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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about two friends who were once inseparable, but now find themselves growing apart — or even friends turned enemies.

Posted in Dramatic on Jun 9, 2023

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✍️ 81 stories

“Emma ” by Victoria Macleod

I did it because I liked the way it made me feel.  The transaction pleased me even before the idea became a reality.  The see-saw of our friendship now tipped in my favour- I the one swinging her legs loftily, gripping the handles with sweaty palms. Looking down on her smiling face as she crouched uncomfortably, waiting for her turn to rise.   I did it because 23 years of knowing and loving Emma had ...

79 comments 79 WINNER 🏆
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“Your Call Has Been Forwarded to a Place You Can Never Return ” by Liv Chocolate

cw: mild graphic material and brief mention of physical violence If you were here right now, you’d tell me this is a bad idea. You’d take away my phone and remind me that you can’t make someone stay who doesn't want to. You’d have saved me from creating yet another shame-inducing memory I’d end up cringing at five years later—while I’m pumping gas into my car, slicing a tomato, skimming the dead leaves from the pool we used to swim in.While I’ve tried to forget, the unfortunate fact of the matt...

55 comments 55 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Celebrations of the Fifth Night” by Michał Przywara

The fireworks malfunctioned, and when they struck the gatehouse of the Lower Palace, the night air was filled with three sudden flashes of bright yellow. The funeral garlands that draped the towers vanished, a spider’s web incinerated, and then a dull orange glowering enveloped the gate. If there was any doubt, the screaming of the crowds and the ringing of the bell put them to rest: the gatehouse was on fire. Kad...

40 comments 40
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“Brownstone” by Cassandra Cooke

Sensitive content: Death Unpacking a whole life is exhausting, and any reprieve is enough to quickly excuse myself from the task.  With the last rays of sun peering through the dated brownstone window, the smell of dust filled the room assaulting my lungs. Clouds of it swirled in the light displaying the toxins of my past: dirt, dead skin, and regret. As I sift through my belongings looking for any form ...

18 comments 18
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“That Was Easy!” by Joe Smallwood

“You know that red button you can buy? The one for five bucks? When you press it, it says “That was easy!”“Yeah, uh I think so,” I replied.“Well, I got one marked down! Only two fifty!”“Sweet, I think.”“I’m going to get another one.”“So, things will be twice as easy?”There he went, back in line at Staples. Couldn’t resist a deal. Then he was pressing those buttons all the way home until I was sick of it.“What are you doing now?”“Every time something is easy at work, I’ll use it there...

15 comments 15
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“Gork and Slarb Find Out” by Kendall Defoe

Gitfangula is a very strange place. As a planet, orbiting between the ancient worlds of Marnus and Minuous, it lives in a particular harmony with its past that many other planets and galaxies would envy and resent…if they ever managed to find it. The thing is…Gitfangula cannot be found by conventional ships that rely on anything besides timegates. This is one of the reasons why Gitfangula has been so peaceful for such a long time. The only conflicts come from within. All citizens of that orb have an instant psychic connection and can imme...

10 comments 10
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“Safely Gathered In” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

The chill autumn breeze rushed by, carrying the quick music of a cheerful jig. The ant paused to listen before resuming her journey, lugging her crumb of caramel. The grasshopper was, disappointingly, nowhere in sight. Ever since he first appeared, the grasshopper had stayed somewhere about, making his music. In the quickening days of late spring, his high, delicate arias had woven through the swelling buds and drifting blossoms and busily buzzing bees of the bushes and trees. In the lush green days of early summer,...

5 comments 5
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“This will be enough. ” by Henri Porritt

SEPTEMBERI ignore the gnawing in my stomach. The hunger, and the ache. I ignore the way that I feel as if I am constantly teetering on the edge of caving, collapsing inward. Rotten at the core. I ignore it all, as I always do. There are worse curses to fall under, than the one I am in. There are worse curses to feel than the bitter sting of adolescent solitude. But I am desperate and I am cold. I am young and afraid. I am lonely.But I ignore. Allow my ignorance t...

11 comments 11
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“A Special Friend” by Marty B

Killing off his friend, Sam realized, was going to be harder than he thought. He knew it was time, he could not put it off any longer. He had to ‘rip off the band-aid,’ as Dr. Tong said.  Sam sat in the car, waiting, trying to get up the nerve. He touched the heavy metal gun in his pocket again. Could he really do this? Patricia had stayed behind, in his old neighborhood, while Sam left for college and the big City. But they had stayed connected, talking often, even as Patricia ...

10 comments 10
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“The Bonds that Bind” by Kay Smith

**** TRIGGER WARNING ****(Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Suicidal Ideation)*******I sit across the patio table from her. I watch her down beer and chain-smoke. She is bright pink toenails and make-up, smiling serenely out at something only she can see from behind immense sunglasses. She is as laid back and buzzed as a teenager on the cusp of their first real spring break. I sip some sugar-free, peach-infused iced tea concoction my mother made, ...

5 comments 5
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“Fire and Frostbite” by Isaac Keen

It was a still evening, like most in Minnesota. Winter had long since descended upon the land, and a withering January cold cut through the air. In the freezing forests and bluffs south of Canada stood a great mansion that had seen almost a century of bitter cold and blazing warmth. Once bustling with family and business, climate change had rendered the region nearly uninhabitable during the winter. Despite the deadly te...

1 comment 1
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“The Back of the Mirror” by Zatoichi Mifune

WARNING: This story contains death and references to insanity.1936I'm going to kill 'Aunt Maddie'. Prancing about like she owns everything, talking in that 'high-and-mighty', condescending voice. It makes me sick. I'll show her that she doesn't own me.I suppose it isn't good to sit here and brood. I don't know how long I've been like this. When I sat down it was black outside and the oil lamp had just started to burn. Now the flame is gone and the sun...

16 comments 16
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“Against All Odds” by Aijah Foster

It was a cool summer night and throughout the park, all that could be heard was laughter as the two young’s girls sat in the sand pit building sandcastles. They had been there all day swinging on the monkey bars and playing tag eventually they knew they’d have to go home but they didn’t want their fun to end. As they were sitting currently building a very tall princess castle the little girl with long unruly brown hair a...

0 comments 0
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“Best Of Fiends” by Jed Cope

There was only ever the two of them. There were others of course, but they were all too… Too old mostly. Too removed. Too aloof. Too different. They had no one else, and without each other they would have been odd in every sense imaginable. Loneliness and the desire for companionship brought them together. There was a thrill of excitement that they ...

2 comments 2
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“A Song of Friends and Lovers” by William Richards

Our friendship was so special to me, I thought of it like a song. My favourite song. We kept it on repeat. I glance around. We're all waiting to board the flight and we all know it should have started ten minutes ago. There's no reason offered for the delay. It gives me time to read the email I wrote again. It gives me time to decide whether to send it or not. It was one of th...

8 comments 8
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Contest #202

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This week's theme: A Friend Indeed

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Ended on 23:59 - Jun 16, 2023 EST

Won by Victoria Macleod 🏆

Title: Emma

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