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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story where your character is traveling a road that has no end.

Posted in Fantasy on Sep 16, 2024

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 98 stories

“The Path They Made” by Morgan Aloia

Submitted to Contest #239

There was something no longer right about this place for Aldrich. He stood there, made still by the feeling that this world had been taken just a quarter turn off of its natural hinge.Taking his way through he had passed over grass still green and wind still blowing, and that was right. He had heard the distant lap of waves against the coast and seen the rummaging of a litter of wild boar, and that was right as well. He had watched wagons pass with nods, children peeking out with smiles, and still his nerve was not assuaged.It was not until ...

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“A Passenger of Fate” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #239

      It feels like I’ve been driving on this road forever. I don’t know how long I’ve been driving, or even when I started. I look at the clock in my car, which tells me it’s 1:06 in the morning. Why am I driving so late? Where am I going?            I must be really, really tired if I can't even remember where I’m going. The road I’m traveling on is dark with no illumination other than a faint glow from the moon, which doesn’t help much as either side of t...

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“The Blue Wall of China” by J. Aizu

Submitted to Contest #239

South of Yanshan, between Beijing and Chengde, the Great Wall of China runs through the North China Plain. What few people know is that between a crook in a river and a tight canyon pass, the Wall forks off into unplumbed lands. This is the Blue Wall of China, the branch I found myself lost on by happenstance. I had walked the Wall for many days, from the touristy conflagrations around Beijing and then further north, when I saw it—out of the corner of my eyes was a speck of sky-blue, yet it wasn’t above me. I climbed, with difficulty, down t...

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“Would you like to see your future?” by Bruce Woodloe

Submitted to Contest #239

“Would you like to see your future? I warn you; it is never what one expects!” I had never put much faith in the sideshow attractions at the county fair. This was new to me. Our Podunk town never ever would have allowed a fortune teller to have any access to us good ol people. Us good God-fearing folk. Never. I was amused. Never believed that any of this could ever be what it is cracked up to be. However, here I am, and I’ve just been given the warning of all warnings. Is she for real? Part of me laughed, another was scared shitless. In a te...

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“The Road to Nowhere That Is Somewhere to Someone” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #239

North Dakota Autumn 2039 (27 A.E.) Awakening to the soothing rhythm of raindrops against my modest tent, pieced together from old construction tarp I've owned since the collapse, I find comfort in the familiarity of my bedroll made of durable post-event fabric, a wise purchase made just a year ago. As I rise to greet the day, the decision weighs on me whether to hunker down here or brave the elements with a walk through the rain to toughen up. Opting to remain sheltered as the rain intensifies, it becomes evident that I'm meant to stay ...

7 comments 7
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“Succession” by Teng Rong

Submitted to Contest #239

This would be the first time she slept since the funeral. In her dream she'd pressed her cheek against the cold stone windowsill to watch the city streets below. The procession was already moving. A long line of black carriages. The afternoon sun, warm and dim. Thick smoke from the shipyards cast long, tawny shadows on the twin spires of the Royal Palace. The lead horse halts at the palace gates and suddenly she stands naked in front of it all. Flakes of soot fall spiraling like whirligigs. Peasants wailing and guards shouting. The voices of...

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“Gypsy Rose and the Long, Long Road” by Crystal Wexel

Submitted to Contest #239

Gypsy Rose was just thirteen when the day came that she began to follow a road that she had chosen, separate and her own. Her peers had their own ideas of what life should be, but she was different. The daughter of a drifter and groupie, she felt a deep longing. Something was missing from within, and she wanted; needed  to find it. She never felt one of the many, but rather, one of the few.    It was a hazy day in Mid June. Gypsy was lagging behind several classmates while on a class trip when she stopped following the g...

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“Three O'Clock” by Courtney Brumbalow

Submitted to Contest #239

Taking care of business. Everyday. Meg hears the three o’clock song play over the grocery store intercom like it always does. She knows it’s only meant to silently signify the beginning of rush hour at her job. Still, she enjoys its catchy and upbeat tune.  “Hello, you're Meg, right? I’m Sam” Sam, a fellow cashier, says.  “I am. You’re new. How do you like it so far?” Meg says as she turns towards her.  “I know I've only been here six months, but I love it here!”  “That’s good. I hope it stays that way.”  “How l...

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“The Right Road” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #239

And then I emerge, weary, into a soft, pale-yellow light. All I hear is the crunching of my footsteps on the sandy-dirt road, regular, reassuring.I push on.After a while, a new sound combines with my metronomic paces – a kind of gurgling close by. I lean over and part the grass by the side of the road. Nestling there is a tiny creature – soft, pink. I lift it out, bringing it up close to my face. It’s warm and smells of freshness.“Hello little fella,” I whisper, because whispering seems the appropriate register.“Goo,” it says, smiling. It sq...

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“Coming to a Head” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #239

Authors Note:There's an old legend in Tennessee about a ghost that wanders the endless tracks at night. This is my take on that.x"Ooogh!"I got up from my position and dusted myself off, brushing excess dirt and debris from my pants and my coat and I looked around for a bit and hugged myself and shivered in the cold. It was definitely night. . What happened to me? I wasn't sure, but I knew that something was missing and it was important…I listened intently to everything around me and heard a distant owl and the sound of the night crickets fr...

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“Escaping Gortnerville” by Zack Herman

Submitted to Contest #239

This story contains a description of racist actions. This was the big day. I had showered, put on the only suit I owned, the only white dress shirt that I owned, my best tie, and my black dress shoes. The job interview was at 1:00 and I was in my Ford Focus at 10:30. I had given myself two and a half hours for the trip from Gortnerville to Easter. It was an hour long trip tops from what I remembered. I hadn’t been there since my college days and that was ten years ago. I wasn’t taking any chances. I set my GPS for 210 Chancellor’s Lane, Ea...

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“Off-Road Adventure” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #239

             It started out as a pleasant jaunt along Route 50 East to Maryland’s coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.  Our trip began at 6 am to give us plenty of time to bask in the sun of Ocean City and later frolic in the waves–perhaps spotting a few dolphins or whales romping in the surf.         We planned to stop in one of the boardwalk eateries for a little pizza and adult beverages before heading back to our bed and breakfast in...

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“Onward Bound” by Kristen Shea

Submitted to Contest #239

The sun was blistering over a cloudless sky and the old man was agitated. He adjusted the brim of his hat and narrowed his eyes across the horizon. It was nothing, and more nothing, except the distant shimmering haze indicating heat dancing through the air like flames. He lifted a near empty flask to parched lips and drank deeply. It was too hot. Too hot for too long; anyone else his age would have already perished. Another man, lean and wiry, cried, “Hey! Stop guzzling, that’s all the water we got!” He flailed toward the flask, but the...

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“Ain't life a dream” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #239

"Jessie." An echo rang in her ears. She felt like she was being pulled out of a pool of water. Everything felt slow and fuzzy. "Jessie. Wake up." The voice said, louder this time.  The next thing she heard were birds. Then, the smell of damp moss and a forest after rainfall. She couldn't move yet. She felt the earth under her, wet but not muddy.  "There you go, you're okay. You're safe." Safe? Why wouldn't she be safe, she thought as the voice rang clearer in her ears. Gaining the feeling back in her hands, with a brush of ...

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“The road that has no end.” by Rick Joyce

Submitted to Contest #239

The road that has no end. Written in a fit of madness by: Ricky J Joyce Part One. Most people did not believe that the Gods existed, they had too many other things to worry about to really bother with Gods and Goddesses, which worked out fine for the deities in question, as they preferred to walk unnoticed and play their games that they have played for eons and will continue to play for eons more. One of these Goddesses however did not walk the mortal plane unless she really, really had too.        &nb...

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