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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

A character finds an old roll of film, and takes it to be developed. What do they find?

Posted in Middle School on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 45 stories

“The Family Secret” by Bill Bergeman

Submitted to Contest #144

Elizabeth gently opens the ceiling door to enter the attic. The rickety sound of the long-unused hinges sends a shiver up her spine and only antagonizes her jittery nerves. Grateful to have finally pulled the door all the way open, she pulls the ladder down from the attic and places her foot on the first rung. Pausing for a moment, she gathers her strength. "I am strong. I am not afraid." The mantra rings in her ears. Looking upward, she begins to climb. The first thing she notices is nothing spooky at al...

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“Developed Conspiracy” by Don Money

Submitted to Contest #144

“She sure is a beauty,” Tuck Emberson said, his hands running along the gleaming red hood, “a ‘63 you say?” “Yep.” I replied, “Ever since I was eighteen I always wanted to own a 1963 Impala, just took 30 years to get one.” Tuck jumped back in, “She is a real good looking car, how does she run?” “She doesn’t. The lady I bought her from said the car has been sitting in her detached garage since late 1963,” I tell Tuck. “She said it belonged to her brother and he went missing around Thanksgiving of that year.” “I can’t believe you stumbled ...

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“Made for you” by Wayne Cole

Submitted to Contest #144

Finding my old leather jacket at the back of my closet was like finding a piece of myself lost long ago. After twenty years, and more pounds than I care to admit, I did not expect it to still fit. My arms slid into the sleeves and the weight came to rest on my shoulders. The jacket that once defined my fashion fit better than I would have dared dream. I stood in front of the mirror and wondered if the person I had become still fit it as well as it fit my body. Memories felt like both a weight holding me down, and a r...

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“The Weight” by Tom Davis

Submitted to Contest #144

“A little to the left.” Emily said to the moving men as they positioned her couch.  Emily was excited as this was moving day into her new home. She had purchased it from her uncle who moved into a condo.  Her uncle showed her the various aspects of the home and the little tricks to get certain things working. For instance, he showed her how to fidget with the lock on the front door to get it to snap and lock.  “Uncle Bill how long has this be broken?” Emily asked “Never mind how long it’s been broken. Are you going to ...

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“The last shot” by Minja Zupanjevac

Submitted to Contest #144

'Of course I'll do it for you', winked Madam Katarina at her only son in law. In a crafty voice and set of teeth that gleamed longer than it took her to slip his Kodak film in the slit of her mink coat. Although a sizable woman, added to by a fur hat and carry on, she at once spun on a high square heel and turned her beam to the check-in official.Zoran lingered at the sparkly international hall. Squinting at the nostalgia one always feels at Departures, but soon recalling that all its blinking lights and female voices and happy bustle, sweet...

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“Inky” by Riddhima G.

Submitted to Contest #144

TW: murder, mental health, implications of suicide 12:11 pm  I stood at the banks of the Neva River, waiting for the moment I died to arrive. Safe to say, it never did. I stood like that for at least 20 minutes, just staring into the water with tears pouring down my face. The people watching me must have thought I was crazy as they quietly warned their kids to stay away from me. Nobody tried to stop me.  The cold air had pretty much frozen my tears the second they started to slowly leak out of my eyes and drip into the river remi...

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“Nana’s attic” by Karissa Polk

Submitted to Contest #144

Ever since I was a little girl , my paren I used to love it but now that I’m 17 I take the car and head to the beach. There’s literally never anything to do at my grandparents house . It’s the same ole same watching game shows or soaps. My mom sits and nods at everything my grandmother says. My grandmother was diagnosed with dementia five years ago. She calls me Zoelle even though my name is Danielle. I know that she can’t help it but it annoys me because I miss her. She use to bake the best desserts . listening to her childhood stories abou...

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“Kodak Color” by Annette Perez

Submitted to Contest #144

Max was cleaning out her junk drawer and found an old roll of film. Actual film in a cartridge! She wondered what is on this, who is on it? Little did Max think she would be surprised and curious from sorting junk. Searching a bit more Max found 2 slides. She wiped them off and looked at them. One was a young woman, early 20’s, and a real knockout lady. The other picture was an angry-looking man with dark hair and eyes.Neither looked familiar so Max put them aside with the roll of film and continued her quest to empt...

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“The Film Flop” by Gloria Parker

Submitted to Contest #144

“Hey, check this out!” Sofia shouted abruptly from right beside me. I carefully placed the glass vase in my hands on a shelf filled with some of this and some of that. Upon turning around, I saw a long, shiny strip of grey, with holes evenly spaced along the top and bottom.   “What is that?” I had never seen anything like it before.   “It’s an old roll of film,” she replied confidently. “We have some at home. My Dad showed me some.”  “Okay. So, we know what it is. But why is there nothing on it? Aren’t there supposed to be ...

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“A Journey to the Past” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #144

I've always wonder what the past was like. How the people lived? What they ate? What clothes they wore? What books they read? The past is fascinating. The past has a way of capturing your imagination. My favorite time period is the 1920's, the golden age of Hollywood. The movie starts of the past were glamorous, from the dresses they wore to the makeup they used. 1910-1960 is when the golden age of Hollywood took place. The 1920's was a fascinating time. The decade when sound was first introduce to movies, then we have the 1930's when ...

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“The Thing About Death” by Shelby Argo

Submitted to Contest #144

Losing someone you love is not easy. In all of history, it never has been. My nana always had a thing for antiques. She loved anything old. We would always joke and call her a hoarder, but the joke is less funny now that she's gone and I was now cleaning out her house full of the things from her hobby that she defended so passionately. I would leap to her defense, normally, because she would always leap to mine whenever my family poked fun at my hobbies. I guess that's why she left me all of the junk from her many years of estate sales an...

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“It's All In The Picture” by Rebecca Himmel Glassman

Submitted to Contest #144

It was nighttime and I was climbing the stairs to my room. I had been living for a while at my aunt’s house. Mom and I were fighting again and I thought that maybe a break would help the situation. Actually it wasn’t exactly my decision to leave. Mom threw me out after one of those stupid arguments that we always have, about utter nonsense. My mom still believes that I’m ten years old. Actually, I’m twenty five. I lived with Mom out of necessity. I wanted to finish school with a minimal amount of expense and had every intention of movin...

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“Jean S” by Maria Mesu Baciu

Submitted to Contest #144

10th of April 1988. A very hot day with sunny glints on the lake' surface. Isaac was still thinking of his classmate, Jean S. . The unique image of her smiling face made him happy. He would even say : the happiest man in the whole world. He was attacted by her. Her behavior, her manners, her voice and her beauty. Jean had a profound culture. She impressed by her morality and feminity. Once during the literature class he recalled her discussion about the Russian literature: she knew all the European writers and their novels. He was not accust...

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“Unexposed” by Jeff Thurston

Submitted to Contest #144

Scott was tired but it felt good. He’d spent the last 4 hours cleaning out the oversized desk that had taken his dad 50 plus years to fill. Most of what he’d found was now sitting in 4 cardboard boxes to be destroyed. The rest was in the one box he was planning to take home.                He had found an old Monte Blanc pen and a few replacement cartridges in the top drawer. He’d ask his Mom but he was pretty sure she’d tell him to keep it. Randy and Sue wouldn’t ha...

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“Ghost roll” by Alexandra Petrache

Submitted to Contest #144

Ghost roll -Oi, come back! -What do we have here? From the outside, you could see two thugs pulling a blanket from a battered (haggard?)-looking kid. From the inside, you couldn’t see much, as it was all hazy and dark, and painful. Tiny spots of pink were there though, shyly pulsating, although right now the haze was starting to threaten them. -Give it to us, it’s too big for a scrawny kid like you. One of the thugs jerked the blanket away from the kid, while the other one pushed him away. Laughing, they started running, dragging the blank...

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