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Write about someone who books a bargain vacation, only to be told when they arrive that they need to share a hotel suite with a stranger.

Posted in Dramatic on May 19, 2021

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✍️ 148 stories

Fateful Vacation

Submitted to Contest #83

Dinner at the Essington-Smith house was always a time of conversation, whether about how the world works, politics, or funny things that happened in their day. Today the topic was how people’s parents met.               “Cassie’s parents met at a New Years eve party. It was love at first sight.” Sadie, the second oldest, said with a dreamy sigh. “Isn’t that so romantic?”               Alyssa, the oldest,...

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www.cheapandcheerful.ca

Submitted to Contest #83

Beep I flicked up the lid of my laptop, curious about the email.  Need some Vitamin D? Like to save cash? Do we have DEAL for you! www.cheapandcheerful.ca My fingers flew over the keyboard, tapping in impatience while the website loaded. My eyes drank in the tropical scene — white sand, swirling surf, blue skies to the horizon.  For the next 48-hours ONLY the DEAL you can't afford to miss. Call now, don't hesitate. All-inclusive — let us  surpass your expectations. 1-888-341-1199 Without my mind controlling my needs,...

14 likes 1 comment 1
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Paraíso do Sol

Submitted to Contest #83

I’ve barely written a page, so I decide to minimize my document and just peruse the internet for a while instead. It’s good to stimulate the mind to prevent writer’s block, you know. In fact? I’ll even make it a productive little break. I click my LinkedIn bookmark and do the normal LinkedIn things, like congratulating my third grade teacher on her new job as a fifth grade teacher and sharing Gianna’s post inviting the public to apply for her law firm’s entry-level receptionist positions. Between my job and freelancing whenever I can, I’m… m...

14 likes 8 comments 8
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No Vacancy

Submitted to Contest #83

My name is Annalise, and I am NOT happy. My manager told me I needed a vacation, needed a break. “You’re gonna work yourself to the bone, Annalise.” “You’re making yourself crazy, Annalise.” “You’re being a raging bitch and you need to relax, Annalise.” Bullshit, all of it. I was not relaxed. I was not enjoying myself. Sitting across from me on the opposite bed, however, my unsuspecting roommate had no idea she was currently the root of all my problems.  She didn’t look like the kind of person I’d get along with. Green workout leggings...

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Queen

Submitted to Contest #83

 “Thanks, Rose,” the words shiver down my tongue, like they never expected to come out.   My sister smiles at me. “Don’t thank me. It was nothing.”   You don’t know what you mean to me. You’ve taken care of me since you were old enough to walk, and you’re still taking care of me now.   “I’m going to miss my car,” I tell her. “And you...”   She laughs as I run out the door, waving. “Bye, queen!”   I don’t look back. I need this break. It will not start and end with me not being able to le...

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When the Plumbing Went Wrong

Submitted to Contest #83

“That’ll be fine,” said Naomi, when the smartly dressed young woman with the intimidatingly sincere smile on the Reception Desk at the Sea Breeze holiday village told her of the new arrangements. But she was barely out of the reception area with its tamed cacti and unnaturally glossy yucca plants when she thought. No. No it isn’t fine at all. Why did I say it? She knew why she had said it, and there was not one reason, but two, and they were intertwined and contradictory. Naomi had known what manuals written for counsellors call Challenging ...

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My Manuscripts

Submitted to Contest #83

Being an author is no easy task as much as I love writing and going through different plots in my head to find the best one to include in my story. People think that being an author is the easiest job in the world but in reality it is hard. No matter how much one like writing, if there is not a single person to read and comment on new chapters, it feels like failure. It feels like your writing is bad and that’s why no one wants to check it out. A book can either be a success or a failure. If one finds the right audience it can be a huge succ...

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One night only

Submitted to Contest #83

CW: mentions of abuse, substance abuse   At the thirty-minute mark, I grabbed the snack bag ziplock from the glovebox and dumped the eighth of mushrooms into my mouth. Their dryness and rubbery texture sucked the salvia from my cheeks and under-tongue so that I had to chew considerably more than I would have liked to. I had my eyes on the road, my hands gripped the steering wheel, but the sensory organ playing captain was my tongue. My taste buds acted like driver ants collecting each part of the mushrooms’ earthiness. A faintly fecal n...

12 likes 1 comment 1
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I am in trouble!

Submitted to Contest #83

I am in trouble! I am caught up with her in this unavoidable situation. Though she is calm, her dark eyes are scary as hell that she would burn me with her fiery sight! I must confront her with confidence and make her believe that it wasn’t intentional and I have no idea about this circumstance which is not pre planned.How am I supposed to do that when she is not even giving any reaction? She is sitting in that couch for an hour without moving like a statue with her eyes fixed firmly on me!I feel awkward to move around freely or to just sit ...

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The Netro Express

Submitted to Contest #83

The weather had become blistering since the beginning of July with the scorching sun illuminating the parched earth daily and persistently. Seldom had I left the accommodation of mine until being called upon to, occasionally by clients eager for vengeance and sometimes by victims of family conflicts. Yet, I accepted each case in willingness, initially, for the high payments, the profession offers and in recent years, for the sensation of thrill each death generates in my mind, akin to an addicting stimulation cocaine produces. Thus, I was...

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Jed Pee Nong Hotel

Submitted to Contest #83

“Jet Pee Nong, what the hell is that?” asked the walk-in customer. “That, my friend, is the name of a magnificent hotel in a brilliant resort, on the holiday you’ve been dreaming of,” answered the overly keen sales agent at Rickets Travel Bureau. “I noticed the ‘deal of a century’, you’ve been plugging on social media recently. Tell me more.” “You are in luck. We only had one spot available, and it had been booked,” said the young man with the bright yellow blazer with the over-sized letters, RTB, plastered over the breast pocket. B...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Alisa Hotel

Submitted to Contest #83

What have I done? I am to share a room with a woman I don't know? Reservation is possible online without credit card. I did act on that before I left my country to come to this one. Is this a cultural shock of a sort? Do I want to stick together with my own? Geb and I did meet at the airport but I felt the tense aura she exuded. That's why I didn't try to get to know her. She was with two men. True, coming close to professional athletes is my first time. Are they not supposed to relax? Why weren't they chatting? There was buzz going around a...

11 likes 7 comments 7
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Hawaiian Tease

Submitted to Contest #83

I lean back in my seat and close my eyes  hoping I'll be able to fall asleep with the noise of the plane engines blasting in my ears. I shouldn't have been on this flight in the first place. My neighbor, a 24 year old guy with a large beer belly from excessive partying all through college and a scraggly beard that grows out in all directions due to stress had bought the ticket for himself. He had spent the past three weeks bragging to anyone who would listen about the fact that he was going to visit Hawaii with his brother who had been ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Bargain Hunter

Submitted to Contest #83

It was three am. Another sleepless night in front of the television, the bluelight doing its best to lull me into a trance like state. I knew lying there, vulnerable to the persuasive infomercials was a bad idea, but I was at my wits end. It was as if my body only required 20 minutes of sleep, and my 20 minutes are long over. There was a shelf in my basement dedicated solely to all the As Seen On TV items I had purchased over the years from watching late night television. Yellow tinted glasses to help me see better at night, a portable sani...

10 likes 6 comments 6
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Roommate

Submitted to Contest #83

Roger plans to spend part of his two-week vacation on a four-day weekend, at a bargain price, stay at a tropical resort. Even with the cost of airfare, it would still be a bargain. It will also give him enough money to purchase tropical weather attire.            “Where are you going?” Mother asks.            Roger tells her.            “How will you get there?” Father asks. &nb...

9 likes 5 comments 5
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