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Set your story within a window of opportunity, when a character finally has the chance to do something.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 143 stories

The No.7 Bus

Submitted to Contest #97

Her gasp, her sigh, wrung in my chest. There she was, facing away, pleading, “Let’s go back… Let’s go somewhere else.” And here I was, thinking, I can’t go back. But saying, “I have to… Really! I have to.”Hanging her head outside the car window, she flinched in the waft; a gentle murmur into and out of the vehicle under her sobs and sniffles. She wiggled in her seat, her dress sliding higher above her thighs, but silently, I looked away.The quietness, awkward between us.Deep inside my head, a keyboard and saxophone accompaniment rendered a h...

17 likes 7 comments 7
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I Never Said That We Would Die Together

Submitted to Contest #97

It all happened in what seemed like a fraction of a second.           The pain was so intense that it was tangible, and I almost crumpled to the floor in an agonized heap. I was shaking, shaking so hard that I couldn’t see straight and I couldn’t help but to grip the edge of the table before I passed out. I blinked twice past tears that seemed to feel like they belonged in my eyes, but I couldn’t cry. All I could do was to stare at the ceiling with lips trembling and the taste of blood i...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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Letters found in Cemeteries

Submitted to Contest #97

Dearest Stranger, I wonder who you are, you have taken the time to read the thoughts of someone you will likely never meet. Will you read to the end? Curiosity getting the better of you as you wonder what kind of person leaves letters for strangers in a cemetery, half hidden in the hollow of a tree? Will you crumple it up, thinking it is some kind of joke. It is not, I assure you, but I cannot account for what kind of person you will be. I do wonder though. If you are still with me, bravo, I thank you for your time and kindness, these thou...

16 likes 0 comments 0
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Time to Fly

Submitted to Contest #97

Ping. Ping. Ping, ping. Ping, ping, ping. My phone is typically silent at work. It should be silent at work. I’m not sure why it wasn’t silenced that day. Mother’s intuition maybe? Ping. Another text. It was my oldest daughter’s distinct tone. Each child had her own tone designated, so I knew the messages were all coming from Victoria. Was there an emergency at home? I glanced across my classroom and debated whether I should check the texts or finish the lesson. My students looked at me expectantly as if they were thinking the same thing...

15 likes 6 comments 6
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There Are Two Windows in Our Bedroom

Submitted to Contest #97

There are two windows in our bedroom. I could throw out my husband or an old lover. Hence, the dilemma. I was potting my market-bought roses onto the rich, loamy soil of our garden on Tagaytay Mountain. They were bright red and small roses which bristled in the wind. I was leery of the fact they may not survive the coming rains. But I was optimistic. He came from nowhere. Dis. He is an old lover from a turbulent past I had torn myself from, fled from and married another to settle down to have children and be stable. I admit, I used my famil...

14 likes 1 comment 1
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The Day Had Finally Arrived

Submitted to Contest #97

The day had finally arrived. Tom quietly shuffled around his room, careful not to wake his wife, gathering his socks from the dresser, tie and suit from the closet and shoes from next to the door as he quietly closed it behind him. Dumping everything on the couch, Tom headed to the bathroom with a pronounced bounce in his step to wash up for the day ahead. Staring in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, he stared into his own eyes and was nearly brought to tears as he thought about the relief that would come today. The weight that would be li...

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She's Out!!

Submitted to Contest #97

As far as the neighbours knew she could be dead. Ten years she had been in that room and no one had ever questioned it. Why had no one ever wondered was she under the shed dead. Was she really that unmissed by society that no one cared at all?I know she thought I will creep out at night when everyone is asleep and go wild in the street, rob the bakery, swing my knickers in the air and leave my mark on the landscape.Tonight was the night, it was a school night so the kids were in bed and her husband who now slept downstairs (so she wouldn’t b...

14 likes 4 comments 4
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It's a match!

Submitted to Contest #97

Dear Diary,Ever wondered why it's called a "window of opportunity"? Why not a "door of opportunity"? Why should I climb and wedge myself into an opportunity? Why can't I just walk through to one? Why does the path that leads to something good, has to always be tight and uncomfortable? Not to mention that climbing through a window always has a risk of getting stuck in said window with no way of moving forward and no way of going back. In my humble opinion, it sounds a bit harsh, unnecessary and unfair to be honest. It might even explain why s...

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The woman in the window

Submitted to Contest #97

She’d always liked the house, from as far back as she could recall. End of terrace, with it’s own little front garden, that housed an array of rose bushes that smelled divine to the passer by. It’s location good, set opposite the park, and on quiet road, that saw little passing traffic.It had first caught her attention, upon one of the first solo walks home from school, after moving up into the juniors. It had been one of those glorious Indian summer September afternoons, when she had paused to look longingly at the park, drawn by the sounds...

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The Shieldbearer

Submitted to Contest #97

"Corvin!" Yelled out his quartermaster. A old man with a busted arm held in a sling. He was oft time called the Hermit for carrying a wooden stave in his good hand that he wasn't afraid to use on fresh recruits like himself."Yes, Master Welks. I'm here." The young shield bearer lifted a silver shield onto his back as he waved to the old man from within the mass of squires awaiting their names to be called."Seems like it's your time, sonny. Tell your Lady that she is up for battle. To prepare and be ready be...

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You Can Always Count on Friends

Submitted to Contest #97

My name is Jade Jackson. I am twenty-five years old and I have long black hair and purple eyes. I walked down the street in my new rainbow tie-dye T-shirt, black pants, and dark red Nikes. I walked to the park enjoying the nice fresh 60-degree weather. I heard a voice say “Mind if I join you?” I jumped a mile.  “Sure,” I said and she smiled. “Hi, sorry I scared you.”  “Hello! It’s really okay, I know you didn’t mean to.” I replied.  “Okay! Well anyway, my name is Laura Delany.”  “My name is Jade Jackson, also you have a r...

14 likes 10 comments 10
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The Anomoly

Submitted to Contest #97

“My people are dying. We need your help.”           The traveler always looks weary, Amina notices. Every time the traveler visits, there is exhaustion at the forefront of her eyes. The traveler doesn’t always say the same thing. Sometimes it is, “Please, help.” Other times she begins casually, “Hello, my name is Nisha.” Once, she even tried to kidnap Amina.           “Didn’t you hear me? My people are dying. We need your help.” ...

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Knew Her

Submitted to Contest #97

I’ve known Haruka for a long time. Well, if six years counted as a ‘long time,’ that is. We first met each other in senior high, where we were in the same class for all three years. Back then, we didn’t really know each other that well so the first three of those six years might as well be zero. A week, at most. We were nothing more than classmates, then. Familiar faces, acquaintances of the lowest order; we might as well have not known each other. And if her name had been Yui instead of Haruka, and her face sharper, and she wore glasses—it...

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The Optimistic One

Submitted to Contest #97

           The heel of my boot tapped rhythmically under the coffee table as my knees bounced up and down. The shot of espresso seemed to be working its magic through my limbs. I eagerly watched the people passing by the window with the collar of their coats turned up. Not too strange for early November. I had to have watched about 25 people walk by. None were him. I checked my phone once again. He was ten minutes late. I sighed. Hopefully, he wouldn’t stand me up like he did last night....

14 likes 6 comments 6
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A Moonlight Reverie

Submitted to Contest #97

The whirring noise coming from inside the dashboard of Roy’s truck was driving him insane. He’d had it checked out at three different garages. He’d watched as the technicians opened her up and fiddled around with the cords and fans in there. They all shook their hard heads and shrugged their useless shoulders when they couldn’t find the source of that godawful racket. As he pulled into his driveway, the noise screamed louder at him and he banged his fist on the dash. The whirring continued. Grumbling curses under his breath he switched off t...

13 likes 7 comments 7
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