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Write a story in which someone finds a secret passageway.

Posted in Mystery on May 1, 2021

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✍️ 68 stories

Into the Tunnel

Submitted to Contest #30

I drop my bag and step into my new room. Every step I take, the creaks in the floorboards get louder. I turn back and across the hall I catch a glimpse of my old room. I miss it. It was bigger, and if you look hard enough you can see a carving of a bird and the letters "ERI". Under the window above where my desk used to be. My uncle carved them when we first moved into this old creaky house. Emma Reese Ivana, AKA Emree, though I'm the only one who calls myself that.  Two weeks ago my 14-year-old brother, Wren, started to complain t...

67 likes 42 comments 42
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I knew that I held the key to paradise

Submitted to Contest #30

How shall I ever forget that dreadful night. The stealthy walk down the path, taking advantage of every thorny shrub for cover, the occasional cry of a night-bird that roused my fears, the stars shining coldly in a cloudless sky. I snivelled as I frantically searched for my wife.November 1885 marked the end of the tribal war between the Watante and the Huffs. The grief of losing friends and family overwhelmed me, like a bad dream that could not be shaken off. Those of us that remained had to serve and work for the Huffs. My musical abilities...

23 likes 3 comments 3
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Through the Fireplace

Submitted to Contest #30

“Frank.” Frank looks down the hall after hearing his name. “Frank,” the voice calls again.He walks from his kitchen to the hallway. “Frank. Where you going?” “Hello? Luis? When did you get here? “A few minutes ago.”“Where are you?”“Over here.”“Where is over here?”“From what I can tell, this looks like your den.”“My den.”“I’m over here⎯by the fireplace. Or in the fireplace.”“In the fireplace.”“In the fireplace.”“Yeah. Come closer.”Frank peers in the fireplace. The cream-colored sand looms bright. The clear blue water shimmies in the...

16 likes 3 comments 3
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House of secrets

Submitted to Contest #30

Jane stared at the screen, eyes wide, bright blues and greens flashing on her face. On the television, a little boy and his grandfather rowed along the shore. In the distance, smoke danced out of a chimney, melting into the bright blue sky. The boy smiled at his grandfather as the pair turned the little boat, nestling it into a nook in the rocky shore, just below the house.“Here we are, Tony. You do the honours,” said the old man.Beaming, Tony reached out and grabbed a jutting stone. It gave way, sliding downwards, and the roar of rushing wa...

15 likes 4 comments 4
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The Escape

Submitted to Contest #30

“Please, don’t! Todd, I’m serious!” I cried, as my older brother, Todd, balled his fists. My twin brother and I always cower in the corner, as he beats us up. There had been a few times where one of us had stood up against him, but he just beat that one up harder. Our parents had died a year ago. Aaron and I were sixteen when they died. Todd was twenty-four, so he took custody of us.     “Oh, stop it, Ana. You’re fine.” He replied. Aaron was shivering next to me. He never played sports, so he blamed his bruises on his clu...

14 likes 1 comment 1
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Into The Faerie Realm

Submitted to Contest #30

"Hey, wait up!" Matthias called to the fleeing figure. It was his responsibility as one of King Thaddeus' huntsman to patrol his forests for poachers. He had originally spotted the young woman getting a drink from the stream. She had long blonde hair, a yellow tunic that complemented her lithe form, and she carried a bow. When she had spotted him, she had fled. True he had approached her with his bow drawn, but he couldn’t be too cautious. A pretty girl was a pretty girl, but a poacher was a poacher. He knew these forests like the back of hi...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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The Library Doors

Submitted to Contest #30

          The door said “Library Elves Only.” Aline hated this. She hated that there was a part of the Library to which she didn’t have access. To be fair, she probably shouldn’t have even been able to see it. She’d waited until one of the elves left a book-ladder unattended, then scrambled up it and leapt from shelf to shelf until she reached the great scaffolding that the elves used to get around. It was such fun up there, until she found the door that forbade her.    &n...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Tobb's Mission

Submitted to Contest #30

“I can't believe this!” Derrek said. “I can't believe I have to write an essay on forest fires in three days!”  He walked across Mr. Wooten’s lawn while his Converse crunched the brown leaves. “Hey, you miserable cockroach. Get off my grass!!” “OK, sorry, Mr. Wooten.” “If you were really sorry, you’d stay off!” “OK, I will. Go back in your house now.” With a grunt, he complied. “Jerk,” he uttered as he walked in his driveway. As he trudged up to his house, a cold gust of air blew on him. “Figures. It’s gonna be a warm day, so ...

11 likes 5 comments 5
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The Liar

Submitted to Contest #30

Carrie had a nickname at home, ‘the little liar’. Being the baby of the family, ‘little’ spoke for itself. Jenny, Carrie’s older sister added ‘liar’. The sisters used to play together. They were inseparable. Their mother said they were like twins, only born six years apart. It wasn’t so much that Carrie lied, as she didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. Her indiscriminate truth-telling became troublesome for Jenny. Like the time Carrie told their parents Jenny skipped school. Carrie had been happy to see her. She didn’t mean to get Jenny ...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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Elmer

Submitted to Contest #30

This trip was the pits! Lost, little Elmer Grant thought this in the darkest corner of his mind as he stomped his way through the busy main path of the zoo towards the restroom. The curse word he had used wasn’t that bad! He’d heard Daddy say it often even around the dinner table in front of him and his siblings. Mommy would give him looks that she usually gave the kids when she was -shudder- disappointed in them and Daddy would half-halfheartedly apologize, but Elmer knew he was only doing it to get out of trouble. Something Elmer realized...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Jace

Submitted to Contest #30

The wardrobe to Narnia. The rabbithole to Wonderland. All the stories where ordinary, almost boring things turn out to be magic make you start to realize that anything can be magical. Miraculous.That's how my magic was - beautiful, majestic, shining and barely real, and then gone forever.It started with a rainy day when I had no umbrella. I huddled under the awnings, keeping my head down as water dripped off the roofs and onto my hair.I sighed, checking my phone for the millionth time. My mom was supposed to pick me up, but she was late as u...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Poetry and Criminals

Submitted to Contest #30

The first thing I noticed about him was the hair. It was viciously blonde, almost platinum. The kind of hair that makes you wonder whether it's natural or from the box. Nevertheless, I would never be bold enough to ask him. We were in completely different domains, like an eagle and a dolphin. Never to cross paths. At least that's what I thought. Of course, becoming involved with a person like him would be bad business. I wasn't exactly known for being a goody two-shoes, but my crowd and his were still worlds apart. I happened upon him by cha...

8 likes 8 comments 8
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The Penny Whistle

Submitted to Contest #30

                      Mel took in her surroundings as she shrugged off her coat. Horse brass on the walls, selection of ales and another selection of more ales, a gaggle of 60-something males taking up all the bar stools, their flab rolling over the seats, reminding her of a slaughterhouse with a more pungent smell. Goddammit, another waste of a good dress. Was it too much to ask that one of these online hook ups might take her to a ...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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The Perfect Place.

Submitted to Contest #30

Midlife crisis struck him early. At just thirty, his life was falling apart. He usually felt this way after socialising with his former classmates. Today was no different, especially after that wedding. When the speeches started, echoing the success of the couple, the pit in his stomach felt deeper. He needed to get out of there. He needed fresher air to breathe. He needed isolation to think. He needed to walk down memory lane in search of that defining point, when everything unraveled.He hadn’t meant to do it literally but he found himself ...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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Real Eyes Realize

Submitted to Contest #30

"Did you get my email?" the voice came out of the blue, a void, for his mind was already somewhere far away, relaxing at home."Huh?" he replied, startled to the presence by the colleague. Alex asked Dan again."Dan, did you get my email? The customer wants some big changes, we have a meeting to discuss it on Thursday," Alex summarized his own email he had sent to Dan once again, who sighed realizing that this was a 'gentle reminder'."Oh yeah, I skimmed it. Thursday to discuss it?" Dan replied, opening Outlook only to scroll past the emai...

6 likes 3 comments 3
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