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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story with a strong sense of place. How is the setting of your world the same as, but different to, our own?

Posted in Mystery on Mar 22, 2024

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✍️ 50 stories

“Nuclear War” by Rose Lind

Submitted to Contest #243

Suggestion of WW2 Holocaust.A chill touched my left shoulder. I looked at the sky. Australia, for their comfort, has defined autumn as the first of March. It's easier to say the first of March rather than maybe the twentieth, the twenty-first or the twenty-second of March. I know the lack of Sun. The Sun turning its back, or shining its face, defines the season, but I was so busy last week that I did not check what time the event Autumn Equinox would occur this year! Let's see, on the twentieth of March, it happened! I looked out my window, ...

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“Rebuilding ” by Johanna Parry

Submitted to Contest #243

Brown goo oozed through her toes. Drawing a fresh-smelling breeze in through her nose, she lifted her right foot while sprinkling straw with her left hand. Stomping down into the mud, Teyana smashed, squished and pummeled the straw, clay and earth mix onto the tarp with her feet.Without a word, Lucas stepped to the edge of her tarp. Teyana moved to the opposite side and together they folded the tarp in half and both of them jumped on top of it to further smash the mix down into a burrito-like mass."Ready!" Lucas announced to the group of chi...

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“To Dream of Sunsets” by R. Lakhani

Submitted to Contest #243

“Tomorrow, there will be elevated solar winds. It is advised that everyone remain inside their units…” There’s a light buzz as the station changes.“Canada appears to be the next country from which citizens will be joining Project Lune…”“The search continues for accessible water…while none has been found, the Mare Divers have reported that progress is steady…” It’s the same things they’ve said every night for the past ten years. The voice buzzes and dissolves as I turn the knob with a decisive click.  I end the day the same way I al...

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“Different Worlds” by Kathy Frizzell

Submitted to Contest #243

PROTAGONIST: An Undercover Agent named "Magnus" is always in the wrong place at the right time. The second character is Blood Hunter, Dean, who has an eye for opportunity.PLOT: It's a medieval fantasy story about a cracked coffin. Kicks off with Good vs Evil.And then, with the discovery of an anonymous note, an unreliable narrator tells the story, and there's a twist: an unexpected gift will change the plot's direction.Good vs EvilIt was a dark and stormy night when it was time for "Dean" to wind down and rest. I, "Dean," put a little wood i...

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“Sribia and The Great Eternal” by Farai Gotora

Submitted to Contest #243

In the Western hemisphere on the planet Wenga is a vast ocean whose turquoise waters span thousands of miles wide and thousands of miles deep. The waters of this ocean are choppy and temperamental in some parts and no vessel, man-made or otherwise can navigate these waters. This great ocean is known as Noyi. At the Western most front, the fearsome waters crash against the jagged, black cliffs of Brato; eternally reaching for the cliff’s edge. In the past, at the time of the Great Earth Shaking, it is said the ocean managed to raise itself up...

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“No-cloning theorem” by Alyssa Li

Submitted to Contest #243

In physics, the no-cloning theorem states that it is impossible to create an independent and identical copy of an arbitrary unknown quantum state, a statement which has profound implications in the field of quantum computing among others. no-cloning theorem It was as if the Elephant God himself whispered eldritch secrets that physically guided him by the hand. On the brink of scientific defiance at a cosmic scale, Enkephalins stood, challenging the physical rules of the world, daring to outsmart the unseen Creator of the universe. His eyes ...

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“Zen and the Art of Muscle Car Maintenance” by Nicholas Andrew Clark

Submitted to Contest #243

AUGUST 30th, 2029 Dear Becca, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Your Sweet Sixteen. Weren’t you just in pigtails and braces a second ago? I know every parent (or in my case, parental figure) says it goes by fast, but I swear to God, I can close my eyes and you are still in pigtails and braces, squealing happily as we explore the woods. You used to love to pretend to be the captain of a shipwrecked crew, corralling your brother and sister to scour the underbrush for sticks to be used as swords, and rocks shaped like th...

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“Bash” by Clarissa Corpuz

Submitted to Contest #243

  Eli pushed open the meager three-foot wooden door with not a single sign of lock blocking intruders from stepping in. It creak. The path was alight by the full moon, making a line of majestic trees of purpled flowered wisteria look hauntingly beautiful. Every step she took was a delicate assault of sweetness to her senses very much alike a field of lavender. The cool wind kisses her skin as she walks down a path that would lead her to a familiar place. Meow. Eli looked around, searching for the sound. Once, she heard it. Twice,...

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“NO TIME NO PAIN” by Brian Bywater

Submitted to Contest #243

NO TIME NO PAIN.     It is a bit difficult to put an exact time, if there was such a thing, or even an exact date if truth be told on when this phobia took hold. In the scheme of things it is not really important and with my memory I would probably get it wrong anyway. Yes, I used to suffer from Chronophobia. However when you hear the full story you will have some understanding of why it is suffice for me to now say, time does not matter to me.    I mean it really does not matter. I realise I have...

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“Remember That Even Beautiful Days Will Turn to Ash” by S.J. Heinze

Submitted to Contest #243

I felt compelled to roll the windows down as we crested the pass. The desert beneath us glowed with the freshness of a still-wet painting, animated by the distant outlines of semi trucks crossing the valley floor. It was perfectly dry, of course, but the hot and heavy air blew by too quickly to impart any real discomfort. There weren’t many vehicles either, so we didn’t choke on diesel fumes. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Mark signing something at me. I didn’t turn, but I got the gist of it. Looks nice. “Yeah Mark, it sure does.” Yet...

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“The Ritual” by Jesse Kae

Submitted to Contest #243

*This story might contain disturbing or graphic descriptions, and use of sensitive language* We took the same trail we always take. It was dark, and the hazy air made it hard to see. We rode parallel to the chain-link fence that bordered the outfield before ditching our wheels in the long grass and sneaking through the small gap where the fence was unfinished. “Shh,” Kim said. “There could be people here.” “There’s no one here!” Jill exclaimed in her typical, outside voice. Her laughter made me laugh. The fields were empty, and the only li...

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“Invisible Forces” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #243

Invisible Forces The rain came fast, heavy drops hitting the windowpanes like tiny birds.  He half expected to see a dozen sparrows below the windowsill, heads contorted, necks broken from a force invisible to them.  No, no pile of martyred avians.  Just the constant thumping of rainfall from the heavens, mirroring his mood, dour and defeated. Kevin Bishop had never been an overly religious man, honestly not even a semi-religious one.  Invisible forces.  Even as a kid, he had trouble with the idea.  He was supp...

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“Relationships and New Beginnings ” by Jurgen Rauschl

Submitted to Contest #243

Relationships and New Beginnings (by Jurgen Derlin-Rauschl)Top of Form Chapter 1: A Rainy Goodbye In the pouring rain, a small group of mourners holding black umbrellas, gathered solemnly. Mark Gordon, a grieving man in his late thirties, stood beside his seven-year-old daughter Lily at a freshly dug grave. The rain mixed with their tears as they watched the casket lowered into the ground. It was a surreal scene, a cruel twist of fate that had taken their beloved wife and mother too soon. Mark struggled to find words to comfort Lily, who c...

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“Cash Proceeds” by Ron Robinson

Submitted to Contest #243

Ashley paused at the top of the steps and leaned forward, pressing her palms to her thighs as she exhaled a steamy breath in the cool morning air. She gazed across the parking lot and couldn’t help noticing a pair of men standing next to a sleek black sedan. Dressed in matching floral print shirts, they stood side by side with their arms around each other’s shoulders, posing for selfies against a backdrop of blue sky and puffy white clouds. It came as no surprise to Ashley. After all, the city’s awe-inspiring beauty had been her chief motiva...

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“Acceptance” by Domineeq Milsom

Submitted to Contest #243

On the outskirts of Daydream lived a single person his name is Belladonna. He lived in a small cottage with little of anything, only the bare minimum. The only things he had that were out of the ordinary was his pocket watch and the key they both hung from his neck every second of everyday. Belladonna was forced to live outside the village of Daydream because of his odd appearance, he was often called a demon or a monster. He never felt loved, not even his parents loved him.  He’s lived on his own since he was 5 he learnt to talk b...

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Contest #243

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This week's theme: Re-Imagining Our World Through Speculative Fiction with Alice McIlroy

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Ended on 23:59 - Mar 29, 2024 EST

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Title: Ke Kulanakauhale ma ke Kai, or The City by The Sea

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