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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a teenager spending their final days at home before going away to college.

Posted in High School on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 118 stories

“For My Truth, Would You Set Me Free?” by Doubra Akika

Submitted to Contest #53

“I hate you. I hate you so much,” I scowled at her, looking directly into her eyes. She taught me not to believe the words of other people if they were afraid to meet your eyes. She said it meant they were lying. I lied.When she grabbed those car keys, I should have stopped her. If I had known what would have happened, I would have stopped her but, who knows anything? We think we do, and then we realize we don’t know. Not even close.If only there was a way to go back in time, to prevent me from shouting those words. If only there was a way t...

160 comments 160
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“Trial by Fire” by Phebe Emmanuel

Submitted to Contest #53

Fire.Smoke.Ashes.They neared the Great Divide, each step heavier than the last. The notion that maybe they had left too late, and that they would never step foot through the gateway swam around in his mind, but Andrei pushed it away, struggling to keep hope alive through the damp washcloth draped over his nose and mouth. The sounds of an active war zone surrounding him and his heavily pregnant wife, Oleksandra, jolted the rocks underneath their feet as the bombs rained from the sky. He and Olek had come to the West about five semigens ago to...

73 comments 73
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“Who is the Child?” by Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #53

Tough love, a parent’s perfect excuse to be an asshole. It sucks the life and soul right out of an innocent child to have a parent who doesn’t seem to love or care, but after years of repetition of meaningless conversations, it becomes nothing more than an irritating buzz.The days were counting down; most of his belongings were in boxes. His books were packed up, and his closet was becoming ever more empty. The sun shined through the blinds, giving Aiden a rude wakeup call. He struggled to get up from his bed, knocking down his class schedul...

46 comments 46
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“The House of Cards” by Gopika Ashokan

Submitted to Contest #53

The city, once privy to the ongoings of my world, now seemed marred by contempt for the world. The star gazing ritual from my rooftop now felt so disdainful; the armchair which used to flawlessly fit my corpulent body now pricked me and reminded me of the unwanted bulkiness; the modestly built teapoy which I adored now appeared tastelessly fashionable.I looked above; the firmament was a blanket of stars. Stars always made me believe that illusions can be magical. But there was nothing magical about today.I could have saved Ruth. He saw me, h...

29 comments 29
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“Afra and Gervassi Off Road” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #53

Afra stepped off the bus and sighed, her backpack heavy with laundry and memories of the last few days; of her wonderful fireside chats with the elusive Gervassi. She smiled and turned back around to wave at him from the ground. He already had his headphones back on but he waved at her anyway. Good, she thought, that way no one else will talk to him. Speaking of talking, Afra’s heart thumped wildly in a different way when she thought of facing her parents when she got home. Had they been looking for her? Were there police cars parked in the ...

27 comments 27
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“School's Out” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #53

 "Dang it Pa, I don't want to go off to college and all." I got to stand firm on account of my Pa is Mike Carson. The man who chased down the Lane Gang by himself. Ranger, town marshal, legend. And ma expects me to live up to it by studying books, of all things. Don't get me wrong. I like Ivanhoe and never met a yarn by Mark Twain as couldn't hold my eyes a spell. But college ain't like that."Two weeks," Pa says. "Then you git on the train and take it to college station"I'm set to tell him no when Ma chimes in. "Cecil, if you agree to g...

34 comments 34
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“A Lifelong Journey” by Velma Darnell

Submitted to Contest #53

You spend your childhood wanting to grow up, and you spend your adulthood wishing you were a child again. That’s what people say, and I find myself believing in that more and more with each passing year. Sometimes, I really want to go back to the times when my principal tasks were to make it to the beginning of my favorite cartoon, decide what games my friends and I want to play, and convince my mum to let me go to the sleepover. Those days were great and filled with mostly positive moments that seem so carefree and bring warm and fuzzy feel...

79 comments 79
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“Five Days” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #53

Day 1 - PackingStanding at the edge of my bed, I folded my clothes and put them in my suitcase. That had always been the way I packed-in piles. I had moved a lot as a kid, so I knew that was the easiest and fastest way to pack.“Holly! Have you seen my light pink sweater?” Leaning back and peeking through the hallway-into my twin’s room-I saw Jill packing her suitcase.“Is it an off-the-shoulder?” I motioned to my shirt, which was also off-the-shoulder.“Yeah. Did Mom put it in your room?” I shrugged and walked over to my closet. Rummaging thro...

17 comments 17
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“The End of Summer” by M Daly

Submitted to Contest #53

I’m driving home from Daniel’s house, a goodbye party before I head off to University, if three people sat in a bedroom can be classed as a party. I felt too drunk to drive so I did couple of lines of coke before I got in the car. Daniel and Trisha were indifferent to my leaving for college, they didn’t even say bye when I left. I park the car outside my father’s house and smoke a joint before I get out. My throat is still numb from the cocaine but it improves the sensation I feel when drawing the smoke back into my lungs. I hold it there ...

15 comments 15
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“Shell” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #53

“A person is happy not when they are fortunate, or healthy, or privileged, but when they are these things moreso than others. That is why the Warrins are, without a modicum of uncertainty, the happiest people in the realm.” —Lue, Royal Advisor, Year 14XXShe sits on a moonlit windowsill, pinned there by the weight of an invisible crown.Generations upon generations of discipline and tradition and cold-eyed duty to the realm have been poured into the tiny thing, and her shoulders howl under the pressure.God, it’s heavy.So heavy that it mak...

44 comments 44
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“My Life Without You ” by Elaina Goodnough

Submitted to Contest #53

Dear Mom, This is my final day under Your and Dad's roof. I spent fifteen years here, not to mention three years in that old farm house in Yakima. My first memory is jumping into your arms off of a dock at Grandma’s house. I wouldn’t have done it if it were any other person, but I trusted you. I knew that you would catch me. I felt the salt and seaweed spray onto my chapped sunburned face, and I saw your smiling face look down on me. You seemed triumphant and calm. A couple years later you held onto my shivering hand as I stepped i...

18 comments 18
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“Finding that Special Person” by Mustang Patty

Submitted to Contest #53

When Jessica’s alarm went off at six o’clock, she smacked the face of her phone. The noise stopped abruptly, right in the middle of Journey singing ‘Faithfully.’ Once, that song had been a favorite. It was her parents’ song, and it used to play throughout the house regularly. It wasn’t essential to get up so early. She was, after all, still technically free of any responsibilities. She rolled over and pulled the covers with her. Why did her mother insist on keeping the temperature in the house at sixty-eight degrees? She stretched under ...

14 comments 14
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“I Found Myself” by Opeyemi Lawal

Submitted to Contest #53

It is another beautiful morning on this side with the rising sun, the cool breeze which makes you feel you are at the centre of the world, the barking of the dogs and the singing of the birds which makes a beautiful sound just like in the studio. You can’t get it anywhere except in Rain town close to the beach where I live. My love for nature was right from birth; I guess it was because I was born here. This is the perfect place to spend the weekend with your family.Guess who interrupted my favorite time of the day? It’s Mrs. Jones rather I ...

14 comments 14
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“This Isn't Goodbye, It's See You Later” by Jorja Orne

Submitted to Contest #53

I woke up that morning to the smell of cooking bacon, the smell flew through the house enough to wake up anybody who was asleep in it. Breakfast in my house is kind of crowded, considering I have six brothers and one baby sister, Liliana. Imagine being the oldest in that family? Well I don’t have to imagine. My mom had me when she was 16, now I’ve just turned 21 and enrolled in a college. My name is Lou Starverling, and this story is about my last days before college. My brothers, Liam, Lucas, Landon, Levi, and the twins Logan and Leo were ...

3 comments 3
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“Not Your Doctor!” by Peace Nakiyemba

Submitted to Contest #53

‘University, ah! I remember my days there. You know, wild days where…’‘Dad, you told me this story yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. Really all I want…’‘So now, because you will be going off to university, you think you shouldn’t listen to your old man. If I have told you the story hundred times then you should be a good son and listen to it a thousand times. And don’t sigh out like that. I’m still your father.’‘Yes sir.’‘No girls! Don’t grin like that, I mean it. No drugs either. Your future is too important to me...

15 comments 15
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