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You go for a walk in fresh snow. Suddenly you realize you're not leaving any footprints.

Posted in Fantasy on May 21, 2021

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✍️ 127 stories

Pied Piper

Winner of Contest #23 🏆

The boy should have known something was wrong the moment he glanced back over his shoulder, but he was too tired and wary and afraid to register the truth. He followed the sound of the keening pipe. Its unfamiliar melody, absurdly cheerful, jarred him from the carnage. It filtered through the pores of his skin and infused him with the strength and warmth he needed to run through the icy clutches of winter. The forest muffled the sounds within and beyond it as if the trees themselves swallowed noise—all but the tune of the unseen piper. Time ...

159 likes 120 comments 120
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Is This A Dream?

Submitted to Contest #23

You see, I woke up and the snow was blue. The snow was a bright baby blue. Why was the snow blue? No Idea.I mean, there was no way that something I’ve known my whole life could just change one day. Or could it... Oh gosh, now I’m just sounding delusional I really need some sleep. This is probably just a bad dream. --- I look over my diary entry in confusion.  I wrote it last night.  Jesus I must have been tired. I don't even remember writing that! Snow is not blue. I mean, unless you put blue dye in it or something? But who th...

91 likes 54 comments 54
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Zenobia Harsch Has No Idea She's Dead

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The snow’s out again. Like a huge stupid blanket that insists on suffocating all mankind. Zenobia Harsch has always hated the weather. Winters, she wants the heat and the lemonades. Summers, she begs for snow and hearths and haute chocolát. Pull and complain and do it again, that’s Zenobia Harsch’s motto. She is a tall and imposing woman with raven hair and smeared eyebrows that pull on her face and make her look a constant frown. She noticed people’s feet first rather than their smiles or the way their noses crinkled. Zenobia Harsch used to...

65 likes 5 comments 5
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Walking Lightly

Submitted to Contest #23

“Listen up class!” Miss Glendale called out.  “Time to quiet down for there is a special announcement!” All the students quieted down, excited that another week was about done.  Their full attention was not on the teacher, with Henry standing next to her, holding a large place heaped with something that was covered with tinfoil. “Usually, we don’t do such a thing, but today is different,” she told the class.  “Henry has a treat for everyone before you all leave.” All of them became even more excited.  A treat to end the w...

32 likes 3 comments 3
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Last Ride

Submitted to Contest #23

The winter sky is above her. Clear blue with wisps of white clouds throughout. Her vision blurs as she tries to figure out her surroundings. Last thing she remembers is the drive to the park. Her sisters nagged her to go the park. To watch the snowfall. Well, snow is falling now. But her sisters are nowhere. She lifts her throbbing head from the ground. Squinting, she takes in the tall, skinny trees. Trees everywhere. Snow clings to every surface. She gets on all fours, ignoring the pain in her left thigh. Half crawling, half dragging her le...

27 likes 5 comments 5
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One Word, Dysfunctional

Submitted to Contest #23

Autumn Hart and I were scientists for the United States of America. We were trying to make a wormhole to teleport us across the universe. It was the year 2030 and Autumn Hart and I celebrated because of our success in making the perfect wormhole. “It works. It works!” Autumn Hart cried. We hugged, celebrating that we were successful. However, our celebration ended abruptly. The wormhole wasn’t stable, and before we could find out what was happening, it sucked us inside. The wormhole spat us out five feet in the air. We landed on top of each ...

22 likes 0 comments 0
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Footprints in the Snow

Submitted to Contest #23

The only sounds you hear are your feet pounding against the pavement and your heart pounding in your chest. The only thing that matters is getting away. One thought is replaying in your mind, Don't let it catch me, don't let it catch me. You turn to see where it is, or what it is. You don't know why, but you know you must run. Run fast, run far. Even when you see nothing behind you but trees and houses, you feel something, it surrounds you, ensuring that you have one job, run. As you get farther, you recognize the neighborhood you're in, thi...

20 likes 6 comments 6
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Danny’s Delectable Diet Drink

Submitted to Contest #23

“Is it safe?”       Mandy swirled the purple liquid around the bottom of her chipped mug.  Then she lifted it to her face and sniffed.  Her nose wrinkled.       “Of course,” I assured her.  “I tested it on Boris this afternoon.”       Mandy looked over at my tiny teacup puppy.  Boris gazed up at her with his big fluffy face and then proceeded to vomit large green chunks all over the floor. &nbs...

18 likes 7 comments 7
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Memory Falls Silent as Snow

Submitted to Contest #23

Adam stepped into the cold morning air dressed for frigid temperatures. The secrets of survival in the cold were now old lessons, learned the hard way. He never lost a toe to frostbite, but the nerve damage lingered. Being impervious to the elements is a fantasy born of childish bravado. ‘Get tough or die’ was his youthful motto. The days of venturing out in winter weather, with no hat or gloves were long gone. It began to snow in big, heavy clumps. There is something so wondrous and fantastic seeing those swirling flakes descending. Soon, c...

16 likes 4 comments 4
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Lost and Alone

Submitted to Contest #23

"Hey mom, where's my breakfast?", I called out from the kitchen.Mom popped her head out from my brother's room, "I'm sorry honey, I've been cleaning all morning, I didn't have any time to prepare breakfast for you.""Now what am I supposed to do?", I grumbled, rolling my eyes."I'm so sorry honey, you know I love you but your younger brothers are quite a handful", Mom tried for a smile, but I turned around and ignored her."What about my coffee? My morning coffee?"Mom froze and put her hand in her head, "I'm so sorry honey, but I can only do so...

15 likes 0 comments 0
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TRACKS NUMBER SEVEN: TRACKLESS

Submitted to Contest #23

TRACKS NUMBER SEVEN: TRACKLESSBy Andrew Paul Grell"Ras, whaddaya mean Bretton Woods is off? So far it's forty kay hauling the equipment around the White Mountains and putting up the crew at in-season rates. People love Bretton Woods, it's where they figured out what money is." Erasmus Foyer could practically hear his agent's already irregular heartbeat shift into free-form jazz rhythm. "Bill, we're just moving it up a few miles. I'm telling you, Coös County is perfect for the shoot.  We owned a house here, ...

15 likes 3 comments 3
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When I Die...

Submitted to Contest #23

Ten. Six. Five. Two. These numbers have no pattern. Only an individual meaning. In the middle of February, I was skiing across the mountainside when I fell into a ten foot pile of snow from a cliff of height only god-knows. My body sank six feet into its fluff. My five-foot figure was practically buried. It took forever to climb my way out. My fingers had turned a dangerous shade of blue by the time I was free. I gazed at the sky overhead. It was a fiery shade of red. Dusk was settling in soon, ready to cover the skies with its blanket of da...

15 likes 5 comments 5
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Transience

Submitted to Contest #23

A spine chilling breeze swept into the living room when Berry opened the door. As far back as she could remember, Januaries had always been odd in this place. Then again, what did she know about January? She had never even left the house! But from what she had seen on television, this place looked different from other places during winters.Even with the fat blankets of glistening white weighing down the black branches, in this place, life thrived among death. In winters, lands in other cold parts of the world would be covered in smooth snow ...

14 likes 6 comments 6
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Onwards, Towards the Witch

Submitted to Contest #23

I see you, child.The words slithered into her brain, as if they were her own thoughts. The world flashed a momentary red. And then they came again.I see you, child.Monika’s eyes snapped open, immediately awake. “Who’s there?” she demanded of the darkness, leaping the chasm from sleep to awareness in an instant. “Who speaks?”There was no response.“Answer me!”The silence was stifling and somehow mocking. Monika could feel the very air vibrating with tinkling laughter. Had she imagined it? Conjured up the voice out of nothingness? Had she final...

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Axiom the Fourth

Shortlisted for Contest #23 ⭐️

The problem was their clothes. Everything else was just downright freaky, but wearing the thin cashmere and cotton of the desert, while four feet of ice covered the dunes? Blackened appendages were only the beginning. Horrible things happened to people who strayed too far from the fires, which had begun to tax the endurance of the man who was supposed to maintain them. Coleman eyed him with more than a trace of concern, up there at the head of the marching order. From beside him came a nudge."How much longer, do you think?""Days. Maybe week...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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