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You’re awakened from your nap by someone asking, “Are you hungry?”. You fell asleep somewhere else entirely.

Posted in Mystery on Oct 13, 2023

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✍️ 43 stories

Fae Touched

Winner of Contest #220 🏆

Siobhan awoke to the Irish sun spilling in the open doorframe of their single-room cottage. Her back pressed against Sean’s, and she moved carefully so as to not wake him on his day off morning duties— today, she would feed the cattle and chickens. She rolled over, a stray mattress feather poking her side, and saw Aoife’s small body in her basket, enveloped by a blanket. A surge in Siobhan’s chest shot her awake—Aoife hadn’t cried once through the night. Siobhan scrambled to her feet, bare soles pressed into the cool packed dirt, no longer m...

140 likes 52 comments 52
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All Roads

Shortlisted for Contest #220 ⭐️

The aromatic smell of roast pork awakened me from my mid-morning slumber. I had drifted off while sat against a wall during the morning break from reading, and was slow to open my eyes, clutching tightly to the last moments of sleep. “Are you hungry?” An unfamiliar voice asked – jolting me awake. For the next several moments, I rubbed my eyes and stared at the unfamiliar surroundings feeding my confusion. Nothing was familiar to me, plus I couldn’t recognise a single face lingering on the street corner or sat opposite me on a low wall acros...

44 likes 35 comments 35
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Oh Happy Fault

Submitted to Contest #220

When I wake up, the fresh sea breeze tells me I am near the Ocean. I stretch out my hands and grasp for my gold Spanish pocket watch, but it is not on the nightstand. Seeing the sun peer through a set of heavy drapes, I realize I am no longer at sea but in a hotel suite.“Are you hungry?” she asks, coming into view with a plate of honeydew and canary melons and a lump of cottage cheese. I begin to remember why I am here.The air is thick in the dark suite with the drawn drapes, and she sits naked in her chair, knees up, feet perched, with...

36 likes 16 comments 16
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The Golden Hours

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?” A man’s hoarse voice interrupts my slumber. I prise open my eyes a fraction of an inch and shiver as I peek over my dew-covered bedding. A woman’s face peers down at me, checking for signs of life. Her dark brown eyes glint below a severe fringe and a starched white mob cap. Behind her, twin jet trails have traced a diagonal in the sky like tiny white water-ski tracks in an enormous lake. “Is he hungry, love?” The man enquires, engrossed in the background. She shrugs.  “Are you hungry, sir?” A questioning squint crinkl...

30 likes 12 comments 12
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I Want Bread

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?”I looked around to figure out where the voice was coming from. The room was cold and I could see my breath coming out white. I hugged myself and rubbed my arms, realizing that I was chilled to the bone. My fingers were red and my forearms suddenly grew goosebumps, as if my body has been using sleep to keep warm and was just now learning that it had forgotten to distinguish dream from reality.“Who’s there?” I called out. My voice echoed and I listened to it evaporate into a foreign abyss. Why couldn’t...

21 likes 0 comments 0
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The Trial of Don Gato

Submitted to Contest #220

“Please state your name for the record.”“Mi nombre es Don Gato, como estas?”The Don rested in the chair with studied nonchalance, his face impassive, his whiskers impressive. He was very proud of his whiskers and spent many hours of every day improving them. His grooming was impeccable.“Mr Gato-”“Don.”“I beg your pardon?”“Is Don. Señor Don Gato, no’ Meester Gato.”“Yes, well, Señor Gato, please explain in your own words the events that occurred prior to the morning of July 15th this ...

20 likes 17 comments 17
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Now Here

Submitted to Contest #220

I was dreaming about something, something that I didn’t know. Something far, far bigger than myself. Or maybe I wasn’t dreaming of anything at all. No, no. That’s not right at all. I was definitely, or at the very least, likely, dreaming of something. But then, maybe nothing is, in fact, far bigger than myself. Bigger than any of us, really. In that sense it is entirely likely that I was dreaming of nothing. But not nothing as in nothing. Nothing as in a vast space of darkness. I suppose darkness is some type of something then, e...

20 likes 10 comments 10
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The Deal

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?”“Aww, honey, my favorite!” Kaleb offered up the pomegranate shyly, then clambered up into my bed with me. I breathed in his soft, blond curls as I began to peel the skin from the fruit. The dark red juice dripped down my fingers…“Are you hungry?”The tiny voice seemed farther away, as though through a tunnel.“Are you hungry?”The voice cut through my sleepy fog as I realized I had been dreaming. The afternoon sun peeked through white, cotton curtains as I tried to blink the bleariness from my eyes. The...

19 likes 11 comments 11
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Cheese Egg Summer

Submitted to Contest #220

Cheese Egg Summer Are you hungry? I looked around to see where I was. I was looking forward to Grandma's puffy pancakes, but somehow, I'm back home in bed. Wow, I didn't look forward to too many meals from anyone except Grandma's puffy pancakes and Mom's cheese eggs, but I would not tell either of them. You see, I was thirty-two pounds from two to five years of age, spindly, frail, and a food hater. Mom was at her wit's end. She would prepare whatever I named for any meal: hamburger and milkshake for breakfast, done. Unfortunately, after two...

18 likes 8 comments 8
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Cigarettes

Submitted to Contest #220

Right now, I feel better than I have in weeks. This deeper breathing that my all-crazy yoga-sister has been nagging on me for, I think it finally got to me. My momma would be proud, if she was here. I feel so relaxed, like thoroughly. Gravity’s hugging me more comfortably than ever before. I twirl my toes, stretch my legs out under the sheets. Mmm. Turn to the side, hand on my shoulder, cheek resting on this all-too-soft pillow. My breath stinks old cigarette, but even that’s okay. Then I felt it, the itching little bastard-hole in my mind t...

17 likes 0 comments 0
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Me, Myselves, and Murder

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?”I open my eyes and see … me.Well, it’s me, but a me that’s a bit older. This version of me is a very distinguished me, slim, dressed in a three piece suit, with gray thinning hair and a trim gray beard and mustache.I’m in a recliner chair, upholstered in the softest leather I’ve ever felt.I press the button on the side armrest and sit up straight. Where am I?The last thing I remember is taking a nap in my hand crafted wood rocking chair on the back porch, overlooking the lake behind my house.Now, I’m … in the state...

16 likes 4 comments 4
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I'm where?

Submitted to Contest #220

Are you hungry? Says a female voice familiar to me. I open my eyes and look around. Its familiar but I am not where I'm supposed to be. Its breakfast time, this familiar voice says. I look toward the voice and its Casey my coworker in the nursing home I work at. I look around now and I am in complete confusion at what I see. As Casey puts the tray off food down on my bedside rolling table I recognize it as well. I also recognize maroon round cover they use in the kitchen to cover the plates of food for the residents. I also recognize the br...

16 likes 2 comments 2
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Reasonable Answers

Submitted to Contest #220

I barely heard the words the first time; they were faint and warbled. I took in a sharp snort-like inhale as my eyes batted open. I leaned all my weight on my elbow. Everything was warped and blurry for a few seconds. I squeezed my eyes shut hard to clear them as I yawned out my words.  “Wha di you sah?”  “Are you hungry?” the other voice repeated more clearly.  I was still half-asleep and just processing waking up to determine any level of hunger or fullness. I sat up more and lifted my arms to stretch them out of their ...

16 likes 0 comments 0
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Closure

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry, John?” His mother’s voice was soft and comforting. John could picture her standing in his doorway holding a plate of food and a glass of water. She liked to make sandwiches, usually tuna salad, filled with more good intentions than flavor. “Not right now, I’m sleeping. I’ll eat it later.” He mumbled into his pillow, which was oddly hard and sharp. How can a pillow be sharp? He felt for the covers and grabbed only air. Why is it so cold in here? Did I forget to turn the air off? Why is Mom in my house? Mom is dead. H...

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Lunch

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?”I squinted after rubbing my eyes for a few seconds but the image in front of me was still all blurry and I didn’t recognise the voice.“Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”A young woman with big pitiful eyes leaned down in front of me asked again.My mouth was too dry to speak and when I tried to talk my tongue flopped out. I moved my lips around frantically attempting to undo the stickiness and to fight off the sour taste. The young woman forced a smile and laid a bologna sandwich on white bread in plastic wrap i...

16 likes 0 comments 0
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