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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Set or begin your story in a room lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace.

Posted in Fiction on Aug 11, 2023

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 71 stories

“Bricks Enough to Build a House With” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #211

George Melcamp poured himself another finger or three of whisky, as his fireplace crackled with a warm orange glow, safe from the cold night outside, safe from another coastal rain, safe from the impossible demands of the world. Beside his recliner stood a small table, and upon it lay his memories – favourite issues of the Port Calvin Tribune. Each bearing a heartwarming headline: ‘George Helps Little Sandra Harrison Down From Tree’, ‘Constable Delivers Food And Fuel To Stranded Boaters,’ ‘Melcamp Thwarts Raccoons In Case Of Missing Seniors ...

27 comments 27
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“For Grandma” by J. D. Lair

Submitted to Contest #211

A fire crackled in the hearth as snow fell in flurries outside. Melanie sat in her easy chair nearby and rocked while listening to an old sermon tape. The sermon was on the Fatherhood of God, an attribute she struggled to find relatable. As she listened with her Bible open on her lap, the back door flew open to little Simon standing in the cold. He wore a blue stocking cap with a white ball on top and white tassels hanging from the ear flaps. After taking his damp coat and shoes off by the door, he came into the living room to warm himself u...

34 comments 34
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“Requiem For The Majordomo” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #211

Frankie O’Dowd fidgeted with his tight clerical collar, as he warmed himself in front of the drawing room fireplace. Being the only single person in the room, O’Dowd struck a lonely but serious figure among the evening’s soiree of family dinner guests.  Averting his gaze from the crackling and glowing embers, O’Dowd surveyed the spacious surroundings. For a large room, the fireplace seemed an inadequate size to be an efficient heater; however, not one of the several guests in the room complained about the cold air forcefully trying to b...

23 comments 23
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“what remains forgotten” by Eddie McKenzie

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #211

The fire crackled a tune that seemed altogether mocking in its cheeriness, the dancing flames darting up to greedily gobble up the next letter that was tossed to it, setting the shadows to join this strange ebb and flow of flickering light. Yet another letter was tossed into the fireplace, curling first at the corners before burning away under the icy gaze of the woman watching this. She kneeled before the fire, skirts billowing around her like a discarded flower, chestnut hair flowing free about her shoulders, the closest to an emotion reac...

7 comments 7
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“The Song at Harvest's End” by Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #211

The Bard. Benzie’s Concerns. Celebration. Voiceless. A cozy birchwood fire crackled in the inn’s limestone hearth. Mounted above the mantle, Truffler - a taxidermied warthog - proudly presided over the festivities sporting a ratty black tophat that (most agreed) leaned too far to the right.  In the Halfling hamlet of Pondaroak, the Swindle & Swine was considered an exciting destination to spend Harvest’s End, a holiday celebrating the conclusion of the year’s farming cycle. Halfling folk were drawn from as far as Mosshollow and as c...

25 comments 25
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“Burning” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #211

Larry smelled pine smoke. He smiled at the thought of Andre, his brother, ‘Sipping brandy before the fire. What a life. Finally settled into his niche…’ Walking toward the study, warm, shifting light shone off the walls. He stepped into the doorway to see Andre sitting on the hearth, feeding papers into rising flames. Stacks of paper leaned against each other. Larry said, “What’s up? Andre looked haunted. “You’ve got to help me, man.” “You want a sandwich?” Larry worked in catering. Andre fed the fire. “No. I can’t do this anymore. I’ll go...

23 comments 23
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“Rat Hole” by Coltrane Rogers

Submitted to Contest #211

It’s a cottage on the white-cap hill. Alone among groves, alone among night. Snow boils down from the sky, glittering under the hue of the iron-blue moon, padding down onto the footpath that climbs the hill up to the cottage.            The wind carries a storm. Candlelight lacquers orange onto the walls. Wax drips down the pricket. The door creaks shut, followed by soft footsteps through the landing.            Quickly down the s...

2 comments 2
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“Carrying on 'The Fir Tree'.” by Samrah Javed

Submitted to Contest #211

“Oh, if only the hare were my companion here. I would not be so solitary”. Yet I must stay here and wait for spring to arrive. How pleasant it was out in the forest while the snow lay on the ground, when the squirrels would run by, yes and jump over me too, although I did not like it then. It is terribly lonely here!”. The fir contemplated for some time. It became quite despondent, longing to go back to the natural sanctuary housing a melange of coloured flowers, chirruping birds, and the little brittle bushes. A while later, a low, screechi...

3 comments 3
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“Warming Up: A Christmas Story” by Kay Smith

Submitted to Contest #211

TAP, smack, smack! TAP, smack, smack! TAP, smack, smack! I make my way from the bottom of the wide staircase to the living room. The room is dark except for the soft, orange hue from the dying embers in the fireplace. Taking my time, I carefully navigate across the thick, multi-color, braided rug on the floor. At the fireplace, I lean my cane against the hearth and grab the two of the remaining logs, and feed them, one after the other to the fireplace. I stoop to grab some old newspaper that I crumple up and tuck here and there between ...

5 comments 5
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“Annual Old-Fangled Board Game Night” by Karen Corr

Submitted to Contest #211

The invitation landed on Hannah's formal dining room table with a ring of a bell, a puff of smoke, and a scattering of gold confetti.Win or loseYou can't refuseLose or winIt's time againAnnual Old-Fangled Board Game Night2023 Middlewoods WayMidnightRefreshments providedBring your own potions!Hannah chuckled to herself as she wiped up the confetti. Maudie was so creative. It was hard to believe a year had passed since the last time they played. She and Amos, her late husband, had attended the gathering together the previous year. There had be...

6 comments 6
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“Under the Willow Tree” by Courtney Caruso

Submitted to Contest #211

In a land where magic and wonder intertwined, there lived a little boy named Remy. Remy was known throughout the village for his insatiable curiosity and boundless imagination. He had a heart that beat with the rhythm of adventure, and his eyes sparkled with the promise of discovery. One day, as Remy wandered through the dense and mystical Enchanted Forest, he stumbled upon a whispering willow tree. This tree, unlike any other, had leaves that shimmered like silver and branches that seemed to sway in time with a secret melody. But the most...

7 comments 7
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“Cupid’s Arrow” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #211

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will bewhen winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.-- J.R.R. TolkienThis Maide was sole ador'd, Venus displeas'd,Might in this Virgin onely be appeas'd:The people in the street to her would bow,And as she past along, would Garlands strow.Venus at this conce...

7 comments 7
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“The Embers of us” by Marie Samuels

Submitted to Contest #211

I can’t count the number of nights that we sat in front of this very same fireplace, the room lit by its flickering flames, blissfully unaware of what would one night take place before its hearth. As I sit here now in the chair beside it, alone and in-wait, I’m struck by the zemblanity of the situation.You purchased this place just after our wedding and surprised me with it, you said it was somewhere we could escape to that would just be ours, away from the rest of the world, our little haven. Back when the heat and the passion reflected in ...

2 comments 2
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“HOMECOMING” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #211

HOMECOMING But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow ’Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow Oh, Danny boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so The flickering flames of the fireplace, the only light illuminating the room, combined with the sweet scent of the turf, welcoming me home. The firelight, in the dimness of the cottage, casts its glow upon the outline of the old woman, wreathed in her black shawl, as she rocks back and forth, humming quietly to herself. She senses my presence. “Is ...

2 comments 2
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“Bright Days Ahead ” by Janet Abramowski

Submitted to Contest #211

I sat staring at the crackling fire in the fireplace of the lobby of the lakeview resort . It held me in a hypnotic trance . So much has happened in the last 6 months that it felt good to just be able to sit , breathe , and simply exist . I still had no idea what lay ahead for my life . Everything in life happens for a reason is what people say . I just couldn’t imagine how my marriage of 15 years ending , my mother passing away , and my house being robbed while I worked the overnight shift at Main Street Hospital would lead to any...

1 comment 1
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