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Begin your story with the sensation of a breeze brushing against a character's skin.

Posted in Narrative on Mar 1, 2024

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✍️ 137 stories

Yolanda the Thief

Submitted to Contest #240

7 December 2015My Dearest Alex,Just so you know, I’m writing you this letter in the garden of my new home, the only one on the street with high concrete walls topped with barbed wire that stabs the still air. Part of me is trying to reassure myself that I’m safe within this enclosure. However, I know very well that not even this imposing barricade can protect me from the sea salt and coconut-scented breeze slapping me across the face at this very moment, a gentle whisper of wind that, once upon a time, kissed me as tenderly as you always had...

81 likes 117 comments 117
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Feeling Okay

Submitted to Contest #240

I did not take my anxiety medicine today knowing I will be okay.              Walk to the sliding glass door as beams of sunlight strike my floor. Today is a good day to go out to experience the fresh air. To breath it in deeply as I have done so many times in the past. To take in the beauty of nature created to bring peace to a soul in pain.              I look around outside and see no one in sight.   ...

56 likes 26 comments 26
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An Obstetrician Killed My Baby

Submitted to Contest #240

This story contains themes or mentions of sexual violence, physical violence, and mental health problems.A waterlogged breeze wisps through my ex-mother-in-law’s lace veil, which hangs over her mascara-streaked eyes, and bats away her tears for her. Beside her, my ex-father-in-law and ex-husband stare at me, their eyes accusing, silently conveying a message that says, “You know you're guilty. We know you killed your baby.” I look back down at the tiny coffin being placed into the ground, surrounded by my family. I forced myself to come to th...

44 likes 32 comments 32
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Beating the Wind

Submitted to Contest #240

When the police cruiser came to a stop by the #123 bus stop, Freddie Storm recognized the officer in the passenger seat and ran for his life. Freddie turned left on Newark Avenue and tore down the long straightaway to Dickinson High School, a fortress on the flat hilltop above. The evening breeze kicked up and buffeted Freddie’s skin, slapping his face. The wind snapped him out of the fitful thoughts screaming in his brain as he tried to work out what was happening. Freddie knew from what was happening that he’d made a terrible mistake. But ...

43 likes 18 comments 18
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Mornin in New Orleans

Submitted to Contest #240

I sleep with my window open because I’m not afraid of spirits. When you stay in New Orleans, people say you’ve come to the city of haints. But, I think that’s superstitious bull. It’s just the breeze, just the breeze. Just an endless southern draft coasting through you, cream off the Mississippi. On Thursday night, I propped my window open and slipped into the pocket of my bed, bones crunching, exhausted. Two hours to witching hour and the winds were already picking up, waking spirits from their graves. This was expected in August when the h...

34 likes 15 comments 15
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It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Violet

Submitted to Contest #240

There were two things Violet wanted most in life. The first was for her parents to let her play in the backyard alone, away from their hovering nerves. The second was to fly.She longed to have wings that would take her anywhere she wanted to go. One day when Violet was six years old, her mom was away on a business trip. Her dad finally let her step outside alone. She was caught in the sun’s warm embrace the moment she leaped out the back door. A few moments later, a strong breeze tickled her skin, and she shivered. It wasn’t from a chill, th...

33 likes 21 comments 21
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Two Moons

Shortlisted for Contest #240 ⭐️

      He occasionally envisioned that life in dreams, where two moons hung in the sky, one closer, vibrantly pink and purple, the other, a shimmering white, the opaque pearl magic unto itself. He saw them disappear from view as the ancient cave walls enveloped him in their darkness, his small feet padding along the rock of the stone floor worn smooth over centuries of use. The further he crept, the more exposed he felt, and shadows gathered around him. His bones began to quake deep into the pitch with the final ...

30 likes 26 comments 26
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Punching Air

Submitted to Contest #240

The December wind embraced my shoulders the first night I walked past my dead mother’s reincarnation on the crowded streets of downtown Los Angeles. I didn’t know how I could tell it was her if I’m being honest with you. Her new body looked about six years old, still a young boy like I was seventeen years ago. His messy hair was the color of chestnut and he had blue popsicle juice dripping down his forearms. But still, I could tell from a mile away: He has my mother’s soul. In just one glance, I feel a crippling pain in my chest that I ...

29 likes 18 comments 18
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Did You Feel That?

Submitted to Contest #240

Part One – Ida “Did you feel that?” Ida placed her hand on her cheek while turning away from the open window. “Feel what, love?” “That breeze.” “I wish. It’s hotter than blue blazes in here.” Ida knew that to be true. Her damp blouse sticking to her back was proof enough. But yet, there was that breeze she had felt on her cheek just for an instance. Then it was gone. “You’re right. Would you like some iced tea? We can sit for a while, watch the sun go down.” Moments later Ida brought out the o...

27 likes 26 comments 26
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Traveling Through Winds of Time

Submitted to Contest #240

The morning breeze brushed against my skin. It carried the scents of salt air and fir trees."ooooo...oooooo...oooo" call the Mourning Doves through the forest. A vision of shapes, lights and shadows drifts across the waters of the lake.It is forming a picture that is wavering on the ripples of the lake. To a time traveler, it evokes waves on the ripples of time.Lately, the feeling of the troubled world's weight getting heavier was growing. I needed a happy uplift."It was time for a time-out," I thought. "I need something new, or something fo...

22 likes 6 comments 6
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Dust In The Wind

Submitted to Contest #240

As the frigid mist blowing in from Massachusetts Bay stings my face, I think about Jim. My dad. He goes with me everywhere. His photo is in my wallet and I show it to everyone. They don’t ask, maybe because of my anger issues, so I don’t need to explain that he’s dead, or what happened. Most people in Boston know already. It’s not often someone drives their car off the Longfellow Bridge.The looming presence of his funeral this afternoon transports my thoughts to the old days, back when mom was around; before he changed. Before the darkness o...

21 likes 18 comments 18
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Cat 5

Submitted to Contest #240

It was hot, so very hot and muggy. I had my hair in a bun, which I never do, but it was too sticky against my shoulders. There was a faint breeze. I shivered momentarily, even in the oppressive heat. I could feel the hairs on the nape of my neck tingle as I walked down Main Street.  The light breeze was welcome, but it was no relief. I passed the town square. Petrichor hung in the air, even though it hadn’t rained yet. An omen of things to come. I picked up my pace. The streets were empty. Ever...

21 likes 8 comments 8
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Dandelion Seeds

Submitted to Contest #240

            As I crunch through the frosty grass and icy patches of snow in the cemetery, the bitter northern wind stings at my cheeks and whips my hair and scarf into my face. I can’t tell if the wind wants to pick a fight or wants me to let go and open up. I can’t tell if I keep my arms crossed against my chest from the cold or from the rush of painful memories I’m stubbornly trying to keep back. Maybe both. Maybe I’m cold because those memories have left me numb and frostbitten. ...

20 likes 9 comments 9
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The Wind's Judgement

Shortlisted for Contest #240 ⭐️

The breeze will be the first sensation you feel once you finally gain consciousness. You will awaken to just the slightest of coolness along your skin, not quite cold but it would be worse without it. It will also be the strongest of gale to ever assail your body. The wind blows like a hurricane through what will be the driest climate you have ever seen, and ever will see. It’s a land lying desolate in an endless valley. A place where to say mountains are visible wherever you look would be a lie but walking in one direction long enough will ...

19 likes 14 comments 14
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Marshmallow Monster

Submitted to Contest #240

One should always carry marshmallows when walking in the woods. The peculiar advice popped into my head unbidden. I paid it little mind. My grandfather had often doled out such nonsensical tidbits. My feet moved along the narrow path, taking time to launch every rock and twig they encountered. My nose tickled as a friendly wind introduced itself to my face. The incorrigible breeze swirled around my shoulders, tugging my hair in a playful dance.It was a beautiful day in the forest. The kind poets tend to ramble on about. Writing paragraph aft...

18 likes 10 comments 10
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