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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

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✍️ 70 stories

“Best Mate” by Kathleen Thomas

Submitted to Contest #211

Farley stood in front of the fireplace, retying his cravat in the brassy looking glass that leaned haphazardly on the mantel. “Do we have any brandy, Fipps?” Fipps uncrossed his legs and stood from the armchair stuffed in the corner of the room, tucked between adjacent bookcases. “Farley, when do we not have brandy?” As he crossed to the silver plate that held the decanter and glasses, he conceded, “Well, I suppose when you drain an entire bottle on an exam night.” “Do I detect reproach, Fipps?” Farley gave the cravat a tug, brushing down ...

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“Ghost Writer in the Storm” by Raven West

Submitted to Contest #211

It was a dark and stormy night. Jessica thought sarcastically as her gold Chevy Malibu was being pelted by tirades of water from the angry gods. She clenched the wheel and tried desperately to keep the car from swerving off the muddy road. Moments before the storm hit, her editor had sent her to cover a human interest story on farmers protesting some new government regulations. He had conveniently omitted the part about the interview taking place in an uncivilized part of the country that had never heard of paved roads or streetlights. ...

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“Eveline” by Grisha K

Submitted to Contest #211

Before meeting Eveline at Cabin F, I had to make sure my roommate wouldn’t be around. “Can I get about… 2 hours alone in our cabin?” “Sure, why?” Well, I wasn’t going to mince words. He would figure it out anyway. “Eveline’s coming over. We want to be alone for a while.”  The reaction in his face was what most would describe as a “sneer”. At the time, I thought he reacted out of moral judgment (being Catholic) or simple disgust at knowing what she and I would be doing on top of the shared mattresses we had grouped on the floor of our ...

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“Memory Lane” by Ruben Lüscher

Submitted to Contest #211

Memory Lane  James gazed at the flames. His eyes wandered in and out of the fireplace, watching the logs giving off light and warmth before fading, turning into coal and ash. He knew it was melodramatic, but he couldn’t help thinking that, one day, he would be that pile of ash.  The flames cast a warm light over the otherwise pitch-black room. The occasional crackling of the fire and the spark of warmth it sent off filled James with a sense of tranquillity he couldn’t get anywhere else these days. “Freaking winter,” he cursed und...

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“ Snowed In !” by Bob Long Jr

Submitted to Contest #211

"Well, its best I get off to bed". "Me too, I am absolutely bushed". Aunt Jean and her sister, Alice, were ages 50 and 52, respectively, and though capable of holding their own in an extended conversation, were exhausted and simply unable to carry on into, as Sinatra would croon, the wee small hours of the morning. The logs that had been comfortably burning in the stone fireplace had been diminished to just a few deep red embers. The freshly pressed apple cider warming in the crockpot with cinnamon sticks was just about gone.  It h...

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“The Cozy Room” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #211

THE COZY ROOM The curtains were halfway drawn revealing an almost Christmas card photo of the great outdoors. The snow was deep and crisp and even and it was truly a winter wonderland. The pine trees were laden with a frosting of heavy white, their boughs bent under the weight of the snow. All that was lacking was the pitter-patter of eight tiny reindeer hooves on the roof and visions of sugarplums dancing in one's head to complete the scenario. Inside, the flickering fire in the fireplace turned the formal front parlour into a cozy d...

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“A Weekend of Poetry by the Fireplace” by Paul Felix

Submitted to Contest #211

 In a room lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace, a reflection of the fire danced across her beautiful bright eyes, warming and caressing me from within. Anxious to recite the poems I'd chosen the week before for our getaway weekend in an ethereal setting overlooking Oak Street Beach in Chicago. As the fall sky's clear and picturesque body revealed the majestic memory of the night, a cool breeze whistled against the balcony door; Tamia asked if I could make the evening a little warmer, a glass of Mango Moscato perhaps? Of course...

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“What Was Borrowed, Returned” by James Bowling

Submitted to Contest #211

Warm red flames danced as if alive; tiny little elementals given life by the burning fire, wisps of orange and red and yellow entwined and flickering happily without a care in the world.  Ezra looked on from a comfortable chair near the stone fireplace and wondered to himself thoughtfully what the flames burning in the hearth would have to say if they had voices that he could understand.  Would they be pleased to be alive on this cool summer night while they caroused on the heavy logs that gave them life, or wou...

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“Stay Alive” by Patrick Davey

Submitted to Contest #211

How is it that you never noticed the flecks of glitter in the popcorn ceilings until now? The shadows of the fire dance on the ceiling as you lay here like an idiot. You let such a detail of your own home, the largest piece of your miserable legacy and the only thing of significance you will leave to Lisa when you pass, slip by you until now. Not that she would ever set foot here after what you said at her wedding. Well you are in big, big trouble now. That immense pain from the right side of your chest? Earned. You let him in, Samuel. You l...

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“The Cabin ” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #211

Cindy and her best friend of twenty years, Amanda, had previously made plans to go camping. Cindy had recently experienced a bad breakup preceded by a bad relationship. Amanda thought it would be good to help her get over it. Sometime during last weekend they had made the decision to take a couple of weeks off work to go camping. They rented a cabin because Cindy was too high maintenance to sleep in a tent.They left that Friday night after work. Cindy and Amanda were so ready to begin their vacation they had been packed for days. Cindy picke...

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“Sweet Dreams ” by Moludan Moore

Submitted to Contest #211

We leaned into each other, so our foreheads touched. Then our noses, and you moved your head side to side, so they didn't just touch, but brushed against each other. I opened my eyes, to see how far away you still were– how much longer I’d have to wait– and, indeed, you hadn't come close enough to close the distance. So I said, sharing the breath you let out: You have to do it, though.Was it because of my nerves, or the temperature of the room, that I became flushed? Fodder burned in the fireplace, but the wood had yet to ignite. Nevertheles...

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“Side Character Syndrome” by Treasure Chisom-Nwosu

Submitted to Contest #211

“People just need to put themselves in my shoes more, you know?” Chase reached over and grabbed a handful from the bowl of peanut M&Ms on the coffee table in front of him, throwing them into his mouth.Watching him made my stomach rumble. I stifled a yawn. The dimness of the office did nothing to ease my growing fatigue. Glancing over at the electric fireplace, flames flickering at the end of the room, I wondered again why I’d indulged Chase when he’d insisted on turning off the ceiling lights for ‘ambience’ this session.“Why do you feel ...

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“Drifting Amongst Darkness” by Mohendra Shiwnarain

Submitted to Contest #211

The blizzard started to pick up outside, adding to the blankets of snow and ice that had fallen earlier. Diana sat by the fireplace, huddled under some blankets, and watched as the last remaining log burnt and flickered away with every passing howl of the storm.  The fireplace casted a mesmerizing array of shadows across the cabin walls and offered some distraction from the snow outside. She had only intended to stay at the cabin for a few days but the sudden appearance of the blizzard made leaving impossible. She was not as spritely ...

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“The Trip Home” by Darling Jackson

Submitted to Contest #211

The trip home Written by: Darling Jackson The flames flickered and crackled, swallowing the darkness attempting to envelope it.  Embers floated and swirled off of the fire like small sprites.  The heat wrapped me in a heavy cloak, chasing away any lingering heaviness from the day. The wind howled, making the flames dance and swirl towards the west; almost like the flames were reaching for home, just like me. The flames represented my soul in a way; the way the flames reach but are rooted to wherever I go, like the way my heart re...

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“The Familiar Ways We Rot” by Sky *

Submitted to Contest #211

 It was October, and the world was beautiful in its unique decay. The way of the body, stiffening then slackening and becoming brittle from bone; the ashes that sprout from the remain of hollowed eyes, the low light plants that dig homes into the empty holes riddled throughout a body. The falling of only the most fragile leaves at only the harshest of moments, when the wind is unforgiving and the howling of it all covers the inherent noise of the world, the promises of rain, the unkempt yards, the wilted flowers. It is around this t...

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