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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story where someone sees the shadow of someone standing behind them.

Posted in Mystery on Oct 21, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 62 stories

“Tom and the Violence Police” by Evan Presnall

Submitted to Contest #169

 It was October 31st, the night of Halloween. Children were out with their parents, and teenagers were out at parties or the movie theater, watching the scariest flick they could find. Adults without kids to take trick-or-treating were occupied with three options. Most adults were safe at home. Most. Some adults, the ones who weren't at home, were part of a ghostly Halloween cult called Bloodfight. The rest of the New York adults were being brutally beaten to death by this very cult. As the rain thundered down the city, its gleaming lig...

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“Shadow in the window.” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #169

The first time Henry had felt the shadow, he experienced an eerie sense of dread, but he knew that fear before he ever saw the shadow. The strange oppression he felt, he easily interpreted as the vibration of an unfamiliar environment. Slowly, that sense of oppression gave way to a feeling that forced him out of himself.  Wait a second, dear reader. I am getting ahead of my story here: forgive me! Allow me to start again: from the beginning this time: Henry lived with his wife Elisabeth in a small house on Cherry blossom Road. There was...

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“Reach Out” by Taylor Hairston

Submitted to Contest #169

“If you would all bow your heads and close your eyes we will close out today’s service.” Pastor Darius says as he kneels down beside the pulpit and begins the closing prayer. Micah follows suit, kneeling in his pew and bowing his head. You’re supposed to use this time to pray and reflect,but today, he cannot make his mind focus. How many years have I been sitting in this same back row pew, saying the same prayers? His mind continues on the dangerous pathway he is on. A slideshow of faces and regrets flash by one by one until famili...

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“Shadows” by T.M. Kehoe

Submitted to Contest #169

Carolan clocked in and started her shift. The nurse she was replacing, Sammy, rolled her eyes. “Oh, he’s in rare form today, all right. Tried to throw the bedpan at me. Cursing a blue streak. Days like these I’m glad he’s paralyzed. If he could get up, we’d never be able to handle him.”Carolan smiled in appreciation. “Thanks for the heads-up, Sammy. Go home to your kids, grab yourself something to eat, and plop down on the couch.”“Thanks, that’s just what I’m going to do. You try to have a good night, Carolan. Watch yourself around him.” Wit...

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“Caught” by Patricia Rose

Submitted to Contest #169

Caught by Patricia Rose The organization had found me. Again. I remained flat against the old brick wall, motionless in the darkness, breathing as softly as death while my pulse throbbed in my ears. I could see his shadow from the corner of my eye, the curved knife he held so casually, his posture the epitome of nonchalance. I waited for him to lunge, to move in any way at all that would release me from my paralysis, shock my body into breaking free and get me running. After all, I had sworn to myself only ten days ago that I would not go...

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“The shadow that changed my life ” by Ashley Lee

Submitted to Contest #169

I have always believed in ghosts and things that go bump in the night, so nobody was surprised when I applied to take a job as live-in caretaker to the town’s locally rumored witch. Miss Elizabeth Johnson is a thin, short woman who oozes elegance and diplomacy. She has never married and will forever wear black dresses that are always outdated, think Edwardian style, if you will. Her long hair never leaves a perfectly wrapped bun, and her bright green eyes always seem to know more than anyone else. But I have always thought that is because sh...

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“The Girl in the Apartment Shower ” by Ashley Taylor

Submitted to Contest #169

I sat down on the couch with a bottle of wine. It was my second glass and I needed to not feel anything after several stressful days of moving. I was proud of myself for saving up money so I could move out of my parent’s house. I was proud that I had a stable income. When my parents kicked me out of their home after I came out as a lesbian, I was ready. The move was not immediate; I still had a couple of days. They thought I wouldn’t make it on my own. But I outwardly laughed in their faces when they found out I was already prepared for that...

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“Illuminated” by Nikki Potgieter

Submitted to Contest #169

Story contains references to mental health and trauma; some strong language.“I seriously need to get a replacement for this damn mirror,” Joe said to herself. She tried to ignore the cracked mirror - her new haircut made her smile. She’d had it cropped extra short the week before. Her mom would have used the word “tomboyish” to describe it. “She would have hated it,” thought Joe. Thinking about her mother always made her feel uneasy and guilty in equal measure. She had no idea where the idea of those perfect TV moms come from - you kno...

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“Awakening” by Autumn Vise

Submitted to Contest #169

The night was cold. Silvery moonlight washed over ground that was covered in the first snowfall of the season. It felt like ages since Hadeon had last enjoyed the snow, even though it had only been a year. Time felt like it had stretched longer in the depths of the church’s crypt.  He glanced around at the hills he roamed as a child, hanging off his mother’s skirts and helping her gather the herbs and wildflowers that bloomed. Nothing grew now, for winter’s bite had killed many of the plants, and the snow hid the ground from view. It l...

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“Jordan's Shadow” by Clara Thompson

Submitted to Contest #169

The alarm blared, waking up Jordan with a jolt. She groggily fumbled around in the darkness, finding her phone and turning off the alarm. She squinted at the screen’s bright light. 6:30 a.m. Maybe I could miss one more day of school? She thought, but, no. She knew she couldn’t. She had already missed a week, and had spent that entire week lying in bed. It was time to move on. Jordan sighed, got out of her bed, and stumbled to the bathroom. She flipped the light switch and winced when the harsh light hit her eyes. She grabbed her toothbrush,...

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“From the Shadows” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #169

Adrienne stepped onto the veranda. It was an unseasonably warm evening in February, and she needed to catch the breeze that came off the water. She had not yet danced, but her face behind the mask was still finely misted with perspiration, and she could feel small rivulets of the same running down between her breasts beneath the heavy eighteenth century costume dress she’d chosen to wear this evening.The masquerade ball was hosted by her eccentric but good friend, Angelique, tonight in honor of Fat Tuesday or the conclusion of Mardi Gras. Ad...

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“A nice dog walk” by Hanna Lee

Submitted to Contest #169

Exactly at 9:20 Hanna would change her clothes to the ones that were considered to be home garments, also known as a pair of ripped, old jeans, an oversized navy raincoat that had experienced good and bad times of her former life, and sneakers that were perfect for mud stroll. It was a nice evening for a dog walk. There is some magic in autumn evenings when the trees are dressed in brown-red-yellow coats and street lights make them shine with mystery and romance. Fluff did not care for all that human interest- his purpose was to fi...

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“Where Shadows Reside” by Hallie Hannum

Submitted to Contest #169

They were scared of their own shadow. A line you’ve heard often when referring to someone scared of many things. But little do you know that phrase has truth in it. Shadows are dark, empty, and unknown. People fear the unknown. I grew up being able to see the shadows as they truly were. The dark twisted versions of ourselves. Our desires, our fears, our hatred. Despite what you may think, they do serve a purpose. The reason they exist is to hold those dark attributes so that that darkness doesn’t reside fully in us. But they’re always trying...

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“Shadow on My Wall” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #169

The floor in the living room creaks, catching Aaron’s attention.            Aaron turns to face the shadow on the wall behind him, saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was followed.”            Aaron sinks into a crouch in a darkened corner of the bedroom. He reaches in his jacket for the gun he left on the dining room table. His favorite softball bat will have to do.            T...

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“Him” by Kaya Monn

Submitted to Contest #169

Will you look? His shadow eclipses yours. Your first thought was that it was the graveyard gardener, and you started to turn around, but then you heard it. The distinctive clicks and the wind that whistles through him. You heard it, and you knew. You knew it was him. And you know better than to look. You don’t have a shadow anymore. When he moves and reveals the places your shadow used to be, it feels like a piece of you has been stolen. But you won’t look and allow him to steal anything else. Your stomach twists and flips and your eyes bu...

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