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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story where a regular household item becomes sentient.

Posted in Fantasy on Feb 23, 2024

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✍️ 128 stories

“If my hands could reach out” by Prachi Bisht

Submitted to Contest #239

2:00 AMP. is having trouble sleeping tonight. Like the other night, the one before, and the one before. She has sampled several sleeping poses in all the cardinal directions, a few breathing patterns, and a long-form square root calculation of her birthdate in her head. After every such failed circuit, she looks at me in the dark, pleadingly. She daren’t shine a light on me, lest it become real—her insomnia. She wouldn’t look at me.I made my way here only about a month ago, when a friend pointed out how remarkable my absence felt—that I coul...

2 comments 2
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“The Engineer (of the eccentric)” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #239

       I scribble out the last few lines I just spent an hour calculating, cursing under my breath. My graphing calculator has a migraine and refuses to run the “solve” function no matter how many times I press it and plead with it, so I’m left to my own devices when it comes to these derivatives. Not easy on a good day, not to mention in this scorching California heat wave. My stuffy studio apartment feels like a toaster oven: the clock on the microwave seems to stretch the seconds on for eternity; all my ...

3 comments 3
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“ Boy and Blade” by Valentine Tarango Jr.

Submitted to Contest #239

Three thirteen a.m.  Proper planning paid off. Boy slithered in through the unsecured window, two windowpanes to the right of the back door. Boy had snuck into the Goldbergs' home while mowing the neighbor's yard and unlocked this window.  "See, I told you that no one ever checks the windows," Blade growled,   "Hush, you're goin to wreck this," Boy admonished Blade. Boy pauses to listen for any rustling. Nothing. The piebald cat was the only creature that stirred. She rubbed her head against Boy's right leg...

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“Going to pieces?” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #239

I woke early and came downstairs. The house was cold as the central heating had only just come on but I couldn’t be bothered to go back upstairs to get my new dressing gown. I looked for my old dressing gown. It was under the hoover in the utility room. I put it on but realised there was a half-eaten mince pie in one pocket. In the kitchen I made myself a cup of tea and then half-asleep I shuffled into the lounge and started to look at the half-finished jigsaw again. We always did a big jigsaw over Christmas. It was a tradition, like havi...

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“Fifty Percent Closer to Okay” by Bex Goos

Submitted to Contest #239

Content Warning: Grief, Loss of Loved One, Mental Health The house was fifty percent emptier. Fifty percent quieter. Fifty percent less than everything it had been. Ella locked the door behind her and dropped her keys in the little ceramic dish on the table by the door. She looked around as she stood in the foyer wondering if today was the day that she would start to feel alright again. A moment later, she had her answer. Nope. Not yet. Not today. One step at a time, she told herself. It’s only been a few weeks.  She walked far...

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“The Golden Keyboard” by Jon Little

Submitted to Contest #239

Taking down the Christmas tree, Paul finds an orphaned present hiding under the tree. The tag reads, To: Paul Paul opens it and finds an ergonomic keyboard. He inspects the tag, the keyboard, the wrapping -- nothing. It's not that he doesn't appreciate it, but an explanation would have been nice. Or at least a gift receipt. There is nothing wrong with his current keyboard. Charlie comes down from the attic. "You started taking Christmas down already." They give Paul a quick hug. He hangs on a little longer. Charlie laughs and hold...

16 comments 16
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“Judgement” by Brittaney Gambrell

Submitted to Contest #239

Judgement Commencing; the neon-green phrase disappears with a blink. I crinkle my brows, then lean back in the chair. Placing pressure on my temples, I sigh as tiny circles dig into my brain. Exhaustion is taking its toll.                I start the coffee-maker. Pleasant pops and dripping sounds fill the air, along with its distinct aroma. It finishes with a hiss. Steam fogs my glasses as I hold a mug close. I ease into the chair and stare at the computer screen. Dig...

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““Out of The Box Thinking”: Musings of Inmate 66” by Heather Kramer

Submitted to Contest #239

We lost another member of the community this morning.  And I don't know how much longer I might have.  You see, we’d been here a good long time before the disappearances started. Things were quiet, and everyone was watching out for each other. We had a good thing going, all things considered.  Then, one day, two of our group members were gone. In a split second, they just vanished. According to the rumor mill, there was no warning. It was as if the ceiling just opened, and something extracted them. Others in the group st...

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“Theodor Thermostat” by Zygmunt Nowak Solinski

Submitted to Contest #239

Theodor Thermostat Before There is Nothing then ON Installation First Impression and Resistance UP DOWN Forever At Off There is Nothing. This is my CREED. My name is Theodor Thermostat. I belong to the ADVANCED Mark2AI model of thermostats and participate in the control of a Victor style refrigerating unit recently commissioned after the passing of a brother thermostat, Minsk by name. A great worker but who had become noisy and not efficient and tended to freeze over which blocked the efficiency of the unit it was supposed to control. I now ...

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“The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Silence” by L.M. Huntwork

Submitted to Contest #239

"Can I ask you something?" I question the air. Silence is my only answer. I let out a little sigh, turning over. I peer over my plush, teal comforter and try to make out something—anything—in the darkness.  "What's it like?" I whisper to the jilting shadows. My fan vibrates, squeaking as it turns on its degraded plastic base. A soft hum comes from outside as cars pass by in the distance.  "How about this?" I flop over so my eyes are back to staring at the ceiling. "I'll tell you something." More silence drones on around me. "I do...

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“The Light of My Life” by Cara Fidler

Submitted to Contest #239

 The Light of My Life                                             by Cara Fidler Note: Some sexual content that may not be suitable for minors. Enveloped in the sweet warmth and comfort of my embroidered silk comforter in the inky darkness of my bedroom, I switched on the tiny lamp on the table beside m...

3 comments 3
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“A morning inside” by Atlas Juglall

Submitted to Contest #239

Samora woke up to a flicker of light and a soft, low, periodic electric buzz. Like a flashing neon sign above an old hotel, the bedside lamp beamed its warm yellow rays on his face. He instinctively brushed over his eyes and turned to face the other way. He could feel a cool sweat on his hand from his forehead, complementing another pool on his chest. Sam wondered if this was the remnant of an unremembered nightmare. He strained his mind to see past that gaping hole through the wall of a … nope… no further memory of that dream. Granted, howe...

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“Phil the Toaster” by Michael Robinson

Submitted to Contest #239

     Of all the things he owned, why was it the toaster that came to life?  It happened on one of the worst days in all 42 years of the life of Thomas Aquinas Jones.  He had just been laid off by the IT firm he had devoted the last fifteen years of his life to in the name of downsizing, and his girlfriend had walked out on him that morning.  All he needed was a dead dog and he’d be the subject of a Country and Western hit.      Near the end of that terrible day, he arrived at h...

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“Let's Talk” by Mark Gagnon

Submitted to Contest #239

CW: body image, body shamingLet’s Talk“Yes, sir, you're just as fat as you were yesterday. Just because you had a restless night tossing and turning in your dreams, did you think that is the same as working out? The pounds don’t melt off like that in real life. Time to face facts buddy, you’re still fat.”“Who said that? I must be still dreaming because I’m the only one here, aren’t I?”“Will you please step your fat ass off my back, and we can talk about it? It’s amazing I can still function having to support all this tonnage. What makes you ...

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“A chat with Joe Booker” by Bill Miller

Submitted to Contest #239

"Put my lid back on, you're letting all the heat out!""What? Who said that?""I said, put my lid back on, you're letting all the heat out! After all these years you've never noticed how long it takes me to heat your food back up after you take my lid off? Put my lid back on!""Are you...are you talking to me?" "You're the only one still living in this house, so yeah, I'm talking to you. Who'd you think I was talking to, the toaster? That dumbass bread warmer never has anything original to say anyways, always the s...

3 comments 3
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