You thought he was dead, but there he is, right in front of you on the street, smiling at you.

Posted in Mystery on Jul 15, 2021

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✍️ 412 stories

“Just Like You” by Itxy Lopez

Submitted to Contest #52

In the corner of Mel’s Coffee Shop, beside the window where I can people-watch and think. This is where I sit every day. I take a big bite of my muffin—the type of bite you take when you’re alone—and sip my coffee. Chocolate chip muffin (it was—is—my daughter’s favorite breakfast) and black coffee. The same every day. I’d never been a routine type of woman. Not until last year. Since then, I’ve found that doing the same thing every day is grounding. Good for me. The best part—or is it the best part?—is that when you don’t have friends or f...

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“Hazy Epiphany.” by Fatima Kanza

Submitted to Contest #52

Blair was standing on the middle of a decorations aisle in a busy supermarket. It was saturday so understandably overcrowded at the store. she was smelling different varieties of scented candles. Blair absolutely loved scented candles and enjoyed whiffing them for hours until she found the right one or to be exact the right ones for she was huge hoarder of them and it was almost becoming an addiction. Blair had scented candles everywhere in her apartment on the windowsills, on the shelfs,on the tables ,kitchen counters and still the cupboa...

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“Hidden in Plain Sight” by Cynthia Dawn

Submitted to Contest #52

“Gustavus, I saw him die.”“Marilyn, how sure are you it was him you saw? You witnessed something terrible, it could have been too much for you to take in.”“I saw him Gustavus, I saw him die.”“Okay, I believe you, but what if you saw someone else? What if in the shock of that you mixed things up and had it all confused?”“Cut the crap Gustavus, I'm his girlfriend. Er—was his girlfriend.” I maintained, anger swelling up in my chest.It was three days ago Benjamin was by my side, telling jokes and tickling me until the early hours of the morning....

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“Is This My Fault?” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #52

You had opened the door. He was standing there in an ugly black tuxedo with a boutonniere wilting as you speak. But it probably had been wilting for a while. You don’t think he did anything else in his life important. Except try to get you to like him. “Too bad.” You reminded him. His smile lingered, but your eyes were rolling. “I don’t like you.” You were about to shut the door when he told you he wasn’t trying to like you—he was here becau...

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“Nothing Interesting Ever Happens in this Little Town” by Harman Virk

Submitted to Contest #52

You walk out of the post office, and the fresh crisp air cools your skin. You enjoy being able to ship the pottery you make to those who buy it from your little online shop. While you try to make a little bit of everything, you typically enjoy making little animal figurines. It rained heavily last night, and now the grass is greener than it has been all year long. There are puddles covering the pavement, you carefully step around them to avoid getting your white shoes dirty. While you enjoy designing and creating figurines now, it wasn’t ...

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“Was it all just a dream?” by Rozi Bhalesha

Submitted to Contest #52

“This summer has been so boring.” My best friend, Julia said.“You’re right. I mean we were summer camp counselors and did the occasional volunteering here and there for our college applications but other than that we have been bored half of the time.” I said.My name is Rosalyn Aster and my best friend is Julia Benet. Julia’s parents died in a car accident when she was seven years old so since then, she’s been living with me and my parents. We are about to enter our junior year of high school now and are just waiting for school to open back u...

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“Miscount” by Clarisse Mardoux

Submitted to Contest #52

Times Square, New York, 2019 “Hi.” Marquette Winters stopped in her tracks and stared. Business in Times Square rushed by as usual, but Marquette couldn’t take her eyes off him. “Don’t you remember me?” He stepped forward and grinned. Marquette couldn’t speak. She turned and ran, shaking her head in disbelief. It’s a coincidence, She told herself. It can’t be possible. As impossible as it was, she still couldn’t...

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“Haunted House” by Isabella Serene

Submitted to Contest #52

Trigger warning: domestic abuse There’s an empty Heineken bottle on its side at the bottom of the driveway. It doesn’t bode well for the house; Noah would’ve known that even back when he was just an intern at the realtor’s office. The green glass stains the white pebbles around it in the sunlight. At the sight of it, Noah’s gag reflex pulls his memories out of his stomach, and he has to swallow to keep them back. He kicks the bottle over the pebbles until they get to the trashcan. He doesn’t want to pick it up, but he can...

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“Now and Forever” by H. M. Vivlio

Submitted to Contest #52

I walked home with a feeling of excitement. Today was our two year anniversary. My husband and I had decided we wanted to celebrate at our cosy apartment rather than going out. We thought it was just more personal. After work I had rushed over to his favorite fast food restaurant and ordered his favorite meal. I could hardly contain my excitement, he made me so happy! Every morning it was difficult for us to go our separate ways to work, I could go though knowing that when I got home I would see him again. That expectation kept me goin...

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“The Smile of a Ghost” by Kay Fletcher

Submitted to Contest #52

I can’t breathe, the air has gone out of my body. I need to sit down, my knees threaten to give way, my legs are buckling under me. No, I need to run, get away. This can’t be happening. This isn’t right. Hide, I must hide, don’t let him see me. I stumble, looking down I notice the uneven paving stones, still wet from last nights rain. I close my eyes – stop, think, these are old reactions. It can’t be him, just someone who looks like him. It’s happened before. I catch sight of a sturdy back, broad shoulders, red hair and a determined walk… B...

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“The Footsteps On The Tile” by Jessica Mills

Submitted to Contest #52

The Footsteps On The Tile His name left her lips in a whisper of disbelief because he was standing in front of her very much alive. The acceptance that she had lost him forever was recent, yet the man she had grieved for day and night was standing in front of her in the nearly deserted police station. Her mind was aching as she struggled to reconcile what she was seeing with the events that had taken place in the last few hours. She had found herself wide awake and staring into the darkness, her mind searching for the reason she was sudd...

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“Memories in Pieces” by Bridget Sam

Submitted to Contest #52

Life has never been good for you. September 1, 1997. A new baby came into a harsh and cold world. A day that was supposed to start and end in exhilarating joy only ended in mournful sorrow. On your day of birth, your mom died. Right now, you are oblivious to the world. Sounds of pain and agony were mixed with pure unadulterated joy. While chaos was in an uproar, you stood fussy in the nurse’s arms, the nurse confused as to what was happening. It seems as though you knew what was going on because, in seconds, your cries were heard, blending i...

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“Plan C” by Anni Bowen

Submitted to Contest #52

"Hey!" I yelled, turning around so quickly that my scarf whipped me in the face. "Watch where you're throwing those," I snapped. The kid who had accidentally hit me with his snowball (he couldn't have been older than 8 or 9) rolled his eyes at me and turned back around to play with his friends. I wasn't entirely satisfied with my response either. I had just struggled through a very stressful meeting at work, where it was officially recognized that the company I worked for would be laying off about a third of their employees. Knowing that I ...

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“Drunk Girl, Dead Boy” by Natalia Anglada

Submitted to Contest #52

I closed my eyes to stop the world from spinning. The lights, the people, the sounds, they all blurred together before me, making me dizzy. I knew I shouldn't have done those last shots. l looked down at my legs, my poor feet suffering inside those damn heels. I wanted to rip them off and set them on fire, but I wasn't going to risk walking barefoot. Though I didn't regret anything that had happened in the last six hours, I knew that was going to change. Tomorrow, I would wake up with my feet full of blisters, an awful hangover, and some lig...

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“Out Of The Jaws Of Death” by Janelle Hammonds

Submitted to Contest #52

Come on, Angela, pull it together. She shakes her head, as if to knock her brain around to get some sense into it. She rolls her eyes at how deeply ingrained Tyler is in her memory, to the point she refers to herself as Angela in her own head. She wasn’t Angela until she met Tyler. She was Angeline, or Angie, or sometimes even Ang to her friends and family, and Angel to her grandmother, but Angela came from Tyler’s first attempt to flirt while simultaneously gain the upper hand, she just hadn’t realized it at the time, thought the nickname w...

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You thought he was dead, but there he is, right in front of you on the street, smiling at you.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 412 stories

“Just Like You” by Itxy Lopez

“Hazy Epiphany.” by Fatima Kanza

“Hidden in Plain Sight” by Cynthia Dawn

“Is This My Fault?” by Christine Hungerford

“Nothing Interesting Ever Happens in this Little Town” by Harman Virk

“Was it all just a dream?” by Rozi Bhalesha

“Miscount” by Clarisse Mardoux

“Haunted House” by Isabella Serene

“Now and Forever” by H. M. Vivlio

“The Smile of a Ghost” by Kay Fletcher

“The Footsteps On The Tile” by Jessica Mills

“Memories in Pieces” by Bridget Sam

“Plan C” by Anni Bowen

“Drunk Girl, Dead Boy” by Natalia Anglada

“Out Of The Jaws Of Death” by Janelle Hammonds

🌟 Similar prompts

Twenty minutes before you are about to get married, you find your mother and your fiancé kissing passionately.

Every year, one person is sent to the moon. This year, though you hid in terror, it is your turn to enter the rocket.

"Come with us,” two burly men in gray suits say, grabbing you by the arm and handcuffing you. “You know what you did.” But you have no idea.

You are the only one in the supermarket during a blizzard. Feeling creeped out, you decide to leave, when suddenly you find a baby abandoned on the floor.

Contest #52

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

958

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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