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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone giving or receiving a gift.

Posted in General on Nov 19, 2021

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✍️ 41 stories

“Broken promise” by Lorelei Barrett

“When we’re older, let’s get married.” A blonde girl with pig tales smiled. She just recently lost her two front teeth making her have a small lisp. Her bright green eyes shined with happiness as she suggested her newest thought. “Yeah, okay.” A boy the same age smiles just as brightly. He was young but he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his days with her. She was perfect and as he responded her eyes only shined brighter. “Pinky promise.” She held out her pinky. It was an unspoken rule between them that a pinky-pro...

3 comments 3
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“Dweely the Terrahort” by Kevin Marlow

Shuffling across the barren steppes of Grittengrak, Dweely, a Terrahort of meager standing, was cooling off from a difficult day of sweaty manual labor on the farms of Snooleysnak. His thoughts never ventured far from his basal ganglia. The flat front of the forehead on Terrahorts was evidence of poorly evolved frontal lobes. Menial tasks were their curse. Higher level mental executive functioning was handled by the Anannaki, a subterranean race that depended on the Terrahorts for their strong backs and weak minds.Dweely...

6 comments 6
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“You Shouldn’t Have!” by Pj Aitken

Tommy Trent was a very spoilt child. He would prefer to describe himself as “knows what he wants” but the rest of his family and friends knew the truth. He was the kind of child who expected a gift when giving other people gifts. For example, on his friend Trevor’s tenth birthday, Tommy got him a mobile phone on the basis that he also got one, but a slightly better model with more storage.  Every Christma...

2 comments 2
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“Remission” by Dustin Gillham

“Happy birthday dear Slee-eem! Happy birthday to you! Funny thing is… I wrote this one,” Jello says, “when I was…like…really, really… I mean like…really…” Jello’s eyes are capital O wide and he stares at the ground without blinking, hypnotized by the fluorescent green shoelaces on his bother’s white canvas all-stars.Slim lifts an inquiring set of murky brown eyes and says, “Well? You were?” Slim’s skeleton sized arms shrug beneath dainty shoulders. “You were really, really… what?” His tone is almo...

8 comments 8
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“Thanks for the Memories” by Greg Gillis

           Daniel and Wendy met in a small café several years ago. Wendy worked as a waitress, and Daniel became a regular customer after the first time their eyes connected. He could feel a charge of electricity racing through his body and his knees felt weak. His first words to Wendy were, “Yeah, um…I’ll have a milk with two coffees. Wait, that’s not right. Coffee with two milks please.”       ...

3 comments 3
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“Electrical Circuits” by Victoria De La Cruz

I struggle with words. Sometimes I can not speak at all for I've undergone selective mutism. It's a part of my illness. I am ashamed but I know if people knew that the electrical circuit in between my neurons had a short they may be more understanding of my awkwardness. I have learned to enjoy my time alone. Since words always deem to fail my expression for life and others I've begun to notice the small things around me....

9 comments 9
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“A Gift to the Past” by John Steckley

Sheila Thinks ‘What do you get a man who says (frequently) that he has pretty much everything he has ever wanted? It is Francis’ fiftieth birthday, so I have to get my husband something very special to mark his half-century (a term I will not use). I had almost given up, when I got an idea, a crazy one, sure, but I believe it will do the trick. It is a gift that he would never think of gi...

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“The First Journey to Mars ” by Darya Silman

TW: death.I read once that you had to accept everything life offered you with thankfulness. I was thankful for the gift of camaraderie I had received during preparation for the space mission. As I looked right from my tiny plastic seat, I saw a smile of excitement dancing on the lips of Big Brother. He was the oldest of us, forty-two, with fair soft hair I had wanted to ruffle from day one. His patronal tone left no doubt how he felt about us, the second generation of the spa...

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“Winter Sonata” by Swan Anderson

 A package has arrived in the post from Vienna today. That's not unusual. What is unusual is the way my mother, Antonie, thrusts it at me impatiently and says in a trembling voice, "It's for you, Maxie—hurry and open it.""Another art book? Mother, we still have plenty from Grandfather's house!"She winces as she always does when reminded of Grandfather Birkenstock, who had been a renowned art dealer and had a vast and valuable collection in his mansion in Vienna. After his death twelve years ago, it ...

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“The Brass Bell” by David Partington

A parcel that had been leaning against the other side of the door flopped down at Olivia's feet. She was just sticking her head out to see if the rain had finally stopped, and wasn't expecting a delivery. In the darkness of early dawn, with eyes bleary from lack of sleep, she could just barely make out her name written across the front in ornate calligraphy and a return address in vaguely eastern characters that she coul...

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“The Lonely Fairy ” by Thomas Gooch

The last Fairy; diminished; sat on a well-worn stool of dark wood. The shadow from the rusted garage door was cast across her back, partly hiding her four insect-like wings; delicate and crumpled. They didn’t work anymore. They hadn’t for a long, long time. So long in fact that the Fairy had almost forgotten they were there, the memories of flying freely with her kin came in faded, confused gasps of nostalgia. Tonight wa...

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“Thankpology” by Thomas Carlucci

The old man clung to the plastic bags in his lap as his power chair quietly rolled on the bumpy sidewalk. He was on his way home from the supermarket and needed to get the refrigerated items stored before they warmed up. Waiting at home for him was his adorable cat, Pookie. She loved her daddy and defied the common belief cats are independent. Not Pookie. She was always happy to see the old man and had no qualms about showing her love for him. She was his emotional support animal, and they played together, slept together, and even exchang...

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“A sequined dress, a pair of cha-cha heels and a box” by Flore Lazcano

It's November 30th, 1996. Surprisingly, there is no sign of snow in the Northern hemisphere. I was born and raised here. I remember, my mother looking through the window and praying for a green Christmas. She was a very superstitious woman, and she used to say that when winter was late, luck was near.I decided this morning that it was time for me to clean her dormitory. She passed away a week ago. For some people, it's too early and inconsiderate, but for me, she left a long time ago. Six months had passed since the unfortunate acc...

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“Knitting Lessons” by Renee Srch

Dashing up our neighbor’s porch stairs, I knocked on the front door. Mrs. Nelson had come home from the hospital just this morning so Mom had dished up a serving of the lasagna she’d fixed for supper and asked me to take it over. Shifting impatiently from one foot to the other, I wondered what could be taking her so long. At last, I heard a bolt slide back. Mrs. Nelson opened the door and peered out. “Jas...

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“THE MAGIC GIFT” by David D'ettore User

THE MAGIC GIFT             The first snowfall was always a magic time for Noelle.  Sun-bathed summer blues, greens, and yellows had drifted into the oranges and reds of autumn that ultimately faded to the drab canvas of grays and browns of early winter.  She waited with eager anticipation for that wonderland of white that would eras...

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