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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story in which someone finds a secret passageway.

Posted in Mystery on May 1, 2021

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✍️ 68 stories

“A Silent Answer in the Mud” by Maxwell Voirol

Submitted to Contest #30

      The colorful rooftops of the downtown houses were best viewed from the alleyways behind them. I noticed that each one had its own distinguishing features: gables here; latticework there; fire escapes never before used and rusting against all regulations; fold-out chairs and portable grills too close to slanted decks, begging to prompt the use of the fire escapes; ivy running from the old hard ground all the way up to antennae, cockeyed against an overcast sky. The windows, too, seemed to develop personalit...

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“If you believe” by Helena Bosch

Submitted to Contest #30

Scarlet was someone you'd have to double-check if she was real when you first met her. Not a typically gorgeous girl, yet she appeared to be from another world. With raven-black hair and eyes as blue as the Caribbean, her sun-kissed skin seemed out of character. Her legs were so long that she seemed to float instead of walk. There was something angel-like about her that mesmerized anyone she happened to cross on her way.In reality, Scarlet believed herself to be quite ordinary. That was the reason why she tried to alienate herself from the w...

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“The Charity Banquet” by Caroline Khoury

Submitted to Contest #30

I agreed to meet Sonny at the charity event at 5pm sharp. It was important to be early; as one of the chairwomen, I had to give a speech to thank all of the sponsors and anonymous philanthropists with their generous donations. The thing about Carlisle Beach, New Jersey, is that everybody in your neighborhood is either a caring philanthropist or a closed-minded, selfish, red-faced fool. I struggled to get on my nude heels in my hotel room, Sandra watching me trip over my own feet. I wish the woman would help me. It’s not like it’s her job.&nb...

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“In the Pursuit of Happiness” by Jessica Eberle

Submitted to Contest #30

It had been thirty-one years since the day his mother had left him. Thirty-One long years without the love he felt before his Father, Christopher, had died. This once happy child had grown into a bitter man with no love for the world or the people in it. After his Mother, Rose, received the telegram, she lost herself and her sanity. The pain had become too much and the two were sent to an asylum to survive among the crazy, the criminal, and the somewhat sane patients. Five-year-old Josh was alone in the world even with his Mother being there...

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“Might Not Get Back” by Julia Vaughan

Submitted to Contest #30

Might Not Get BackI am writing this down for you because I might not be able to get back. And you need to know the reason I’m doing this. And I guess I need you to forgive me. It’s because of the near miss. Another near miss. There have been too many in my adult lifetime and I am tired of this life. This time it was a child. I managed to stand hard on the brakes and my old car saved me. Again. The front grill was inches away from the toddler’s pink wool coat. She stood and stared at me through the windscreen. I think she was too shocked to m...

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“The Other Side” by Paula Tatum

Submitted to Contest #30

Skia of Galimar is almost to her objective when she hears the approach of a troop of guards. Her heart races with trepidation. This is her only chance to find the source of the Agrimak’s new power before her people are destroyed. If she is captured, her life and her people are forfeit. Desperately she tries a nearby door but finds it locked. The clatter of the guards is getting louder. Her time is almost up.  With a forced calm, she pulls out her lock picks and sets to the task with a will. Her cl...

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“Destination Bridge” by Elena Welsh

Submitted to Contest #30

        I swear there wasn’t a car anywhere near me when I started my walk across the intersection. It was empty, and it was a four way stop. You’d think I would notice an impatient driver creeping through the stop sign, or they would see me speed walking across the walkway.               The horn blaring wakes me up from whatever thoughts were absorbing me as I walked. My hands wave frantically in front of my face, as if to sto...

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“Diablo's City of Sin” by Amanda Lewis Silva

Submitted to Contest #30

This damned city, Dante thought. Nothing but booze and boobs, not a single profound thought among the lot of them. This most recent trip to Las Vegas had left him even more disenchanted with the city than the previous one. While others were content to see Sin City as an outlet for the weary businessman condemned to otherwise spend his days behind a desk, Dante saw it as a prison for the wayward soul, a gateway to addiction and debauchery. The hotels all looked the same to him now, especially with the neon turned on. He found himself hypnotiz...

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“The Carpenter” by Kylie T

Submitted to Contest #30

The moon had already begun its steady ascent into the sky, casting a cool glow over where the sun’s rays had departed. The sun hadn’t even finished its descent beneath the horizon yet. Bright reds and oranges blended with the deep blues and purples as the sky made its transition into nighttime. It looked as if an artist had spilled their paints upon a pond and embraced the surface as their canvas. Carahall Forest seemed to be settling down for the night itself. Small critters scurried along the forest floor towards the safety of their dens, ...

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“Music soothes the savage beast” by Tanya Loiselle

Submitted to Contest #30

It was dark down there.She’d known she wouldn’t like what she found once she’d gotten the door unlocked. She’d known, also, that unlocking it would be easy; she’d always had the key, on a chain, looped around her neck. A sturdy chain, worried smooth over the years; it had been her companion since she’d been a small child. She’d been locked within these dark walls for… far too long. No sunshine had touched her face, no human either. It had been . . . far too long. Yet, she preferred staying within the confines of her walls, than facin...

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“No More Orange Suits” by Isabella Cassai

Submitted to Contest #30

"Lights out!" the prison guard shouted. I guessed it was 8 o'clock at night. It was that or he fell asleep for sometime. After all, he did look like he just took a nap. Anyway, it was time to go to sleep, but I wasn't tired just yet. And I knew why. I'd been here in prison long enough to realize. You see, I was framed. It was January of 2019 when it all happened. I was in the bank, getting some money to pay for my daughter's soccer camp. Next thing I knew, a person with a blue backpack, just like mine, was running out of a hallway holding a ...

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“Trail of Tears” by Bob Fogle

Submitted to Contest #30

Robert Fogle                                                                          1987 words 115 Hemlock Hill Rd.Boone, North Carolina 28607(828) 264-5714   &...

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“Cat Calling” by Roy Hayward

Submitted to Contest #30

I opened the door and found that I had entered my bedroom again. Clothes were spilling out of my half-closed dresser drawers. A boot was holding the closet door open. A precarious stack of books next to my bed supported a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Grape this time.In truth, it looked like someone had ransacked the place looking for drugs or money. It was my room, so I knew there were no drugs. All of my money had gone into my collection of computer gaming equipment.The desk was the only part of the room that looked in order...

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“Questioned ” by Anthony Infantino

Submitted to Contest #30

I climb down the stone staircase. The chamber is cold and damp. Water drops from the ceiling. I look over towards a puddle in the corner of the room. My light illuminates a mischief of rats. They all look up at me with their beady red eyes then scurry off into a dark hole, too small for me to investigate. I turn the corner into another long hallway that separates into a few rooms. Most of the rooms are void of any interior, hollow."Out of all the places a secret underground labyrinth would be underneath an alley trashcan is not one of them!"...

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“On, she read.” by Daisy Collins

Submitted to Contest #30

On, she read. The library door eased shut after she stumbled through it, shaking her umbrella like a disgruntled bat. Fat lot of good it had done; she ran a hand through her dripping hair and sighed. All was well now though. She was back where she belonged. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath, savouring the scent of old books and quiet studying, of coffee forgotten, gone cold, and long nights hunched over desks. Leaving the useless contraption in the bucket by her feet and wiping her feet, she started a slow walk towards the rows upo...

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