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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about two characters whose first impressions of one another are wildly inaccurate.

Posted in Fluff on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 55 stories

“The intuitive girl and the unusual boy” by M.J Saganski📚

Submitted to Contest #131

Terra When I first saw him I thought he looked odd. He was very lanky, with just too long of arms and just too long of legs. He was about a head taller than everyone else in the room, with high, sharp cheekbones. But the thing I thought was the most off was the air around him. it just felt off and wrong in the quiet little coffee shop in our small little town. The normal people that come in are, well… let's just say they are no longer as young as they used to be. I come into this shop every day at noon. so I know almost everyone that comes ...

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“"How We Come Together"” by Talulah Pellon

Submitted to Contest #131

Ying opened the present wrapped in brown paper that Jacob, her new brother-in-law, had gotten her for Christmas. It was coffee. Ying didn't really drink coffee that much. Much less go through the trouble of making it from unground beans. The package had a black skull and a gun on the cover. She smiled and looked up at him, hoping she could keep her mask of pleasantry secured for at least the next few hours. "Oh wow, is this a famous brand in the US? I've never heard of it." Glancing at the faces of her husband's family, she guessed the ans...

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“The Sentinel” by Paul Brown

Submitted to Contest #131

The Sentinel.Engineer required; Location Dock 23. Ship; Black Griffon.Captain Mikhail Conrad Heikkinen commanding.Please be available for an interview if you are successful in your application, Thankyou.The printed hard copy now in her shaking hand, the break she needed looking straight back at her.She was early, not taking any chances with so important a meeting, jumping at the chance to escape Purgatory Station. The name like something unpleasant you eat from a very unsavoury food vender and let me tell you! there are plenty of them here o...

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“First Impressions Soaked In Whiskey and Poor Words” by Aasha McQueen

Submitted to Contest #131

There was nothing special about the bar that Melony was sitting in. It was a quaint place. Shiny red counters and red walls covered in photos and newspaper clippings that had been there since before Melony was born. She was sitting atop a wobbly barstool, her favorite one with the chipped legs, writing on some wine-stained paper with a thin black ink pen. Melony had decided to dawn a low cut yellow dress that night. It was hot outside, mid-July in the middle of Los Angeles. She was feeling the effects of the heat. It was the time of the...

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“Chicks & Dicks” by Jack Coey

Submitted to Contest #131

Finn looked down the bar and thought he knew her. The red hair and blue eyes he knew he’d seen before. He picked up his glass and moved to her. She gave him a hostile sideways look and he asked, “Did you go to Fenmore high school?” “Who wants to know?” “I give ya two guesses and the first don’t count.” “I hate guys who think they’re funny.” Finn grinned. “How about this? Did you take public speaking with Miss Conner after lunch?” “Who wants to know?” “Inquiring minds want to know.” “I hate guys who think they’re funny.” “I hate chicks that g...

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“The people watcher.” by Jessamie R.

Submitted to Contest #131

Steam whispers from the teacup before me, the scalding liquid untouched as I wait patiently for it to cool. I peer around the room, studying each face around me with utmost fascination. Meredith is here this morning, her Shih Tzu peeking out of her purse as she feeds the scrawny beast crumbs from her toast. Laura by the corner wall as always, her nose yet again buried deep in a novel. I squint, faintly making out Pride and Prejudice scrawled across the cover. I approve. Joe and Paula chuckle over sugar cookies and a fresh brew of coffee. I w...

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“A Tale of Two Gym Rats” by Zach Martz

Submitted to Contest #131

Kyle My New Year’s Resolution was to join a gym and get back into shape after years of being a worthless couch potato. I know that’s a cliché, but I was very, very determined not to be one of those ninety percent of people who make a pledge on January 1st to get fit and then turn back into fat slobs before Valentine’s Day. I was more focused on my goal than on anything else in my whole life. I would show up there every day, taking a tour of all the weight machines and making sure I was working every major body part, even the parts that o...

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“beneath a different light” by Jay Wayne

Submitted to Contest #131

Keeva found the dead man first. Melara could tell she’d picked up the scent by the way she extended her neck, suddenly keen on the trampled path of snow they were following.“Show me,” Melara said, and the leopard bounded ahead.Melara followed more slowly, less sure-footed in the deep snow than her silent companion. When she caught up, Keeva was digging in a snow drift. Melara’s heart sank. She’d been hoping whoever they’d been following had made it to safety, but she should have guessed from the blood spattered along the trail that things ha...

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“A Rose For Therese” by Mae Siu-Wai Stroshane

Submitted to Contest #131

Therese Malfatti hunched behind a tree amid the crackling leaves and pulled her dog, Gigons, against her chest. He whimpered and struggled to get free, but she held him tightly. Her mother called, "Therese! It's time to go home!" "Hush, Gigons, don't let her hear us."  "Young lady, if you don't answer me in three minutes, you'll regret it." Footsteps crunched on the path and stopped near Therese's hiding place. Then her mother went further along the path and disappeared over a rise. Suddenly Gigons leaped from Therese's arms an...

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“Burned” by Annemarie Wall

Submitted to Contest #131

“Emory?” he looks at me quizzically. “Yeah?” I respond nearly as puzzled. “Derek,” he answers my unasked question.  “From high school.” “Derek…from…high…school,” I repeat slowly, buying myself time to place him.  “And you’re…” my voice trails off. “Yes,” he looks down at the gear covering his uniform. “And you’re,” he looks at the business card on my reception’s desk.   “Yes,” I confirm. “We should catch up some time,” he snatches a card and turns, “see ya.” “Bye,” I blurt, “thanks again.”&nbs...

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“Fine Dining at Speedy Mart” by Webb Johnson

Submitted to Contest #131

Fine Dining at Speedy Mart I parked my car and was walking in when I realized I couldn’t avoid a scruffy guy hitting up the Speedy-Mart customers. Just to keep him from having to ask, I handed over three one-dollar bills from my breast pocket while I pulled open the glass entry door and walked in. Inside, the well-kept store was hectic with working stiffs grabbing beer, soft drinks, sandwiches, candy bars, and other fast food that could be munched on the run. Rolling papers, cigarettes, lotto tickets, hot pizza slices, and chicken wings had...

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“Auntie Carolyn” by Ariel Searcy

Submitted to Contest #131

I'm reclined in my shotgun seat, headphones in with the music cranked loud. Passively watching the clouds fall behind us through the open sunroof. My mother is sitting next to me, softly humming along to the timid whistling of the wind seeping in from the cracked window. The summers are hot and dry in Oklahoma city, but I've heard it's nothing compared to the sticky, mosquito infested niche that is Jefferson, Louisiana. I curl my fingers tighter around my phone, clicking the volume button impulsively in hopes to drown out the intrusive thoug...

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“The Broken Strings” by Mike Fry

Submitted to Contest #131

The Broken Strings by Mike Fry Stands a steep earthen ledge near a scrub oak woodlands, crumbling, looking down its nose on the summer-narrowed South Canadian River. It’s close to Overton Hill, where Schrock’s Ferry once crossed and old Camp Kickapoo near Mustang. The cliffs rise sheer where post-Oklahoma-land-run dugouts were carved into the red dirt. That town’s not on any present-day map, nor can you google it up. It seems to never have existed.   The cliffs show skeletal roots, reaching into space for life-giving water. The loos...

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“Where Legends Go to Die” by Kyra Temple

Submitted to Contest #131

“I’ll have a Bud Light,” I hear a man tell the bartender.OK, frat boy.I lift my martini glass to my lips, the first sip of vodka cleansing my hectic week at the office. As I turn to face away from the bartop, my eyes scan the dance floor expecting to see my best friend, Keri. She and I meet at Legends at the end of every work week. I routinely come straight here after closing out the week’s emails, while she usually stops by our apartment to “freshen up”. Keri’s Friday night interests vary slightly from mine, if you catch my drift. The ...

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“Blindsided” by A. Lee

Submitted to Contest #131

CW: Strong language“Winter Blue Baker?” Professor Riley calls out from the front of a classroom lined by black tables and cold, plastic chairs. There’s a whistle from the back of the class. Everyone turns, and the perpetrator grins wolfishly. “Crazy name,” he says. A girl from the front of the room, ignoring the outburst, raises her hand and says, “Here.” The students that border her gape for a moment, then the nuances of her name wear off as the professor continues roll call. Winter is used to this response after years of bei...

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Contest #131

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: First Impressions

$250

Prize money

185

Contest entries

128

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 04, 2022 EST

Won by Zack Powell 🏆

Title: Love Ain't Blind, Grief Is

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