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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that starts by establishing its setting in a different time period — without explicitly stating what that period is.

Posted in Historical Fiction on Jul 16, 2021

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✍️ 114 stories

“Road to Jenkins Ferry” by Jake Wishard

Submitted to Contest #44

April 28- Afternoon.General Frederick Steele winced as the rain began to seep through his widebrim hat, water droplets mixing with sweat from the humidity stinging his eyes with every drop. "Curse this Southern spring weather," he muttered as steam rose up from his dirty blue wool uniform, and from the mount shivering below him. This campaign through the Arkansas wilderness had been unkind to him and his men. They had resorted to foraging and had made many enemies on the road as they pilfered corn cribs and the very barns and homes of the lo...

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“Tales of beauty” by Kornelius Sikongo

Submitted to Contest #44

September spring, a happy evening it was. My parents, siblings and everybody at that party were dancing in ecstasy. The mood was jubilant. The effect of two rounds of vodka made me speak to the prettiest girls at the party. At twelfth I had already secretly made up with four girls in the bathroom. It was the greatest Sunday of my life. The joy and excitement went on until two in the morning. That was the morning I remembered I had a DAT test to write four hours later. DAT was a test written to determine the probability of students likely to ...

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“Three Bullets” by Oracle Ferguson

Submitted to Contest #44

The world was slowly adapting to the present changes, sounds of bullets and bombardments instead of birds, the smell of gunpowder instead of flowers and the echoes of the sobbing families, whose husband, son, brother or father had recently lost their lives in the frontlines, filled the atmosphere. The “Great War” as it was dubbed, had been continuing for over two years and no one knew when it would end.One day after the weekly meeting in the Town Hall, discussing the necessities of helping the families in these times and preaching how the so...

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“The Night of Fire.” by Ellie Burrows

Submitted to Contest #44

The wailing siren rose to its eerie peak in the early evening air sending a chill down everybody's spine. 'They're starting early tonight.' Frank commented darkly to no one in particular. He jumped to his feet pulling on his tin hat and securing the strap under his chin. Nora and Betty manning the comms desk looked at him, fear gleaming in their eyes. It made no difference that they had been through this several times now, it was just as worrying whether it was your first night or your fiftieth. 'It's going to be a bad one isn't it?' Nora as...

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“Whispers ” by Carol Keefer

Submitted to Contest #44

“Whispers”By Carol Ann Keefer             The lake lap as it caresses the shore and her hair danced in the warm breeze. In the distance, a house surrounded by an assortment of trees giving rise to an illusion of an island. There Isabella lives, or shall I say more like a prisoner, locked in a room whose windows face the forbidden lake. Gone is her innocence, strip away, like weathered stones that make up the mountains that protruded against the horizon.  Isabella...

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“The Night” by Rebecca Shipp

Submitted to Contest #44

The night oozed across the sky, swallowing up the blue in an inky blackness. The bright orange ball of fire that lit the earth and provided it warmth and life, edged farther across the sky in an attempt to evade the overwhelming darkness. But to no avail. Within minutes, the night had swallowed up the sun. A tremble ran through the boy as he watched the sun’s descent and disappearance from the mouth of the cave he called home. His hand ran over the line of blood on the wall that marked the size he’d been when his father had left. He was...

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“Disease” by CARLOS MANUEL EUSOYA

Submitted to Contest #44

Madrid had been a ghost town for 12 straight weeks. Today was the 21st of the month of snow, yet no one seemed to bother. The pebble-walled houses had no wreaths of any design. Not a single admirer whistled at the sight of the ladies' fur trim winter coats, their oxford boots, or large purple French-fusion hats. The men, who usually walked with pride and canes, did not light a cigar. They paced faster than usual and covered their smoke-tinted mouths with a white mask.The flu had been killing everything these times. The garbage collection, th...

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“Where the Blackbird flies” by Roger Shankara

Submitted to Contest #44

Lilo Kabui was playing with his siblings on the beach when he saw a ship on the horizon. It was a silver behemoth, bigger and faster than anything he had ever seen. And it seemed to be coming towards their island. His elder brother who was keeping a watch over the children ran to the village to alert the elders. The ship came somewhat close and stopped. Then a few boats were dropped onto the sea. A number of people got off and started rowing towards the island. Lilo and all the village children were now standing on the beach looking at what ...

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“While He's At War” by Alyse Morrell

Submitted to Contest #44

       To me, it was easy to tell them apart. All the other girls in our class would tease that the two were identical, and could only be sorted apart when you made them play sports, since Sammy was hopelessly clumsy, but to me it was always clear who was who.            When Sammy smiled, a dimple appeared on his left cheek. Tommy had a small pink scar just at the crease of his right eyelid, only noticeable when he closed them. It arched like the ...

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“Her Forbidden Rogue ” by Diane Spigonardo

Submitted to Contest #44

  Arabella Worsley settled herself in the carriage with her maid, Betsy. After an afternoon of shopping, they were preparing for the journey home to their townhouse located on Berkley Square. Her step-mama had asked for her help in making preparations for her sister’s coming out ball.  Something was amiss as her maid was unusually quiet. But Arabella decided to make use of the silence. Once the footman closed the door, she took out the new novel written by A Lady, which she had&nbsp...

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“Leaves of Chance” by Naomi Roberson

Submitted to Contest #44

Robert scowled as he inspected the tip of his thumb. The initial sting preceded the appearance of the red sliver which bubbled to bisect the rings of his skin. Pressing the injured appendage against his lips, he more carefully resumed thumbing through the leaves of Sense and Sensibility whose heroine, like his bride-to-be was pretty, quaint, even-tempered and kind. A loud crash resounded downstairs followed by a chorus of undignified, wine-induced laughter. His frown deepened. He had been right to escape the throng w...

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“Of Puppets and Flames” by • Iridesuetude •

Submitted to Contest #44

Blood.There was blood flowing from his back to the palms of his hands as he felt another strike. It sent jolts to his body, tearing his flesh as the tip ran through his wounds. The guard was skilled in handling the whip, he noted, feeling the sharp lash on his shoulder, missing his left ear by a few centimeters. The sound resonated and he hissed in pain, biting his lips until he could taste agony and metal all mixed in one."Who sent you?" a voice boomed, repeating the same words over and over again. He received another whip for his silence, ...

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“A Winters Eve” by Phillip Allen

Submitted to Contest #44

Margaret stepped out of the theater and pulled her coat up as high as she could on her neck. A cold wind bit at her face. This was her third time watching National Velvet. She knew she really should save her money, but she so loved Liz Taylor, and, in her opinion, Mickey Rooney was to die for.She had rushed the hand full of blocks from the factory to the theater when her shift had ended. She missed the simpler times, before the world turned upside down. Sure, money had been tight but at least her family was all together… and alive.She could ...

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“After Midnight in Mexico” by Jonathan Piscitelli

Submitted to Contest #44

I was lucky to make it back from Mexico alive.It all started out innocent enough. It was just a little two-week foreign exchange program between my high school, and a local high school in Torreon, a small mining town in Central Mexico.Richard and I were going along with twelve other Seniors, chaperoned and led by our Spanish teacher Mr. Fitzgerald.We left nearly two weeks before Halloween and Richard and I had thought about getting mushrooms to trip on our trip down south, making it that much more of an epic adventure, but it turns out we wo...

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“Hard times, hard work.” by Fern Theobaldo

Submitted to Contest #44

The clouds were covering up the sky, the vineyard, and the cornfield my neighbor owned was covered in snow, so was everyone else’s house. I got up excited and woke my younger sister Luisa up, we both put our jackets on and left the house to play, it was the best moment I got throughout the day because later on, I would have to take care of the house. You see, I am only a twelve years old girl, but my mom is a hard worker she was the one who put food in the table and blankets on our beds. We didn’t have a lot of money, and to be more specific...

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