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Write a story about someone sticking to a course of action even when it’s clearly wrong.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 182 stories

Meep Meep

Submitted to Contest #94

I lie in wait. I hear it. In the distance. By the semi-circle horizon. It calls-- Meep Meep. The contraption is in place. As it always is. Nothing like the catapult this time. Nothing that foolhardy. This one is the newest model of the top-of-the-line series of foul entrapment from the good folks at Acme. A good company. An American company. Oh sure, most of their products are made in Taiwan, but the ideas are constructed right here in the U. S. of A. That’s how you know you can trust them. Have they made mistakes? Of...

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The Extraordinary Adventure of Jacob McMullen

Submitted to Contest #94

Jacob McMullen was a curious child.He had read every book in the family bookshelf including the A-Z and the Dictionary. He knew the proper names of all the creatures that lived in the garden, from the insects to the flowers, and even the clouds.Jacob had hundreds of ideas stored in his brain, for rainy days and sunny days and all the days in between. The trouble was, he was not allowed to do any of them. When he had asked his mother if they could go to the shops, she had said, “No, there are too many germs.”When he asked to go to the fi...

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Wannabe

Submitted to Contest #94

My feet dance from ledge to ledge as the sirens begin to wail.They don’t see me. They almost never do. When they are fortunate enough, they may catch sight of my maroon cloak, or the glint of my copper framed goggles as I disappear into the city below, prize in hand.Tonight will be no different.Package tucked under my left arm I raise my right wrist.1:Skip?2:Nearest root to Vontelo’s?1:Did someone become a psychic?2:Nah must be A.I. instinct.1:The same A.I. instinct that led us to Getlin’s last time the E.L.O.s caught a glimpse of us?2:That ...

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The Spark of Life

Submitted to Contest #94

The man kept glancing over his shoulder as he ran, looking up at the darkening clouds with consternation. He mustn’t be too late. His boots squelched in the mud as he hurried along the country lane, his long black coat flapping madly behind him. His step hardly changed as he got to the stile. With one hand on the gatepost, he stamped his left foot down on the bottom step and launched himself over with one heave, twisting his body to land firmly on both feet, facing the way he had come. Wasting no time, he spun round and carried on running ac...

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Just Trying to Help

Submitted to Contest #94

“It won’t stop.” “What?” “The elevator. The elevator isn’t stopping!” “It feels fine…” “We just passed floor 30, which is what I pressed. None of the other buttons are lit, look!” “Did you push the emergency button?” “You’re literally standing there watching me punch it over and over!” she cried, panic starting to build in her voice. They had just passed floor 25. Was the elevator picking up speed? It felt like it. “Ok, so it will stop at the basement floor…” “How can you be sure?!”  “Because I will make it so,” he said knowing...

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Silence

Submitted to Contest #94

I fell in love with silence from a really young age. Maybe silence was all I had. Being born in an orphanage, I felt left out from everything my entire life. I had no one to look up to, no friends. Well, since then, silence became my best friend. I fell in love with her calmness, the peacefulness of her slow melodies, and how she talked to me without even saying a word.Being alone was not a great deal for me; I was born that way. So I stayed alone. Life felt peaceful. For some people, not having anyone around you, no one to talk to, mig...

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Anders: A Parable

Submitted to Contest #94

ANDERS: A PARABLE Anders would always remember—not the wedding—but the priceless gift he received from the bride’s father. Hannah was a striking woman, tall but softly rounded about the edges, with huge grey eyes that could look into Anders’ soul. For years those expressive eyes had haunted him while he courted, teased, and even begged Hannah to be his. To his relief, gratification, sense of wholeness she had said yes, promising to love and cherish him forever. Anders was not a little jealous of his bride’s love and expressed his anxiety to...

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The Neighbour's Garden

Submitted to Contest #94

“So, you’re gonna lay down here and cross your arms like this and I’m gonna use this shovel to bury you.” “Won’t mom be mad?” “Can’t be mad at a dead person, right?”  Laying there in the little hole they spent all afternoon digging, looking up at his big brother who’s head was now invisible because of the intense sun that hung over everything and cast a disorienting heat, the little boy considered this notion. He didn’t know any dead people, not personally at least.  “What about someone really terrible? Can you be mad at someon...

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The Crab and the Old Man

Submitted to Contest #94

The Crab and the Old Man “I’m not leaving this island,” the old man grumbled. “Then you’ll starve,” a little red crab replied. “I have fish to eat and water to drink. I am content.” The man slumped down against a palm tree and crossed his arms. “What about your wife? What about your family? Won’t they miss you?” The crab urged, taking timid, mechanical step towards the old man. “I’ve an ex-wife who hates me and a daughter that doesn’t love me.” “Love can be regained,” the crab assured him. “Not this kind,” the old m...

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Suffer the Child

Submitted to Contest #94

Lazily squinting, his eyes flutter than open to the realization that he was at least 2 stops further than he wanted to be, as he quickly reached-out to pull the cord, informing the City Bus driver that someone wanted to exit at the next stop.He stood and was already headed for the rear-exit, as the bus was coming to a slow, yet determined halt. As he pushed open the double doors and stepped out into the bone-chilling “Hawk” of a wind, he wondered if Michelle's father would still be awake. He was way too tired and emotionally drained for a co...

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Spiraling Walls

Submitted to Contest #94

How did it end up like this? Over and over again, Aki asked herself that same question; over and over again, until everything inside her was torn apart, turned to shreds, carried spiraling upward into the air. It was a hurricane inside her. One that tore away at her sanity, whittling away her core, shaking her from deep within. For a long time, Aki sat curled up on her bed, her back against the headboard, her face hidden, her arms hugging her knees. From the outside, she looked still, motionless; but inside she was shaking. She felt like h...

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Blood in the Water

Submitted to Contest #94

Muttering under his breath, Colton pushed his rowboat off the shore—into the swamp’s murky waters. He clambered into the wooden watercraft a second later, then pushed aside a tackle box as he grabbed hold of the oars. “Useless little fisherboy, eh?” The young man began to row, his eyes narrowed. “We’ll see about that.” He moved towards the center of the small lake, or “forbidden marsh” as the townsfolk always called it. Dark olive-green algae clouded the surface. Colton couldn’t see a single sign of fish, but he knew that wasn’t th...

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Snow White - Vampire Diary

Submitted to Contest #94

Copyright © 2021 by Fallow Amber. All rights reserved.Dedicated to Moon Lion, a wonderful Reedsy-er I recently met, who wanted a fantasy vampire story so badly :)Disclaimer: This story contains a lot of things that aren't real. I hope you have a blast reading it.“The toad,” a sibilant whisper to the raven makes it come flying towards the Wicked Witch, a black plumage of it falling to the steep floors of the coven stead. It drops a cold, lifeless animal into the claw-like grips of its owner. Pockmarked and dirty skin wrapped around pale and l...

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The Bandit's Treasure

Submitted to Contest #94

Most summers as a child, my family would make its way down to my grandmother's house in Mexico.The house was not what it once was. Before my grandfather died, they had had not only pigs and chickens but also cows and a small stable of horses. My grandmother, to make ends meet, had sold off most of the livestock and even sold off tracts of land.Nevertheless, the now small house still had its charms for me. In Mexico, many houses are built around a central patio. The patio is open to the elements and is surrounded by covered corridors. The roo...

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Not the Neighbor.

Submitted to Contest #94

      I could have sworn I put the keys in my purse, but no. There they were mocking me from the countertop which just so happened to be on the other side of the locked door. I took a deep breath, no big deal – I could totally walk to work. Almost as though on cue, a cackle of thunder reiterated the impending weather. Maybe not. The neighbor to my left was a locksmith by trade, but it would take a lot more than a locked door to ask HIM for help. He gave me the creeps. Actually, he gave everyone the creeps. I sat...

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