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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there.

Posted in Fiction on Sep 29, 2023

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✍️ 174 stories

“How Did I Get Here?” by Adam Serpa

Submitted to Contest #218

Clink clink clink clink, goes the sound of the lift mechanism pulling the roller coaster car upward, gradually climbing the steep hill. The familiar sound transports me to a place I easily recognize. I see a thick wooden door attached to a chain link pulley. As the door slowly moves upward, clink clink clink clink, a small sliver of light is let in. A rectangular tray slides in a few inches in front of my feet before the door crashes back down with a thud against the dusty concrete, creating a cloud of soot that floats for a few seconds befo...

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“It is paralyzing, laying on the sofa” by Lisa Bresgott

Submitted to Contest #218

Anne lay on the living room sofa, whose seating cushions, leather-clad, cicatrized, glued themselves onto her uncoated butt cheeks and lower back. The sofa blue, the cushions brown and the scars about to show up, before long, as gray indentations where as yet the erosion of its leather incrustation was merely perceptible by amalgamating with the sofa in a likewise private pose. She lolling, the springs squeaking, the noonlight enveloped her woman’s body from a different angle with every movement. She drew herself up; tilted her head to the l...

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“Christie's Candles” by Frank DiLuzio

Submitted to Contest #218

The smell of everything bagels fills my nostrils. I can taste the seeds on my tongue. Cream cheese would make a wonderful blanket—hot chocolate seems appropriate to be holding. What it would be like to hold hands with serenity, feeling her silky calmness between each finger. I’m ready to sink into linen and velvet upholstery, pull out a good book, and let any daily stressors melt away. Except I can’t do that because an eccentric woman wearing a pink plaid apron shoves a 3-wick candle mere centimeters under my nose. “Our Everything bagel ca...

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“Vomit” by Carlie Beth

Submitted to Contest #218

Vibrating sounds of static filled the air like angry loud bees. Distorted laughing and giggling went in and out with the static. The angry buzzing wouldn’t stop. The soft distant giggles grew louder then went quiet. Loud then quiet, as if someone was turning the volume on a radio up and down. I could smell pungent chocolate vomit underneath my face. I could feel it sticking to the corners of my mouth. The sour and rancid odor mixed with the smell of stale, vacuum burnt lint filled my nose. I could feel the itchy carpet squirming around my fa...

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“Traditions” by Tom Davis

Submitted to Contest #218

That smell. As my wife and I entered our neighbor’s house the smell of gingerbread, ever greens and cinnamon penetrated my nostril cavity. The house was decorated with Christmas green and red everywhere. Tinsel was hung on almost every surface, a manger sat at the foot of the 6-foot tree. Candles burned and the walls were adorned with various festive banners and signs. I flashed back to my childhood where every Christmas was celebrated and wonderful. Mom would be baking her famous gingerbread cookies with her secret ingredient which she told...

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“Welcome to Homeground!” by S R

Submitted to Contest #218

Mother always told me to avoid the coffee shop that smelled like gingerbread.  “Witches,” her brittle voice would whisper, “There are witches in that shop.” The shop didn’t seem like it was full of witches. There were no black cats sitting on the sidewalk or spiders hanging from the eaves. And it felt, well, homey. But Mom’s nails always dug gouges into my arm when we walked by, as if she thought I would try diving through the doors in search of a tasty treat. To be fair, I probably would’ve. It’s not my fault the damn place smelled...

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“Taking Stock” by Elizabeth Beising

Submitted to Contest #218

Ten-year-old Martin loved sliding down the hardwood floors of the hallway in his wool socks for two reasons. One was the satisfying feel of smoothness beneath his feet. No, it was more than smoothness- texturelessness.  The second reason was the absence of sound the action made. The silence of the slide was not only music to his ears, but also helpful in keeping his late-night pilgrimages to other rooms in his house a secret from Mom and Dad.  Earlier that evening, Martin had tried to keep the sock-slide sensation in the front of ...

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“The Black Cadillac” by Susanne O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #218

The Black Cadillac A train whizzed past, a car horn sounded and then someone, a male from the depth of the voice, screamed. ‘What are you doing, Susan? Trying to get us killed?’ What sounded like a scuffled ensued. My heart pounded, should I interfere or close the window and pretend nothing was happening? I was a pacifist and usually chose to stay out of any confrontation, but this was different, someone’s life could be at stake. I had to do something. It was a dark night; clouds covered the moon. My senses were heightened by the prospect ...

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“Perfect” by Kaamel Leonard

Submitted to Contest #218

Reedsy Prompts Author: Kaamel Leonard The Importance of the Senses Prompt: Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there. Perfect Imagine the stench of a carton of a dozen rotten eggs. Now multiply that by one hundred. The taste is bitter, acidic. The consistency in my mouth is half watery half viscous with sand-like granules and some larger soft chunks of…something. Even if I could open my eyes, I wouldn’t have to to know where I am. I’m i...

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“Heart Trouble” by K D Graham

Submitted to Contest #218

Raindrops ping my umbrella and roll down the waterproof dome as I rush into the hospital breezeway. My glasses begin to fog, clouding my visibility as I pull up my jacket collar, trying unsuccessfully to prevent soaking my neck, back, and sweater underneath. With every labored step, my breath puffs out clouds of steam like that determined train from The Little Engine That Could. My galoshes slosh through unlit puddles that cover the dangerously uneven paved walkway. I wonder how many people have sued the hospital for broken bones before chec...

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“The Upper Cut” by Avery Crescent

Submitted to Contest #218

Jamie slithered her hands inside the cushioned gloves, wondering how many other people had stuffed their sweaty fists inside these faded leather mitts. As she flexed her fingers, she felt the heft of the boxing gloves and stretchy tautness of the wraps wound in intricate loops around her knuckles and wrists. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies fluttering in her stomach, but the lycra workout top she’d donned for this evening suddenly felt as tight as a straight jacket. Her underarms wept with perspiration. She should have ...

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“Apple cider” by Chi Ho Ng

Submitted to Contest #218

Scent. The most powerful of the five senses. The sense that transforms reality. The faintest smell of a perfume makes the world melt away as you reexperience your first kiss. The aroma of freshly cut lawn brings back the carefree summers before the burdens of adulthood. A whiff of apple cider strikes a devastating blow straight to your heart. Three things that I remembered about my father – he had long fingers, he had tiny ears, and he loved apple cider. Have you ever tried peeling an egg with one hand without putting it down? My father wo...

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“Barbeque and Fireworks” by Amirkhan Ideluly

Submitted to Contest #218

Salty steam that was somehow prompt of its greenly-textured source, scenting of a slight foul, was the smell of boiled chicken. The sterile but a little hot vapor was the smell coming from a different pot where rice was being cooked. And innocent, watery was the smell of the vegetables Ronald had washed and prepared for his meal. Yes, those soft smells, filling his entire kitchen, were in no way threatening. They were pretty much complacent with the peaceful mood that Ronald tried to maintain with his life. Ronald tried to strictly stick to...

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“Bittersweet Daybreak ” by A.K. Rai

Submitted to Contest #218

Bittersweet DaybreakThe honeyed melody on the soft morning air broke through the heavy cloak of sleep that enveloped her mind. Falling and rising in pitch and speed, it created a pleasant, tingling sensation that started in the head and dripped down through the body, like a shiver on a cold autumn day. She knew it for what it was, but rather than grope for the name of the song’s creator she chose simply to accept its pure performance, as a thing set free from the shackles of name or image, a concert to be enjoyed without the distraction of t...

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“Fresh Flowers with a Twist” by Joy Watts

Submitted to Contest #218

The house had just been cleaned and it smelled like fresh flowers. I walked into Martin’s room, and it smelled like cigarettes among other odors. In my mind I was thinking, why does this room smell like cigarettes when Martin does not smoke? Maybe Martin is hidding cigarettes and smoking in the room? He has been sneaky in the past so maybe he is up to something? I closed the bedroom door pondering my thoughts.The fresh flower smell whisked me away into memories. It reminded me of my childhood when I went with my mother to the farmers market....

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