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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone who is convinced they’re going to be betrayed.

Posted in Dramatic on Mar 8, 2024

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 55 stories

“Let's Steal A Deal” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #241

“He’s gonna take the deal. I just know it.” “Then, beat him to it, Tom, old chap.” “I can’t betray him.” “Oh, so you want to be the fall guy, do you?” “No! I just can’t do it!” “Tom, it’s pretty simple, dear boy. If Eric here takes the deal, then… you go for curtain number two or three. Or you take the deal and leave his fate in his own hands.” “Can I just have a little more time to decide?” “Certainly… Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls watching at home. Will Eric take the deal of a cruising lifetime, or will it be curtains for Tom? We’l...

27 comments 27
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“Caesar Calls CMXI” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #241

Hello? Is this 911? I’m sorry, I’ve never phoned before as we don’t have phones in Ancient Rome. A friendly time traveler handed me this device right before we imprisoned him for being an evil magician. I had no idea that if you pressed certain numbers you could talk to people. I just spent twenty minutes talking to somebody named Russell from a place called…Louisville? I have no idea who Louis is or why they named a place after him, but Russell is really having a tough time in his marriage. I suggested that he accuse his wife of being a sor...

31 comments 31
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“Not Worthless, Nor Forgotten” by J. D. Lair

Submitted to Contest #241

A stern-looking woman came to our house today with some policemen. She is in a pinstriped long skirt, a white top with frills, and black heels. Her silver hoop earrings reflect the sunlight and make my eyes water. Being the eldest of three boys, I am striving to be strong after the policemen took away Mama. Hanson is holding little Charlie on the brown futon across the room and they are both weeping. It is clear Charlie has wet himself.“It’s Luke, correct?” Pinstripe addressed him while staring down at some paperwork. “Luke Reid, age 12. Tho...

37 comments 37
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“Dark Paranoia” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #241

      In a small studio apartment on the fourth floor, a cynical young man scratches indifferently at an early birthday present. The man’s name is Aaron Newman, a man whom life treats without deference, honor, or success; waiters bring him cold burgers, and gas station clerks shut doors in his face. On this day before his birthday, he is given a lottery scratch-off that will change not only the way he views the world but everyone in it.           Aaron scrat...

7 comments 7
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“Archangel” by Jessie Laverton

Submitted to Contest #241

Leah lay next to Raph, her back pressed against his naked belly. His arm sprawled on top of the quilt. She pulled it underneath and guided his hand, holding it with her own so that it cupped her breast. But when she let her hand fall, so did his, limp, uninterested. Her breathing quickened then, and a tightness took hold of her chest and throat.Her thoughts began to dart back and forth between the past and the future. She thought of the not-so-distant past, when his hands used to travel over her skin as if they had hundreds of little eyes al...

18 comments 18
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“March of Time” by Tammy Green

Submitted to Contest #241

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 1987 Dear Diary, I stepped off the plane in my light wash jeans, white cotton peasant blouse, matching Levi jacket, and a pair of Cherokee wedges. I was just 21 and was wearing what I thought was the height of fashion. I had left Seattle on a typically cold, wet March morning, having no idea of the weather difference this far south. I realized I was overdressed. My linen skirt and a silk chemise would probably be the only appropriate clothing I brought.  I had never been away from home on my own before. My frien...

2 comments 2
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“Scarecrows” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #241

Trigger Warning: Mental health and violence.I knew someone would call them eventually.Who called them?Everyone is suspect.They are making their way through the trees now. Black suits, black shoes, black ties over white shirts, burlap head coverings with painted on smiles, pitchforks in their hands. The Scarecrows. Dark web assassins for hire.Three are now standing in the back yard. Three more stand in the street. They’re taunting me, tormenting me.Waiting. It’s like ants marching up your spinal cord to pick away at your brain. The grinding o...

6 comments 6
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“Fait Accompli” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #241

It was only a yoghourt. I mean, what’s a pot of curdled dairy product between work colleagues?! The ‘consume-by’ date on the lid was almost up anyway. And it wasn’t even very nice. But I was peckish, what can I say? When the hunger hits, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, right?There it was, at the back of the fridge in the break room, neglected, forgotten … I thought. No. It belonged to Beasley of all people – a stickler for the rules if ever there was one. Should a pen of his go missing – I say ‘his’, but they’re actually company-issu...

6 comments 6
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“It’s Darkest Before The Dawn” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #241

Avdiivka, Eastern UkrainePicture this: Russian drones buzzing overhead, the rumble of artillery, and a 5-second panicky run for cover as a Ukrainian spotter sees a GRAD rocket headed our way.VolodymyrVolodymyr is the Ukrainian lieutenant in charge of our unit and shouts at everyone to move their ass. He’s the last one into the bunker and appears annoyed his morning routine of one hundred pushups was interrupted. He fingers a cigarette in one hand and massages his assault rifle in the other.Brad takes a photo: Volodymyr, a Ukrainian soldier s...

9 comments 9
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“Birdish” by Elizabeth Cohen

Submitted to Contest #241

I’ve been a bird since Tuesday. That’s the day Lucy usually comes over. She couldn’t make it this week and at first, I was glad. I didn’t want her to see me like this, even though it was all her idea. Now it’s Friday and I’m enjoying myself. The tickling sensation is almost gone and I’m luxuriating in my own softness. This afternoon I thought, the equivalent of feathers would have to be angora.  I feel like I’m wearing a softest sweater, only in this case, I am the sweater. Henry’s not enjoying birdme one bit. Less of him is relief...

4 comments 4
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“Michael J. Fox Killed My Hamster” by Kenneth Goldman

Submitted to Contest #241

Run, Caesar, run! The little guy sure could get that wheel spinning. My shrink says I have a pretty active imagination because I free associate a lot. See, when I let my mind drift I lose my focus. It doesn’t mean I’m stupid or anything, and it doesn’t mean I’m mental either. It’s like I float away somewhere and then all this confusing shit inside my head happens. He tells me I’m only imagining all these terrible things people are thinking about me but I’m not so sure. I pretend to listen when my therapist talks but I don’t always because, ...

2 comments 2
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“The Shot Caller” by Omar Scott

Submitted to Contest #241

Every morning when I open my eyes one question looms on my mind, who’s going to try to kill me today. That is the question that every prison Shot Caller faces. My name is Benny Hughes, and I’m serving life in prison. You see I caught my wife in bed with my best friend. I know I could’ve let it go. But fuck that. No way I was going to live in a world where those two were going to stab me in the back and live happily ever after. This was the last time somebody was going to betray me and get away with it. So I tricked those tricks who were tryi...

6 comments 6
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“The Storm of Betrayal” by D.F. Francischelli

Submitted to Contest #241

A storm outside roared like a dragon, only nature able to conjure up such mythical sounds. It offered no comfort this night, as it shouldn’t. This night wasn’t a warm summer evening where children frolicked in the gardens or a cold winter where someone could light a fire and ponder the philosophy of life. This stormy night was a herald of what was to come. For, inside the walls of the castle, another storm was forming. In the dimly lit chamber of Lord Grayson's castle, Sir William sat hunched over a flickering candle, his brow furrowed in de...

0 comments 0
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“The Eye Of Ludum” by Kenneth Penn

Submitted to Contest #241

"We shouldn't be here," Elna whispered. Jochen turned his head towards her but didn't stop moving forward, though Elna's face troubled him. For an elf, her complexion looked unusually pale in the torchlight. He knew better than to ignore her words, in any case. Elna's foresight had saved his skin at least half a dozen times. He gave Elna’s hand a gentle squeeze. Sapphire eyes gazed into his own, filled with apprehension. "Don't worry," he whispered back, "we're going to be fine." In truth, Jochen couldn't shake the feeling they'd been b...

3 comments 3
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“A Dish Fit For The Gods” by Peyton Fleek

Submitted to Contest #241

My leg bounces up and down, the tic of a nervous person. I will my leg to stop. In replacement I begin biting my nails. I’ve been sitting at the kitchen counter repeating these nervous tics for about an hour - leg bouncing, nail biting, finger tapping - forcing myself to read this play. I begin spinning my wedding band around my finger. I check the clock. 4:15 PM. I look down at my page and reread the paragraph… “Let's be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.. . . And, gentle friends,Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;Let's carve...

6 comments 6
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Contest #241

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This week's theme: Et Tu, Brute?

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Ended on 23:59 - Mar 15, 2024 EST

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Title: When I Read Beckett

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