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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about someone trying to reinvent themselves after spending a long time in a rut.

Posted in Fiction on Mar 31, 2023

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✍️ 38 stories

“My Book saved My Life. ” by Julian Black

Submitted to Contest #192

I was a very lonley and very scared person and my life had so much fear in it. I did not act and function like people I knew and I was considered very strange and Odd. I was scared of my own shadow and I allowed people to walk all over me in my own family and in my place of work. I was a target for Bullies and because of my timidity I just allowed the bullying to continue and get much worse. I lived with my grandparents and even though I wanted for nothing my grandmother was very dominant and my grandfather was very bigoted. I lived a very c...

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“Status and Friendship” by Alexander Hanna

Submitted to Contest #192

Change. Google’s top definition for “change” is to “make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.” It seems to me like everything is always changing. From the seasons to society to individuals–change never stops. I know I need to change. I just can’t seem to, even though I really want to. It seems as though my therapist and I always talk about the same thing every week, over and over again, and we can’t seem to make any progress: “How have you been? What’s new? Any progress?” I honestly hate it when she asks these questions becau...

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“The Perfect Family” by Geoffrey Saemann

Submitted to Contest #192

Poor behavior is not tolerated in my family. Nor are any mistakes that might hinder our progress. Father always says that mistakes are similar to rebellious recruits in marine boot camp. Father works as a drill sergeant in one of these camps, you see. It was where he learned the lessons that he now passes on to us. Father said that when he was a recruit in the corps, as he refers to it, he had all sorts of rebellious ideas, as did his fellow recruits. One day, Father’s bunkmates thought it would be amusing to carry one of the drill instructo...

3 comments 3
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“The Last Day I Think of You” by Emma Zuder

Submitted to Contest #192

I was 10 years old, legs buried under sand shaped into a mermaid tail. Instead of thinking myself a magical, mythical creature, I thought I must look so huge. To my horror, my dad was already running back to our beach shelter to grab the camera to permanently capture my monstrous figure. I wiggled my legs until they broke through the packed sand grains, and when I saw my father standing there with the camera, out of breath, disappointed, I was filled with regret. And I regret how long my self-loathing survived, following me like a shadow, an...

3 comments 3
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“Debut” by Gabi P

Submitted to Contest #192

The audition room reeks of stale coffee and mothballs. Not particularly surprising, all things considered, as the place is on the third floor of some obsolete office building off the west side. A flash of worry crosses my mind for the safety of my Mercedes, but I push it back with a quick reminder of my situation. This is more important. My headshot got me this far - now is the time to prove myself.  The space isn’t anything special, mostly empty. Some studio lights, a blank backdrop behind me. Two shriveling forms huddled behind a che...

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“Noah ” by Midnight B.

Submitted to Contest #192

“You know it’s time for you to get back outside again? The longer you sit inside, the more you’ll be in your head. Take a walk and get some air. You need it.”   “Go out and find yourself some friends! It’ll help you man. You need to find somebody to talk to.”   “You can’t just sit here like this anymore. I can’t stand to see you waste away. It’s time you pick yourself up and get out there.”   All of these words of encouragement from loved ones and friends though I still had no idea what to do with them. It had been ...

3 comments 3
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“Reborn” by Ceara Klassen

Submitted to Contest #192

“Tate! It’s time for school! Mom calls up from downstairs. I roll over in bed and wipe my eyes. I went to a party with my friends last night and I didn’t get home until 4:00am, or for better reference, three hours ago. I’m only 16, but I’ve found that as long as I sneak out the bathroom window, neither of my parents will hear me leave. I wince, reaching my hand up to hold my forehead in my palm, it’s pounding. I know I should really stop drinking Moscato. My girlfriends all drink vodka lime soda, but as far as I’m concerned, those taste lik...

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“Laughing at Despair” by Jenna Rubin

Submitted to Contest #192

There was never anything to do. Boredom endlessly communicated this fact to me. I had become an endless sea of worthless thought incapable of action. I forgot about the possibilities which exist beyond prediction. All I could predict was the apocalypse. Not necessarily the end of the world, but certainly the end of my personal universe. A lot of people seemed to operate effectively in this reality, but I was sure it had to do with some kind of brainwash. Was I the last to not be brainwashed? Or was I insane? Was I free or was I trapped? I kn...

4 comments 4
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“Finding Freedom: A Journey of Self-Discovery and Reinvention” by Cass Livingston

Submitted to Contest #192

Raina had always felt like they were stuck in a rut.  Growing up in a small town in the midwest, they never quite felt like they fit in. They weren't like the other girls who wore dresses and played with dolls, but they also didn't feel like a boy. As they got older, they discovered the term non-binary and everything started to make sense.  However, even with this newfound understanding, Raina still felt like they were living a life that wasn't really their own. After graduating from college with a degree in business, Raina g...

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“Users and you” by Aminatta Kamara

Submitted to Contest #192

User 1 You only wanted me for my money and that was clear from the start. I could see straight through and the ugly was showing. I kept on giving and you kept on taking. I couldn't stand you and your simpering ways. The pleadings and sighs made me feel cold. When I was hungry, you refused to feed me- yet I fed you. User 2 You only wanted me for my body and that was plain to see. Everything was cheap with you. I remember some kindnesses but you were my enemy all the way along. There was the pretence of keeping costs down at any length...

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“My tempo” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #192

It is hard to stop running. It is hard to stop running once you start running. Once upon a time, not too long ago, in a land not too far away, not over the seven mountains or behind seven lush forests or anything, but here. Right here. Someone lived there. I am not exactly sure why I used the past tense here, because that someone is still alive. Allow me to start over: once upon a time, not so long ago and in a land not too far away, there was someone who introduced him or herself as someone else. Like countless others, I had been given (fed...

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“Mister Moonlight” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #192

“Well, another crackin’ solution for a franchise in trouble, Ringo,” Hollingsworth McVey says, slapping Ronin “Ringo” Ryland on the back. Ringo drops his head, his Beatle-esque hairdo covering his sad brown eyes. “I wish we could have done things differently.” “No other way, duck,” Hollingsworth replies in a pert English accent. “In order to turn a profit this year, Bell, Book, and Candle had to close most of their stores. Who in their right mind opens up a hundred and seventy-five new age stores anyway?” “Closing a hundred fifty of them ...

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“17-23 and everything in between ” by Chipo Chalwa

Submitted to Contest #192

Willow sat down on the corridor of her father’s house, looking deep into the night as she watched the stars above. They hadn’t stopped shining for as long as she can remember; it was as though they never grew tired, as if they lived forever, and no matter what happened down here in this little house, they never ceased to burn. Sometimes she hoped maybe one would fall as the days in her life grew darker and the nights became colder; in some moments she wished just one star would come down and dance with her whenever she was so full of joy; an...

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“8 Mississippi” by Nick Baldino

Submitted to Contest #192

Purple Texas dusk lays flat against the fluorescents, obscuring my view of anything but the brown dirt battlefield before me. Under my legs, the tan, white-spotted beast snorts and chaffs, his eyes vicious in their agitation, his horns sharp enough to do the deed. Only Barley is there to tighten my reigns, although he’s too drunk to be of any help. “It’s bulls and blood,” he sings slurredly as he pulls down on the ropes, “it’s dust and mud, it’s the roar of the Sunday crowd!” The bull croons with Barley; his animal wail is followed by a...

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“Your Deepest Desire” by Rowan Locke

Submitted to Contest #192

ADOPT A SPIRIT, read the bold, eye-catching ad. MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. Click. A sleek website popped up, the dark red colour scheme alluring and seductive. The image of a beautiful woman with flowers adorning her hair appeared in the centre of the screen. Scrolling down, in an elegant black font it read: It’s fate that we meetI’ll make all your dreams come trueNo surprise fees or overpriced subscriptionsNo need for painful surgeryOnly your devotionThe price of £299.99 £99.99 flashed underneath the words in bright red.&nbs...

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