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Write about a character who settles disputes for a living (a judge, mediator, school counselor, etc).

Posted in Middle School on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 36 stories

THE DUMB KING

Submitted to Contest #153

    They called it the Dump.  It was a tract of land the size of Rhode Island filled to the brim with trash as far as the horizon could accommodate.  Upkeep was long forgotten since the War of Inversions reduced any sign of civilization to ashes and made mincemeat out of history.  Some say there was a victor in the War of Inversions, the rest didn’t know because they were unable to discern a lightbulb from a leg of lamb.  The Smarties, they called them, were extinct, leaving their mental underlings to procu...

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Harry Get Out Your Cane

Submitted to Contest #153

 HARRY GET OUT YOUR CANE.Ginny sat, once again, in her therapist's office. She wondered if she’d ever be done with this woman, yet in the same moment looked upon her with deep gratitude.This person had stood beside her for almost two decades. She stored an encyclopedia of details about Gin’s life and knew things and connections to things that few others did.Gin could be quite a blabbermouth and though she told people much, she hid even more. Her words often became a shield that protected her from those she felt most vulnerable.The woman...

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The Decision

Submitted to Contest #153

TW: Discussions of slavery and implied sexual violence “WE HAD A DEAL!” the Saturn representative howled in the arbitration chamber. He slammed his palm on the ornate wooden desk. It was a vintage desk, a late 21st Century, minimalist design, made shortly after humans fled their toxic planet to colonize the asteroids and planets of the solar system. Yet, the Saturn representative did not care about potentially damaging this artifact in his indignation. At the time, it was placed in the chamber due to budget constraints, but now, anything ...

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Enrolled in Old School

Submitted to Contest #153

It was a quiet day.  I knew it wouldn’t last.  In a short while, I would have solid proof that my instincts were correct as I finished my lunch in my counseling office at Park Ridge High School where I have been for the last ten years. It seems longer when I get a quiet moment to myself.   “Are you Mr. Sowell?” A student knocks at my door.  Like most of the other students, his clothes are full of holes and his flannel shirt appears as if it has not been washed in over a month. “Yes, and you are?” I stand up, droppi...

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Water You Thinking?!

Submitted to Contest #153

"Shots fired at 10234 County Road 3. Officers en route." That's where it all began, though it really started years ago. Sam and Caleb had lived next to each other for many years. Both were "men of a certain age," fairly curmudgeon-ish, and pretty much loners. But neither necessarily had a penchant for violence, and neither had a criminal record. Generally, they kept to themselves on their heavily-wooded neighboring properties in southern Oregon. There was, however, one ongoing conflict between them. And one day it led to shots being fired....

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The Door

Submitted to Contest #153

A flashing, blinding white light, with red sparks drowned out his sight.  Something grabbed him and he felt the wind rush past him like he was moving quickly.  Then it stopped, as suddenly as it started. He didn’t know where he was. It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust as he stood there, almost feeling himself floating forward every now and then. When they did adjust, he was even more confused.  Standing before him, elevated behind a carved wooden podium, stood the tallest, most haggard looki...

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THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

Submitted to Contest #153

THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER Oh, my God, that Cathy V. was at least a problematic person ( woman), that she was not suitable to her  job , that she also had the easy slap with the children entrusted to her, this Zeta knew it well. In fact she was, for more than ten years, a mediator between the teachers, of the kindergarten The Sacred Heart and the parents of the children who attended the kindergarten. Cathy V. had also received disciplinary measures, she had even been suspended for a year from her work ( job)....

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Mourning Announcements

Submitted to Contest #153

“Go talk to Mr.Kirby”  This phrase had become a staple in the halls of Jennings High School over the past 7 years. Anytime a deranged juvenile fashions a fist, “Go talk to Mr. Kirby.” If a perplexed minor questioned life, “go talk to Mr. Kirby.” If an aggrieved adolescent gate burst to release a raindrop, “go talk to Mr. Kirby.” Mr. Kirby was the state-renowned, award-winning, school counselor that JHS was blessed to include on the payroll. Top-ranked schools, universities, and established academia all sought the coveted prize of hav...

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Dark City: Arbitration

Submitted to Contest #153

Jael Vega considered her next few moments. Her black pencil skirt and single-breasted blazer felt repressive compared to her usual fatigues and tank top. It was the Ministry’s formal uniform, and considering the occasion, she thought it fitting. If this was her last time wearing the unflattering suit, she wanted to appear neat. Her bare legs sprouted fresh new chill bumps despite the room’s warmth. An odd sense of unfamiliarity rested heavily within her as she slipped on a pair of low matte black leather heels. Paladins were not exactly...

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Helping Never Helped Myself

Submitted to Contest #153

Every morning appears to be as anxious as the previous one. There's never a day I don't wake up discontent with the idea of going to work as a licensed marriage counselor. In the twelve years I've done this kind of work there has not been a time I don't stay awake at night wondering if things could've been different. My job was ironic in the sense that my wife had left me shortly after I had started. She stuck along side me throughout my education. I never would have foreseen my career to disengage my own marriage. As this thought cross...

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Justice is Blind

Submitted to Contest #153

Warning: Contains mild language; allusions to violence; spousal abuse Lady Justice towered over the courtroom steps. Her slick white marble shined against the drab gray of the building that was all but swallowed by the overcast sky. The Lady’s tendons stood taught and proud, muscles tensed, shoulders bared. The scales were held out ahead of her, resolute and precise. She wielded a sword by her side, the tip barely resting on the ground, always at the ready. A blindfold covered her eyes. I basked in that for a moment. Under Justice, all sto...

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The mediator

Submitted to Contest #153

Deran's sword hits the helmet of the guard. Knocking the man out. Just enough damage to please his employer, but not to stain his soul. That part comes later. A knock from Deran to draw their attention. No one comes to the door. That's just part of the game. Deran rounds the house grabbing a stone, flinging it into the window. The sound of shattering glass. Only for Deran to continue walking past the next corner. He picks up another rock. He throws the rock through another window. Screams from the people within satisfies Daren. He breaks do...

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The greater good

Submitted to Contest #153

I work for Hell. See, a lot of humans think Hell is just the entire ‘fire and brimstone’ part but there are a lot of people who make sure that it’s well regulated. There are a lot of different departments down here. I don’t deal with torture, that’d be the folks a couple layers down. I work in the more bureaucratic departments. I work in one of the very first levels of the afterlife, dealing with petty disputes over morality. I decide who goes up to heaven and who gets dragged down to hell. Most decisions are automated now but a few mor...

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The Self-Styled Countess

Submitted to Contest #153

“So explain to me again who this woman is, exactly?” Magistrate Cornelius asked, his official robes billowing slightly in the morning breeze. “She claims to be the Countess of Waterfield, sir,” answered Thomas Tiller, a local landlord. “Claims to be?” Cornelius snorted. “Ridiculous. Count Grantworth died during the Uprising of the Nobility. The title can’t even be claimed through the female line.” “I’m aware, Magistrate but you try telling her that,” said Thomas in a tired voice. “I’ve tried to be accommodating sir, I really have. But ...

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RE: Detention Facility Incident Report

Submitted to Contest #153

The first case I took established my name in the black market of gossip. You know the type: tacit probe followed by the inevitable-yet-revealing “I know a guy.” I owed Ariel for launching me into the spotlight even though it turned me into a marked man. Nobody knew if she called herself Ariel because of the pearls, or if the pearls came afterward. She brought them from outside the gate, flaunting her apparent status with a clatter of beads on her wrist. Opinions split on whether they were real or not. One day we agreed she was a con artist...

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