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Write your story about two characters tidying up after a party.

Posted in Fluff on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 147 stories

What’s Left

Winner of Contest #93 🏆

I wrap my fingers tightly around the clinging plastic of the trash bag, pull it open as wide as it’ll go, and watch him dump the remnants of our happiness into it.His large arms twist and flex unnecessarily as he shovels extra hors d'oeuvres and scraps of entree into the bag. His upper lip is a thin white line, stretched tight below frowning eyes. The faint and smoky gleam of the first stars illuminates our dining room. The windows are open to the still air, mingling the scent of grass and dew with the smell of recently extinguished can...

388 likes 279 comments 279
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Adieu

Shortlisted for Contest #93 ⭐️

I find out, quite early, that scrubbing spilled wine off the carpet is a waste of time. I find this out not by myself but from the mouth of Olive. She's still talking, carefully putting away the disposable cups and plates in a bag."They don't know what it feels like," she says. She's been repeating the same line whenever her hands touch a cup or a leftover pizza. It's somehow become an anthem for cleaning and I have since come to appreciate the way her lips signal words to come out, to tear the silence away.I am kneeling on the carpet now, t...

122 likes 47 comments 47
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Take the Cannoli

Submitted to Contest #93

“Carmine, you don’t have to help,” Rosemarie says. “You’ve done enough.”“Where’s all the ladies from the Women’s Guild? Widows aren’t supposed to clean up after their own husbands’ funerals. Mannaggia!” Carmine shakes his head, shoving a final piece of coppia ferrarese into his mouth. “There’s been three funerals this week already. What’s one more?” she replies, tossing a handful of paper plates, greasy with olive oil from Linda Petrucci’s second-rate meat and ricotta cannelloni. Typical of Linda to use cheap ground beef when a ground p...

115 likes 72 comments 72
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Unrequited

Submitted to Contest #93

Is it possible to get drunk, high or both by just smelling or looking at the substances that cause it? Was it necessary to consume said substances to feel that pleasure run through your veins?I swirl the last few drops of the brown liquid around and around, the red cup the customary utensil to be used for the occasion.“Relax Joyce, the beer is not going to kill you.”I jump, the beer rising up from the cup and falling back inside with a slight splash. I turn around to see Lillian, and I can feel my stomach clenching inside, my shoulders strai...

89 likes 44 comments 44
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Clean up, Clean up, Everybody Everywhere!

Submitted to Contest #93

The pretzels and popcorn were spilled onto the floor and stomped into the, what once was pristine, rug. Everleigh bent over and picked up red Solo cups and put them into her black trash bag. “Was it a bad idea? Y’know, having a party while Mom and Dad aren’t here?” Everleigh asked. Everleigh and I were twins, fourteen years old, both of us. We’d never gone to a party or thrown one. When Mom and Dad left for Hawaii this morning, we decided it would be a great idea to throw a party. Luckily they wouldn’t be home for a few days, so we defini...

87 likes 18 comments 18
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Uninspired

Submitted to Contest #93

You sit at the wooden desk that you built yourself. Your blank google doc stares at you, ever so intimidating. You glance at the clock, which is your first mistake. It is already four o’clock. Where did that hour go?You sigh to yourself.You have the idea to google writing prompts. Apparently, that’s not what you are supposed to do during writer’s block. It feels like something inside of you was trying to escape, like a caged zoo animal wanting freedom. But no matter how much it roared and screamed and shaked the cage, it could not get out. Y...

76 likes 17 comments 17
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Yesterday is Today

Submitted to Contest #93

Where is the moment we needed the most?You kick up the leaves, and the magic is lostThey tell me your blue sky's faded to grayThey tell me your passion's gone awayAnd I don't need no carrying on….“Mallory, please shut that off,” I groaned. “now is not the time for that song,” “I mean, it kind of is,” she replied, sweeping broken glass into the trash can. You stand in the line just to hit a new lowYou're faking a smile with the coffee to goYou tell me your life's been way off lineYou're falling to pieces every timeAnd I don't need n...

63 likes 20 comments 20
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Blankets

Submitted to Contest #93

TW: Mentions of death and self-harm.*~*A lot of people seemed to have deep and philosophical ways to understand others.Me? I thought that everyone always had a blanket on them.Like someone might have a blanket of nervousness and excitement around them before the first day of school.What blanket did I have on?Sometimes, in the winter, on the most chilly days, multiple blankets are piled on top of someone until they can barely count how many there are. They’ll fall asleep eventually, burying themselves underneath all of the layers.My blankets ...

61 likes 62 comments 62
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The Party's Over

Shortlisted for Contest #93 ⭐️

Content warning: gaslighting, domestic violence, sexual abuse of a child I am standing in my mother’s kitchen, sponging bits of turkey and mashed potatoes into the garbage disposal while Mom scrapes platters of leftovers into plastic bowls and Sis clears the table. Crowd noises and referees’ whistles emanate from the TV in the living room where the men rub their taut bellies and boast about the merits of their latest gadgets. Through the window, I watch the kids playing catch with the dogs and, for a moment, everything seems picture perfect....

48 likes 30 comments 30
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The Partygoers

Submitted to Contest #93

The empty Pinot and Cabernet bottles clanked discordantly against the Formica countertop. He’d set them down harder than intended. She looked up from the pile of dirty dishes, startled. Professor Nick Garrett smiled at her sheepishly.“Must have been a good party,” he said to the younger woman standing at the sink next to the pile of chipped porcelain plates and soup bowls and wine glasses with lipstick stains around the edges. He took an unsteady step backwards and braced himself against the wall opposite the sink. “You don’t need to do that...

46 likes 22 comments 22
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Fragments Of Roses

Submitted to Contest #93

 She returned to her bedroom, her chest throbbing with a strange kind of pain that she had never experienced before. Her blue organdie wore traces of damp sweat, and her sweet, beautiful face was ruffled and damaged, probably due to tears. She would never, never throw a party again or be present in any type of social gathering. She was done, done with entertaining.She was not always like this. Once she had been a sweet and happy woman, with everything that a person could want. New dresses, balls and parties almost every week, a sweet hu...

32 likes 7 comments 7
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Cleaning Up Sucks

Submitted to Contest #93

Jenny slams the door shut, collapsing on the couch. I look at her, smirking. “You weren’t always the type to get worn out after parties, Jenny.” I say, picking at a hangnail. She glares at me, or tries to, but her bright green eyes are dull with drowsiness. “Shut up, Vivian. It’s been a while since I’ve hosted a party. God, and we still have to clean up.” she groans. “Let’s go to bed. We can clean up tomorrow.” I reply, pulling off my dress and bra and throwing on some nightclothes. “Okay.” Jenny puts on her pajamas and we bot...

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Clean Up

Submitted to Contest #93

Cleaning up after a party is harder than you think. You would be able to spot pieces of popcorn scattered across the ground. You would see crunched chips on the seats and cupcake crumbs in the dining room. You may spot trampled toast that had fallen of the plate. Maybe even glance at a rotten relish that had not been cleaned up when someone spilt it. Hopefully not the purified plums which has been unliked by a guest. All these things are what we see now. I glance up at Fritz who was care fully picking up some frightful fish in one hand and p...

29 likes 8 comments 8
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Damn Wizards

Submitted to Contest #93

The Palace Hotel Grand Ballroom was most decidedly not grand that morning. Morning light spilled through the huge windows that overlooked the bay to cast rays on the detritus of the previous night’s soirée. Overturned tables and chairs, spills and stains on the carpets, half of the draperies ripped from the windows, and above it all, the smell of stale champagne and spilled booze.“You ever notice,” Karl asked, “that the richer the party, the worse the mess?”Sera knew what he was getting at, but she’d let him explain himself, again, in order ...

27 likes 6 comments 6
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Dancing on a Stage.

Submitted to Contest #93

I was talking to my sister, about to fall asleep. My sister then abruptly left, leaving me alone. Pigs and donkey pictures were all around. I winced. Before you ask, I HATE pigs and donkeys. I much prefer horses and bunnies. I groaned as, for the a thousandth time, I bent my aching back to pick up another balloon from the party, ten minutes before. I had one more balloon to go then I would finish this unbearable task. Closing my eyes I finished my job. I stretched and massaged every bit of my body, my thighs screaming at me from the running ...

26 likes 4 comments 4
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