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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about an artist whose work has magical properties.

Posted in Fantasy on Feb 23, 2024

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✍️ 99 stories

“Snow Moon” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #239

The February full moon is known as the Snow Moon, a celestial event that lights up winter skies. As the Earth tilts towards the sun, this lunar phase marks a time transition, offering a chance to embrace renewal and prepare for the promises of spring. In its path what we know as reality shifts allowing moon drops resembling snow to flutter down into hearts to give new beginnings. For those alone with a tiny speck of hope the Snow Moon fills them up remaking who they are, from the inside out. Twenty-five year old Margaret Montgomery didn’t be...

3 comments 3
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“Why Don't Psychics Use Their Powers to Win the Lottery?” by Lena Chou

Submitted to Contest #239

This is a topic that I hear a lot of people talk about in different channels. Be it Aaron Doughty stating that you just have to “imagine” yourself in this “parallel reality” in order to “become” that all knowing and well suited lottery winner. It’s as though you already were one. You don’t question the need or want to even become one. That stage does not even exist in this type of framing in order to actually BE the lottery winner. Technically, winning the lottery is possible with time and space manipulation. However, it isn’t as simple as...

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“Seeking Inspiration” by Lilian Roach

Submitted to Contest #239

The rain was the only sound she could hear in her studio, its light pattering forming a bubble of calm around her little room. As her brush moved lazily across the canvas, Lilah realised her eyes had drooped so far as to have stolen her vision completely; with a small jolt, she jerked herself awake once more. A glance at the painting confirmed what she had been begrudgingly expecting: its essence had mutated halfway through, and the action-packed dragon fight scene was now choked with a layer of tangible sleepiness. The reds and blacks, wher...

2 comments 2
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“Sketches of the Future” by Vannah Leblank

Submitted to Contest #239

I can barely remember the time before the sketches.  The days of old, as the poets might say, or the good old days, as my grandma would claim.  It all melts into a confused haze, in much the same way as Dali’s clocks did with the invisible heat of time. It was a time of weirdness, where everything was so dull that one could barely tell one day from the other. I still had a day job in those days, and still worried about paying bills and being on time even as I wasted all my time. In those days, when I came home in the evenings, ...

1 comment 1
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“AYLA'S WORLD OF COLOR” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #239

I put the brush on the canvas and bang the whole room comes alive. Swirls of reds, blues, yellows, greens and purples are all around me, lighting up my world. Color is magic. Paint brushes are magic. My canvas is where the magic happens. Different worlds of my creation come alive. My characters bright, beautiful and with the biggest smile come alive. Art and magic are everywhere. My worlds are everywhere not just on my canvas but in my sketch books as well. I put pencil to paper and bang my worlds come alive. The whole room fills up wi...

1 comment 1
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“The Magic in Tessa's Cakes” by Chevulana Daman

Submitted to Contest #239

In the heart of a bustling town, nestled between the towering buildings and busy streets, stood a quaint little bakery adorned with the sweet scent of freshly baked goods. Tessa, a talented cake decorator, found herself amidst the whirlwind of flour, sugar, and icing, creating masterpieces that graced the tables of countless celebrations. With nimble fingers and an artist's eye, Tessa poured her heart into every cake she crafted. Despite the monotony of the daily grind, there was a spark within her that ignited whenever she was given creat...

1 comment 1
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“Madame Artemis” by Charles Dean

Submitted to Contest #239

-Madame Artemis? - I asked in a gentle tone. -Yes, dear. That's me. - The lady sitting in front of an unfinished painting. She turned around and I was shocked to see that she was blind. -I...You're...- -Blind? Yes, my dear. I am. But even though I cannot see the way you do, I can indeed see. - She smiled at me and said: -Why don't we take this outside, darling? It's a beautiful day, today. - I looked outside the window and saw that a storm was brewing on the horizon and said: -But, madame, there's a storm coming. It's cloudy and it's a bit c...

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“Brush With Life” by Austin Baker

Submitted to Contest #239

(Content Warning for grief about the death of a pet.) It was a few days after my dog died that I learned I could create life. Samson was a good boy, and losing him hit me hard. I took the day off work and buried him in the backyard. Once I had the last bit of soil stamped back down, I went inside, cleaned up, and eventually found my way to my studio in the garage. The easel already waited for me, a fresh canvas set up weeks ago that I hadn’t the time to touch until now. I painted a portrait of Samson, letting every emotion, both good and...

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“In the Shade of the Gemstone Trees” by Martin Maynard

Submitted to Contest #239

In the Shade of the Gemstone TreesMartin MaynardEldric's sanctuary lay hidden in a valley shrouded by the dense embrace of the ancient forest, where the whispers of the earth spoke of mysteries to those who had the ear to hear it. This secluded garden, known to no soul but Eldric himself, was a marvel of the natural world, albeit one that defied all logic and reason. Here, the flora bore not the soft petals of flowers nor of fruits, but the hard, crystalline beauty of minerals and gems, each a masterpiece sculpted by the unseen hand of natur...

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“Fit the Mold” by Alex Roller

Submitted to Contest #239

Renee was fine with most of it. The app that tracked her period and shaded the days she might get pregnant in yellow. The texts to her husband, reminding him to be ready after work. The negative tests, even when they came month after month after month. What she couldn’t stand, where she’d made an unbearable error, was the nursery.When they first decided to try for a baby, in her premature enthusiasm she’d staplegunned board-and-batten to the walls, then pasted neutral wallpaper above the straight wooden lines. She’d scoured upscale bout...

5 comments 5
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“Cheap Fiction” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #239

trigger warning: depictions of sex, murder, and self harmI didn’t want to kill anyone this time around. I almost did a couple of days ago, while shopping for gummy worms and paper towels. I overheard a toddler screaming furiously when he and his mother passed by the candy aisle without stopping. I listened as the mother tried to bargain with the kid for several minutes before giving up and letting his tantrum carry on. That’s when I opened the journal I took everywhere with me, and wrote:The mother tried to ignore her toddler’s tyrannical cr...

14 comments 14
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“Faith” by Yosh The Guardian

Submitted to Contest #239

Countless shames plague me as I fork over the precious gold coins to Captain Stratos and board the Serendipitous. Most people would count this a blessing, some so bold as to claim it a miracle. Few people manage to secure an airship flight to visit the one known only as ‘He Whose Gaze Pierces Fate.’ Even fewer are granted an audience with the enigmatic seer. Almost everyone who does claims they leave the place emboldened, enlightened, impassioned. But for me there is no honor in this trip; there is no mirth, no giddiness, no fulfillment. I a...

2 comments 2
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“The Honest Portrait of a Family” by TC Cook

Submitted to Contest #239

 “Mom! Mom! It changed; I swear.” I said pointing to the family portrait hanging above our mantle in the sunroom. From the couch in the den, I heard an exasperated sigh, “Honey, we have been over this, so many times. Boy who cried wolf ring a bell?” she said with her usual dismissive tone. I ran to the kitchen and tugged at her sleeve, “No but look, it’s true! Come on! Please!” Reluctantly she agreed, putting down her phone and pulling her nest of blankets off of her, all the while groaning in annoyance. I continued pulling her, to make...

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“Mother's Doll ” by Leslie Long

Submitted to Contest #239

Something was really wrong, and Mom won't tell me why. My brain is muddled, and my stomach aches because I can't understand why she has been crying for weeks. But how could I? I'm only nine years old. I'm in fourth grade, trying to learn long division. I don't understand the adult world. I like to pretend the adult world doesn't exist, and then maybe Dad will come home, and perhaps they won't scream at each other anymore.           I've shut my bedroom door, hoping it will muffle out my moth...

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“Schokko With Red Hat” by Cynthia Dite Sirni

Submitted to Contest #239

Alexej von Jawlensky sighed.  A member of "Les Fauves" he had been trapped for almost one hundred years.  "So not such a wild beast?" He thought to himself as he gazed beyond the back of "Schokko with Red Hat."  Since he had died in 1941, he had been here, behind the oil and the board that held her.  He didn’t remember how he died.  It didn’t matter.  He just remembers that he was suddenly aware of being here, nestled into the back hairs of Schokko and her red hat.  He didn’t understand.  What was ther...

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