s Kerri. Another night together.” I brush her hair with my hand, away from her forehead, and tuck it behind her ears. When I finish, a clump ...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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STOLEN FOR GOOD

Submitted to Contest #296

STOLEN FOR GOOD I left Highway 89 to find a camp spot along a dirt road just a couple of miles east of the Paria River when it happened. I was driving toward the Kanab construction office to collect my pay for a week’s work in Page, Arizona. I was utterly exhausted. I couldn’t afford a motel, so I planned to sleep under the stars that night. It was Friday, early evening. There was still some daylight when I found a level area to park and set up camp. I needed to move some rocks to build a campfire. That’s when I saw it; a cowboy boot wi...

10 likes 3 comments 3
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Gone Missing....

Submitted to Contest #296

"Nothing lasts forever...." Davey muttered to himself, as his wife woke him from his noon codger kip. He was listening to the radio commentary about his useless football team. So far this season, his beloved boys had no sense of achieving any goals. Today, of all days, his team needed goals, Dave was having a rest easy day off in lieu of some overtime he had accomplished. "Dave! Get here right now!" His wife was menopausal, but that was now a politically incorrect misogynist thought. Dave heeded this command, always peaceful, while zipping ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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