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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story in which a character eats something that they shouldn’t have eaten.

Posted in Mystery on Dec 8, 2023

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✍️ 64 stories

“Ode to Joy” by Hope Haggerty

Submitted to Contest #228

The first day I met Mrs. O Shea, I thought the sun rose and set in her classroom. She played Beethoven's Ode to Joy, on an old record player, for our grade three class, and it delighted me. It was a variation on the classical piece; now turned into a folk hymn, with lyrics, gentle guitar arpeggios, and vocal harmonies. I had never heard anything so lovely. She was speaking my language. The language of Music, with a capital M. I thought I was in heaven, and I loved her for it. If only the rest of the school year could have continued in t...

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“Ghastly Shadows of the Yuletide Christmas Dinner” by Daniel Brandt

Submitted to Contest #228

In the spectral glow of a frostbitten Christmas Eve, August approached the venerable home of his beloved Clara's parents, his heart a tumultuous sea of nerves and anticipation. The old house, adorned with the trappings of the season, seemed to brood under the weight of untold stories, its walls groaning with the secrets of yesteryears. August, clutching a velvet ring box in his pocket, steadied himself for a night of revelation and romance. As the door creaked open, he was greeted by Clara's parents, their smiles warm yet tinged with an en...

2 comments 2
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“The Harvest” by D'Spencer Luyao

Submitted to Contest #228

Trigger warnings include: Child death, mild gore and violence, indirect cannibalism (?), explicit language. THE HARVEST     Bosie Howard looked into the rear-view mirror of his 1993 Mercedes for just about the millionth time since he’d wrestled it off of the highway. TJ (Tucker Jones, if you asked the state) was at that fine age where he was old enough for his legs to dig into the back of his daddy’s chair, but not quite old enough to have the sense not to let them.     “Teej, get your feet off of d...

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“Head to Toes” by Salacious Salamander

Submitted to Contest #228

Easy Chicken Feet Recipe - Dim Sum Style Soft and tender chicken feet just like your favorite dim sum restaurant! 313 Calories, 9g carbohydrates, 25g protein, 17g fat Ingredients: 2 pounds chicken feet 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 4 garlic cloves minced 1 inch ginger sliced Soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar Instructions: Remove the feet from the carcass with a sharp saw. Drain the blood and rinse. Remove the nails (cut through the joint to make this easier). Boil water and chicken feet for 10 minutes, drain. Use medium fire an...

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“It Was Worth It” by Ramel Kersey

Submitted to Contest #228

Sweat was sliding down my temples as if I had woken up from a night terror. My heart was over-capacitated with adrenaline. I couldn’t control the nervous urge to rub my thumb across the rest of my fingers. I have been on the deep end of a pool when I didn’t know how to swim, stared down a swarm of mourning bees, and jumped out of a plane to unsuccessfully overcome my fear of heights. Somehow, all of that seems like child play when it comes to this.Normally taking someone else’s food is a senseless act. You think about it for a second and by ...

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“Murder on Christmas Morning ” by Catherine Tally

Submitted to Contest #228

Detective Raines flashed his badge and stepped over the yellow caution tape. A gray, knit cap hugged his nearly bald head and he pulled his wool scarf closer around his neck. Nothing like getting called to a scene on Christmas morning. He gingerly walked up the front walkway that had become slick with the chill overnight. He noticed a few looks from the local law enforcement as he approached the door. This was a predominantly rich, white neighborhood.  They must not have heard of me. Yet. He thought to himself, nodding at the officers...

7 comments 7
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“Fool's Errand” by Bob Gass

Submitted to Contest #228

Bob Gass                                                                                   1225 words 921 S. 103rd St. West Allis WI...

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“The Menehune” by Leah Dewey

Submitted to Contest #228

I was becoming a bit more familiar with the city but I still found new things each time I looked around. There were colorful paintings on the walls of buildings and small signs of ancient civilizations everywhere. Despite it being Christmas time it was still warm, people were still having drinks and dinner in their swimsuits. The sun setting hadn’t done much to deter the surfers in the clear blue pacific. I smiled at the teenagers laughing and enjoying their POG juice.  After being on the island for three months, all my worries and he...

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“And what bliss it is! ” by Eddie McKenzie

Submitted to Contest #228

(Content warning: cannibalism, details of the act of cannibalism, and a narrator that sees nothing wrong with glorifying it)There had been no greater ecstasy in the course of his life that could ever come close to that of which shocked through his very soul the first time he brought the flesh to his mouth. Unspoiled by the act of cooking, there was a lingering sweetness to the meat that excited his senses near to the point of giddying, delicious delirium. As he tore through the still-warm tissue, he knew with a resounding certainty that no m...

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“Cheese Makes My World Go Round” by Lex Lockner

Submitted to Contest #228

There it is. Fromager D'affinois. This soft-ripened double creme is made from cow’s milk. The luscious texture with flavor that can only be described as a gift from heaven. Fromager D'affinois is crafted in the French countryside, so you know the pride and perfection put into this luxury. This is the type of cheese that is the main encore. It can hold its own going solo or with the accompaniment of crackers and fig spread. Either way, you're in for one hec of a show. I’m salivating just thinking about it. If I had to compare this cheese to...

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“Don't Leave Me Alone” by Rene Volpi

Submitted to Contest #228

It wasn't long after Markus started seeing this girl, that he began experiencing some strange phenomena.  He couldn't eat, sleep or concentrate on anything since she, Althea, was constantly on his mind. It's been two months since they've been together. Markus felt he was in another dimension when she was around. When she wasn't, he felt a connection to the earth like being pulled in. If he thought about her for a while, he could feel her presence in the room. At times, the curtains would flail by the wind outside and stop sudden...

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“A Cautionary Tale” by Tim McIlveen

Submitted to Contest #228

        Here waits a six-year-old boy. Oliver sits in his living room cross-legged on the carpet in front of the “brand new” coffee table his father has brought home from his latest storage auction. His father paces, nervous, by the door. His mother glances out the window during commercial breaks. It is early afternoon and Oliver hasn’t eaten since the morning, his stomach growls. His mother tells him he’ll have to wait until after, that he burps after eating and that would be off-putting during the in...

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“The Adventures Of Jack Frost And Creepy Crawley” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #228

  THE ADVENTURES OF JACK FROST AND CREEPY CRAWLEY.   Jack Frost liked dressing up in red plaid trousers, with a white shirt and red bow tie. One day while walking in the meadow, He had investigated the hedgerow, and found Creepy Crawley a brown beetle, trapped inside a jam jar. He released Crawley from  the jam- jar. Jack and Crawley then become best friends.   They looked forward to plenty of adventures together, with their friend Digby a black and white collie dog, who would often accompany them ...

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“Carbonara Curse” by Chelsea Zoutis

Submitted to Contest #228

Today is a great day. I love my husband. I love my child. Nothing I’m about to say should distract you from those essential truths. However, it’s Friday and when I get home neither of them will be there. Neither. Of. Them. My husband is working third shift, and my mom took Elle for the night. So, when I get home, I kid you not, no human will be there. The cat will still be there, but she keeps to herself. We both know how important this time is for me.  I can barely focus on work and instead keep Google-ing, “Best Christmas Movies 2023...

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“The Cost of Contraband ” by Penni Giuliani

Submitted to Contest #228

The violation of my culinary rights began back at the start of last year with a stroke (and not the ‘stroke of luck’ type) - a blockage in a vessel in my brain, apparently courtesy of my ‘modifiable risk factors’, namely cholesterol, pack-a-day smokes and my penchant for a beer or four. You know, the kind of stuff that makes life worth living, when the hound you married takes off with most of your assets and the kids don’t wanna talk to you anymore. But I shouldn’t blame them, after all, those lifestyle factors were present from a while back...

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Contest #228

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Yummy

$250

Prize money

232

Contest entries

88

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 15, 2023 EST

Won by Molly Jenkinson 🏆

Title: Cooking Lessons

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