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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character looking for a sign.

Posted in General on Jul 28, 2021

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✍️ 163 stories

“THIS IS THE DAY WE DIE” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

THIS IS THE DAY WE DIEDepression sounded like a half-witted song, one that couldn’t be sung at home or school or the church. It was something so ephemeral that it seemed to have lost its meaning. It was unlikely that one of the children would somehow become infected with the virus. Life with the Bishop was simple: mornings with prayers and a plate of fried bananas; afternoons with Jesus and rosaries and seashells; evenings with stories and hymns. There was no way a child living with Bishop would end up being contaminated...

181 comments 181 WINNER 🏆
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“War Tent House” by Mohamed Sarfan

2010 January 04 Kashmir that sleeps as dew drops in the midst of the garden of apple. Cloudy doves all over the sky resembling the circular moon that plays by chasing the butterflies! The wind of spring all over the body like the chillness of the river that tumble and falls into the ocean. The flowers that keep th...

75 comments 75
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“Tēomeh” by Alex Sultan

CW: Gore The gods demanded sacrifice, and the Aztecs could not dare to disappoint them.Mecatyl prodded his captive up the temple steps. He pushed the blunt end of his bladed club against the man’s back, tripping him on the stone as they approached the apex. The high priest awaited at the top with an obsidian dagger in hand. The verdant green feathers of his headdress shook as winds gusted by.Torches crackled in their posts, the warm light glowing in the eyes of the people who watched the ceremo...

13 comments 13
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“I was blind, but now I see” by Ruth Porritt

I can hear the ice cubes crack in the glass as I pour myself a large measure of whiskey. I take a moment to savor the sting of the alcohol on my tongue, and press the record button on my handy-dandy tape player. “Barbara Robinson speaking,” I say. “The date is July 9th, 1976, and the time is 9 AM. I glance at the generous measure of scotch I’ve just poured and think: What the hell, it’s 5 o’ clock somewhere....

26 comments 26
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“The Mirage ” by Moon Lion

"This woman, have you seen her?" I asked the shopkeeper, not able to keep the desperation from my voice after two months of searching.The shopkeeper tiredly leaned towards the portrait, frowning, and the girl hovering near my shoulder giggled.I ignored her, staring into the shopkeeper's sun-lined eyes. The man coughed once, and replied. "I don't remember, but there's a lot of people that come through here. With the Red Deserts behind us, this is the last place to get food and water for a long time."...

7 comments 7
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“Hey There, Delilah” by Mira Caplan

She sat up in her chosen auditorium seat as the first notes of her best friend's chosen audition song rang across the stage. It was a song they sang together often, laughing at the fact that "Delilah" was the chosen name. Not in a mocking way, but one that based off of irony and admiration.But this time, when Iseline sang, the words weren't muffled from elbowing her best friend over and over. They were clear, fitting perfectly with her guitar as she slowly picked at the strings, melodic, and... beautiful.

37 comments 37
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“Asking for Forever” by Julie Musbach

In the end it was the little things. That and a healthy dose of courage. For months I had watched for something, a sparkle in her eye, a spice in her tone, a hint in her touch.  Three years we had been together. Three years knowing she had seen something in me - desperation perhaps - that made her think I could be worth her time.  Some part of me knew, had always known, that I was worth it...

15 comments 15 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Imaginary Cabbage Stew” by Nina Chyll

C: ‘Are you asking about the impact the accidente had on the family? Well, there’s no family to speak of anymore, to start with. But I just want to scream: be yourself no matter what, you know. God, when I first came to this town, I had no idea, I had to reuse my lashes twenty times, that’s how poor I was, I reattached them until the residue glue was too heavy to keep my eyelids open. I had to ride to auditions on a bike, in the heat, can you imagine?‘And I saw him across the bar one night and boom, ten years later, some l...

12 comments 12
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“Sammy Not-So-Fast” by Kate Winchester

Somehow in her 35 years of life, Penelope had never been in a police station before, let alone been given a ride in a cop car. She was disappointed that the officer had not activated his sirens or lights. He wasn’t even speeding. Could he not sense the urgency? This was an emergency. Her baby was missing! Penelope was grateful to the officer; however, as he did not make her sit in the back like a criminal. Penelope was a...

19 comments 19
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“The Golden Beauty ” by Daniel Hayes

(Content Warning: Blood, Gore, some mild language.)Let’s get one thing straight here people, I am not an American Picker. If you don’t know what a Picker is, why don’t you google it because I don’t have time to explain it to you. If you were to call me something, I guess you could call me a sign collector. All my life I have been searching for a highly collectable 1950’s Chevrolet Bel Air Dealer sign.There are two versions o...

8 comments 8
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“Session” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Cerise sighed when she spied Adelie curled up in the reading nook, eyes on the rain outside.Her heart sagged in her chest, a damp dress hung over a coat hanger. Limp. The air caught against her ribs, and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Framed against the washed-out backdrop of droplets, Adelie looked older than her age. For one frozen snapshot, Cerise caught a glimpse of the adult her little sister would soon become. A temporary maturity — achieved through grief. Every nerve ending and vein ached, and not only for th...

3 comments 3
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“Sam Ben Andy Jake” by David Gottfried

“How about Crittenden Lane, Pop?” I ask, but by now I’ve lost hope.We’re driving aimlessly over the rolling hills on Route 23 in northwestern New Jersey looking for some sign that my Pop might recognize. But we may as well be wandering through a dark cave with a flashlight whose batteries are on their last few blips, the bulb flickering with increasing intermittency.“Does that name mean anything to you, Pop?” I ask again. “Does it ring any bells?”The purpose of our journey had seemed s...

8 comments 8
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“Santa's Real∙” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

I look for a sign. Anything that will change my mind. Anything. I walk down the streets of New York same as everyone else. I know someone is out there thinking how beautiful this place is– Just give it a few years. When I first moved here, I was in awe of the high buildings. We never had building like these in the country side so it was always such a beauty. I always felt like the buildings would fall bei...

16 comments 16
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“GOD, I NEED A SIGN” by Dr. Ugs

Note:The protagonist, along with the rest of the story and plot, is pure fiction and not meant to be offensive in any way towards an individual's religion.I peeled my butt off of the couch and sauntered over to the edge of the cloud to admire my most extraordinary creation ever: humans. They were walking around, happy as ever. Some of them were driving in their own clever inventions – automobiles – and punching the steering wheels to honk at each other....

2 comments 2
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“Alien Signpost” by John Hanna

“It’s just so hard to fathom, But, how are we going to gather a sign that this wonder was done by aliens? This place has been searched over and over again!” Arnold said, looking toward the top of the nearest of the three large Egyptian pyramids, the pyramid of Khufu. Arnold is a middle to old-aged, stout man of medium height, white hair, and tan skin, with dark eyes. He is dressed in the iconic wide-brimmed, do...

4 comments 4
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Contest #103

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This week's theme: Synchronicity

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Ended on 23:59 - Jul 23, 2021 EST

Won by Abigail Airuedomwinya 🏆

Title: THIS IS THE DAY WE DIE

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