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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story featuring an animal who subverts expectations (like a snuggly tiger, or something more magical, like a literal fish out of water).

Posted in Kids on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 69 stories

“The Rat Who Caught A Cat” by Kelsey Mathias

Submitted to Contest #41

Farley was always hungry. He just loved to eat. This was a big problem for Augie, since he was a small tan and white rat, and Farley was a big orange and everything cat. Both animals belonged to a kind lady with hair the color of broken Oreos. Even though she made sure Farley was well-fed, he taunted Augie by calling him “rat-snack”. He quivered with fear in his cage. He could feel the patter of Farley’s big paws and hear the sound of his hissing “I’m gonna get you, Augie” all over the house. But he had no way to tell the lady about Farley. ...

11 comments 11
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“The Snake With Blue Eyes” by Dextyr Adams

Submitted to Contest #41

As he entered the forest that morning there had been snow. It clung to his cloak as it drug against the earth and kissed the soles of his feet through his worn out boots. His thick wool socks were almost completely soaked now, yet he trekked onwards. In his hands was a basket filled with small amber vials. Antidote - or at least that was what the man in white had called them. The vials were supposed to save those who’d fallen ill in his village. He wasn’t smart nor had he ever claimed to be - so he listened to this mysterious man. He ha...

2 comments 2
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“A Dug Out Pond” by Dustin Softman

Submitted to Contest #41

Mrs Dalton had been the first to discover Berty. Soon in tow Miss Badeal, most of the Laghari family and an assortment of other village folk followed her down to the local pond. ‘He really is the most remarkable of his kind I’ve ever seen, I’ve no idea how he ended up there, I’ve been walking around Huntly garden’s pond near every day since they dug it out and I’ve never seen so much as a cherry shrimp or killifish in that bog, but today it is clear as tears and there is the most enormous… ’ Mr Laghari sidled up to expedition’s leader to res...

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“The Avian Adviser” by Shaun Calvert

Submitted to Contest #41

All hail the king, and hail him well, if you know what is good for you.He was firm, but also fair…ly annoyed and predisposed to executions. He had to rule the kingdom, keep the order and keep an assortment of ancient secret evils from being unleashed into the world at any given moment. Take the orcs, for example. Few people knew orcs existed, but the king did. He had a whole castle dedicated to the purpose of repelling them. The point is, he was very busy and did not really have the time to be dealing with the more mundane tasks of royalty. ...

2 comments 2
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“Teddy” by Aspen Adelaide

Submitted to Contest #41

Running as fast as my feet can carry me. The air is brimming with a green fragrance reflecting my surroundings. Tall fescue grass tickling my ankles with each stride. Sticks threatening to trip me. At eye level all that can be seen is the dense pines, bark, and moss passing by. Above me the canopy is a maze of branches and leaves with an intense pine smell. Behind the canopy is a menacing grey sky, cold and somber. I hear steps pounding close behind me. Are they catching up? I can’t risk questioning whether they’re closing in or if I’m ...

5 comments 5
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“What the Mist Reveals” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #41

It was the kind of damp, mist-clinging daybreak that seemed to even deter the dawn chorus. Midsummer, or almost, thought Dora, as she stepped out into the garden, but it feels more like November. Except of course, it November, it would not be light at just gone three o’clock in the morning. For despite the mist and the cool, it was light. Light with the East coast’s middle of the night summer dawns. The birds have more sense than I have, Dora thought, not being up yet, and if I had any sense at all I’d go back t...

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“Paolo the (Polyglot) Parrot” by Natalie M.

Submitted to Contest #41

Who could say no to my eight year old’s cute puppy face? As much as I tried, not giving in felt impossible. The look dug into my soul. That is why we ended up bringing Paolo the Parrot into our home, which I regretted right away. My wife, Ingrid, was also not happy with the choice I had made. Ingrid’s face when she saw Alice and I walking in the door with a Paolo flailing around in his bird cage will always be unforgettable. I was nervous that her jaw was going to fall off and hit the ground.Alice hopped into the house and screamed, “Mommy, ...

4 comments 4
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“THE MUSIC IN HER HEAD!” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #41

From very early in life, Olivia has had a secret wish to be something grand!  She would dream of even being famous but what really interested her was just doing it!  Just being it!  The famous part well,  if it came,  it came,  but it was truly unimportant.From early on, she would wander away from her siblings and friends,  find an isolated spot and then begin to let the music flow in her mind.  She knew where the music came from,  she had heard it one summer night from the big open windows of the...

4 comments 4
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“The Mouse and the Wolf” by David Jernigan

Submitted to Contest #41

“Where did you get that scar?” The Little Mouse squeaked her words out in a high pitched voice and grating tone that insulted the ears of the Old Wolf. The two of them padded along on the soft grass and heard the gurgling of the brook just to their left. An autumn breeze blew the chill afternoon air that portended a crisp night and possible snow. In the coming weeks, shelter would become difficult to find and food, scarce. He had felt his undercoat grow dense these past few weeks, and the Old Wolf was of the age when he was no longer su...

3 comments 3
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“She Dreams of Toads” by Tracy Felder

Submitted to Contest #41

   It started as a prank. Lena stood on the conjoined back patio of her duplex and stifled a giggle as she dumped bag after bag of crickets on her neighbor's back doorstep. The crickets leapt and scurried in every direction, clinging to any surface they touched. "This should get his attention!" She muttered to herself with intense satisfaction.     Lena, by all accounts, had the social skills of a wet sock. Nick moved into the unit next to hers at the start of the Fall semester, and she fell in love in...

3 comments 3
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“Kelpie” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #41

I really enjoy looking forward each week of the prompts that are suggested to write about. It has helped me immensely in my short story writing development. One week I was so baffled that I couldn’t relate to any of the subject matter so I didn’t write anything. If anyone outside of whomever chose the prompt to write something about subvert expectations this week and knows what it means. I’ll wear my Yankee ball cap backwards on my head for a week. Wearing your San Diego Padre baseball cap backward will not help you get a girlfriend. Wearing...

5 comments 5
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“Somewhere Clean” by LeighAnne Ferreol

Submitted to Contest #41

The pigs all wriggled and rolled around in the muddy puddles, laughing. All except Henry. He stood far back from the puddle, cringing away and grimacing any time a pig splashed mud near him. Henry hated the mud! The other pigs often teased him about this, and today was no exception. “Hey everyone, make room for Henry!” One called out from the messy mob. “Why bother?” Asked another. “He won’t come in. He’s too scared.” “I’m not scared!” Henry huffed. “I just think mud is gross!” One of the pigs suddenly dove into the puddle, splashing mud eve...

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“The snake in the top hat.” by Portal Jumper

Submitted to Contest #41

This story starts with a backpacker in the mountains somewhere in Utah. The girl was running away from society, so to speak. She didn't know if she would return. A week had passed and this girl was far from her city. For her, that was a long time. Her life in the mountains had started as a normal day. Packing up her supplies from her small camp, washing her few clothes in the river, etc. She had just begun to hike up a trail from a stream when a small corn snake slithered in front of her. "Hullo," The girl greeted the snake wi...

2 comments 2
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“REALITY CHANGES THE WORLD” by Aditi Sriram

Submitted to Contest #41

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Charlotte and she was 8 years old. She lived in Los Angeles. One day at night, Charlotte could not sleep so she closed her eyes and opened her eyes then she suddenly disappeared with her fish.Then she saw the world that was pink, Trees were pink, Grass was pink everything was pink. She thought that she was dreaming but she wasn’t so she plucked a flower and kept it inside her pocket.She saw that water near her was in pink color also so she was thirsty so thought to drink some water. Then she saw her ...

2 comments 2
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“Another Day in the Neighborhood” by M.D. Smith

Submitted to Contest #41

Dennis walked in the back door of the Newton’s small house. “Morning, Alice, where’s Ralph?”“He might be in the back yard.”“I didn’t see him, and I came in that way.”A sly smile was on Alice’s face. “How deep did you dig.”Dennis looked surprised and then grinned as well. “Oh, come on, having him home all the time can’t be that bad.”“Then you try living with him twenty-four-seven, and you tell me.”“Did I hear someone talking about me?” Ralph strolled in the kitchen, holding his enormous round belly. “I’m hungry, Alice. Any chicken left?”“You ...

3 comments 3
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