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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a character who’s late to witness a special event.

Posted in Funny on Mar 24, 2023

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 25 stories

“A True (Ghost) Story” by Daniel Dundin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #191

A TRUE (GHOST) STORYby Daniel DundinIt started with a jar of eye cream. She had left the little canister on her dresser yet when she returned from work it was on the floor, broken. She had cleaned it up and worried more about the cost of replacing it than how it had plunged to its death.Two days later, it was the shower curtain. She’d found it lying in a heap, tangled around its rod, jutting from the tub. Perhaps the tension was getting old, she'd thought, the springs not holding as they should.Today it was the kitchen cabinet. The doors hun...

17 comments 17
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“The Fourth Gift” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #191

Jed hastily bundled his belongings together. He was late. He was always late. As part of the Traveling Magi show, he needed to be more organised, but he couldn’t seem to get his act into gear. The others had left without him, admonishing him to catch up when he could and to not delay too long.It hadn’t been his fault. The first set back happened as he piled his belongings onto the camel. The beautiful lead crystal bottle and rattle set had fallen off the other side and shattered over the pavement. Cas had just looked at him, d...

39 comments 39
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“A Day Late And A Dollar Short” by Joe Sauers

Submitted to Contest #191

One of the managers at the small firm where I worked, way back when, I found to be a rather woeful sort of person. He was a nice enough guy, Ian, he was called, but he was really boring. We were talkative and friendly at work but when he’d tell me about what he’d get up to at the weekend, it was always around-the-house type stuff. Things like cleaning out the conservatory, watched a good film on television or maybe gave the grass a good cutting on a sunny Saturday during the summer. I don’t think he ever actually said but it was evident...

22 comments 22
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“Another Day on the Job” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #191

I blame the Underground; I really do.I got called in for a job that January and they told me that I had to be there by ten, so I knew that everything was already at the office and my wife, my Gloria, had me sandwiches ready for me and the mug of tea to go on the counter when I was reading the paper that morning. Angie, my youngest, lost her bleeding mind when she knew that I was going to be in when they was going to be in.“Can you get an autograph, da?”“Let your father finish his tea. He isn’t goin’ in to get autographs.”Oh, Angie. Such a br...

13 comments 13
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“A Better Life” by Kelsey H

Submitted to Contest #191

CW: Offensive language, reference to abuse.I’m coming, alright. Jesus Christ, kid, quit standing by the car like that. Anyone’d think you can’t get away soon enough. The door's unlocked.You don’t need to give me that look, boy. I’ll smoke in my own damn car if I want to. Wait until you’re away in that place, you’ll be boozing it up and smoking pot every weekend with all the other kids, guarantee it.Here, put the address in my phone, would you? Make sure we don’t end up all the way in Invercargill. I never even been that far. Who’d want to, h...

22 comments 22
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“The Home Run” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #191

The Home Run                                                    “Regrets, I’ve had a few                                 &...

5 comments 5
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“Bricks” by Tom Bombadil

Submitted to Contest #191

Let us be clear: it is not their fault. Not entirely. It’s what comes of throwing darts at a world map for twelve years; of a History channel besotted with ancient aliens, buried treasure, and celebrity pawnbrokers – each, one would have thought, less likely to exist than the last; of uninspired and uninformed teaching; of an arrogant and myopic zeitgeist, glutted with adipose information, lustily discarding the common inheritance of mankind for the evening news and a bowl of red stew. My phone rings. It’s 5:15. “Mr. Delano? Yes, good mo...

6 comments 6
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“Two Minutes Too Late” by Amy Rosenthal

Submitted to Contest #191

As he sprinted down the street, his dress shoes slipped on the pavement and he slammed to the ground. He scrambled up, not even bothering to dust himself off. He couldn’t believe what he was doing. His lungs screamed at him for air as he heaved and gasped but he didn’t slow as he dashed down the sidewalk. He dodged among people receiving a fair amount of curses and yells in his wake.  He skidded to a halt at an intersection where cars whizzed by at top speed. He couldn’t barrel through them as much as he wanted to. He hopped from foot ...

4 comments 4
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“Spring Duck Tales Festival” by Keyanna Jones

Submitted to Contest #191

It was the day of the annual Spring Fling Festival, and Tim was running late. He had planned to arrive early,  get a good spot to watch the flower parade, and participate in the egg hunt.But as he rushed out of his apartment, he realized that he had forgotten his wallet. It contained his ID, his credit cards, and a few dollars for the festival. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should go back to get it, but then decided that he didn't want to waste any more time.As he made his way to the festival, Tim felt a growing sense of an...

2 comments 2
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“An Issue of Blood” by John Lente

Submitted to Contest #191

Jacob Fielder stamped his foot. When that seemed insufficient to express his frustration, he kicked the tire of his old Chevy pickup truck, splitting the toe of his worn out boot, scraping his big toe, and making his sad life even worse.“Dadgummit!” He swore like a man thrice his age and brought his wounded foot up to his waist, hopping about like a cartoon character until he lost his balance and fell against his disabled vehicle. The awkward angle of the truck bed pushed him off, and he fell onto the broken wheel that had com...

4 comments 4
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“The Violet Moon” by 3i Writer

Submitted to Contest #191

News of the upcoming occurrence of a violet moon in the sky of Trisdale city went viral on social media. The moon being violet in color was an extremely rare occurrence; it was sighted in 1999 in the Middle East and not many people had seen it. Trisdale citizens, who had never seen a red moon with their very own eyes, were absolutely thrilled for a violet one. Although there was a lot of talk in town. there was actually no official news report about it. In fact, Charlie, who worked as a weather presenter, reported that it would not happ...

4 comments 4
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“"What Are the Odds?"” by Shannon Gale

Submitted to Contest #191

“Hold the elevator!”Piper cursed under her breath and willed her feet, already clamoring to be freed from their black satin high heels, to move faster.Scooting around the corner, her heart sank as the doors closed. At the last moment, a hand reached through the gap, and the doors reversed course, drawing open again.Piper stepped into the car, careful to avoid the gap in the floor – what calamity would ensue if her spiky heel caught? - and blew out a breath. “Thanks.”“Sure.” The hand belonged to a man, maybe 28 or so, tall and slender with da...

4 comments 4
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“The Healing Forest” by Allison Psaila

Submitted to Contest #191

The Healing Forest Kaida was breathing heavily as she sprinted through the shadowy forest, twigs cracking and crunching underfoot, and branches clawing at her face. She finally skidded to a halt at a clearing, gasping for breath. In the middle of the clearing, Kaida could see a bright light shining and casting a warm glow over everything. Her heart sank with the realisation of what was happening – she was too late. Kaida had travelled for days on an important quest for the queen. She was to retrieve a rare plant that possessed magical he...

1 comment 1
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“Defining Ish” by Katherine Holt

Submitted to Contest #191

Saturday 2:45pm The car in front wasn’t moving. “How long is ‘ish’”, wondered Bob. Looking at his phone the time was 2:45pm. Annabel had said “3ish.” Does ish apply to before the 3 or only after? If it applies to before, was he already late? Bob dismissed that thought. People don’t say ish if they expect you to be early. Does it have degrees? Is there an on-time, fashionably late and a late to ish? If on-time is 15 minutes, he still had 30 minutes, if it’s 20 he had 35 minutes. If it has a 30-minute window that gave him 45 minutes to get th...

6 comments 6
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“The Ballad of Keryll and Krystan” by Anita M Shaw

Submitted to Contest #191

“You won’t forget the flowers, right? Keryll? You hearing me?” “Sure . . . flowers. Gotcha.” “And the cake . . .” “Cake . . . ” “Keryll!” I looked up from the book I was pretending to read. “I hear you, Krystan. Get the flowers! Pick up the cake. Go get ready, already!” “Get those flowers, Keryll Lynn!” And she flounced out of the room. “As you wish, Queen Krystan! Why can’t they be delivered?” “Delivery is extra!” came from the hallway. Momma. I tossed the book aside and fished the drawing I’d been putting the finishing t...

3 comments 3
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