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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 25, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 115 stories

“Comings and Goings” by Dr Stafford

Submitted to Contest #84

Comings and Goings There was a breeze coming off the river. It was one of those late August nights Midwesterners live for, cool, brisk, weather fit for a sweater, or shawl, something to keep the chill off if you had had a mind to be outside. I did. Hadn’t seen my girl in a year. Hadn’t eaten anything except home-cooked, or takeout since our last date. Good air washes over a river on a night like this, if it’s a big river. The Mississippi is, big, and wide, and when it ripples with the reflection of the moon and the cons...

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“Dear Cera'M” by Victoria Bogatz

Submitted to Contest #84

Dear Cera’M,  Welcome to Planet Atopia.  You will need to know that the suns are scarce, and the rain is plenty, and the days stretch on. Don’t get me wrong-- It’s not an altogether horrible place. Makali and Pakali cared for me as a child, I went to school, and we’re building a great civilization.  You won’t see the civilization. It’s in the cities, not where we are, between the wispy trees. I never knew much of our history. I’d heard that we came from a faraway place and decided to start over. I’d heard we were rebuildi...

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“A Little Sleep” by M.K. Hendri

Submitted to Contest #84

She threw herself in front of her bedroom door and glared, “I don’t need a babysitter to go to the store”.  “Kira, It’s been over a year, and your brother is tired.” Jordan pleaded.  Not this time. That sunshine smile always found a way to break her down, but not today. She knew Jordan was on a tight schedule, and if she could battle here for just ten minutes, she'd have to leave without her.  Kira pouted in the passenger seat as Jordan turned into the parking lot of the store eight minutes later.  “Why haven’t I ...

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“The People We Missed” by Amber Thompson

Submitted to Contest #84

My air became consumed by the heavy fibers of the cloth covering the airways of my mouth and nose. Going through the aisles scavenging through the remaining food just so my boyfriend and I through the week. I could barely get enough to cover the bottom of the cart, but it was enough to give us hope. I scanned my own groceries as I rapidly bagged each one. My eyes laid low enough to see over the mask yet enough to avoid eye contact with anyone around me. I’m fully aware I’m not the only one barely making it, but I couldn’t bear to take on eve...

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“There Seem to be No Time” by Berhanegenet Mikre

Submitted to Contest #84

There seem to be No Time The wind whispers under the rustling leaves of the avocado tree. It is eight in the evening with three quarters of a bright moon stealing through the fragile twigs. It is one of the nights of a pandemic era. There is also one more sound mixing with the wind. Wait, here again … a very faint inaudible... Now it is gone. There is a hovering wish that the pandemic would be gone as it mysteriously appeared from no were, in no time. She stood in the middle of small patch of the trees longing for what she hopes for. Had he ...

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“Moving On” by Addison Martucci

Submitted to Contest #84

I felt my eyes starting to get heavier and heavier and I left like I was slipping off the edge. “ We’re losing her!’ someone yelled ”,” but I had no clue of who it was the only thing I could make out were six blurry figures standing above me. All I could feel was tired and in pain: so much pain. “ Come on girl stay with us!” this time yelled by someone different. I didn’t pay much attention to it and was about to close my eyes fully when- “AVA, AVA wake up you're having that dream again!” I shot up out of bed and turned to my roommate: Olivi...

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“Tears Take Tolls” by Rachael Lee

Submitted to Contest #84

TW: suicidal ideation, self harm A bright day. Cloudless, the sun shining shamelessly in the sky. The light breeze brushing against my bare lips. Nothing blocking it. But I feel sick. I want to throw up. I act like everything's okay, nothing's wrong, sipping my Fanta calmly through a paper straw. Because across from me, my best friend Logan sits on a white plastic chair, smiling. An innocent and sparkling smile, a naked one. Not covered by a breathless mask or anything. The atmosphere is tight. It's awkward because we haven't seen each other...

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“Checkpoint” by Ray Yaneza

Submitted to Contest #84

My stomach churned the fifth time. And I felt something burn as it came up my throat. I haven't felt this way in a long time, not since 2021. I didn't think what would follow was going to be pleasant.  It's probably heartburn again. And the stomach acid isn't going to let me have a great day until I force it down with some Peprazom and Gaviscon. And it sucks right now to be stuck in a long line of vehicles. I don't even have the chance or choice to turn around. And even if I tried, I would probably get arrested, or worse. So I bit...

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“Breaking” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #84

Dear Journal,                                                                                  My mother cannot even look at me without snatch...

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“We are all Benzos” by Ionel Rusanu

Submitted to Contest #84

I have always have been an anxious creature. Living always in my comfort bubble. For instance, even during the last pandemic, the fact that I was confined me to my one-bedroom apartment was not so bothering to me. I wasn’t going out much before either.What was taxing my nerves was this anxiety; “What if I get sick and die in excruciating pain, gasping for air?” Because that was the tableau that was drawn by media for this covid-19 disease.So, since my panic attacks aggravated after the lockdown, I had an online consultation with my psychiatr...

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“Moving On” by Jenny F

Submitted to Contest #84

“Moving on is never easy , but must be done. “ I gulp for air choking back the tears trying to escape from my eyes. “Family, friends, loved ones we are here today to celebrate the life of my father Kolby Lane.” I can’t say one more word. The pastor shakes my hand and I step back getting lost in the crowd.  The Covid-19 pandemic has been over for two years now, but the effects are everywhere. Masks haven’t been mandatory since last January but there’s still a couple random people wearing them. I look around to see all the peop...

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“False Freedom” by Karmissa Ariadne

Submitted to Contest #84

It became so much worse than we could have ever imagined. Democracy had crumbled to dust and the world itself was split into two. A new alliance between the democratic countries was formed while the Freedom Fighters banded together in an attempt to liberate the rest of the world of their manipulative governments. The Freedom Fighters could not see the damage that was being done, they refused to see their loved ones dying as a consequence of their ignorance and instead vehemently pinned it on government spies and corruption. But that was a ti...

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“It Isn't Over ” by Megan And Sammy Parson

Submitted to Contest #84

Some have said , "It's okay now. We are safe. It can all go back to normal now." Those people that say that are blind. They are all just so happy that it is "over". Only, it is not and it never will be. Everything and everyone has changed. The feeling you get at the store when someone coughs a few aisles over and suddenly you realize, what used to be something no one gave that much thought to, is seemingly the only thing happening in that moment. It's the fear and the anxiety that come with it. That is something that is now forever a part of...

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“Does Simon Eat the Puppy in the End?” by Andre Ferreira

Submitted to Contest #84

  Dedicated to Man’s Best Friend.   A puppy rummaged through a pile of trash near a garbage bin, nuzzling a pizza box. “No food in there, little friend,” Simon muttered, spying the little animal with his binoculars from atop a double-decker bus. The puppy’s fur was brown, though it was hard to tell just how much of that brown was dirt. Its ribs showed, its belly was bloated, and the thing was ugly beyond words. It stuck its head in a can of food to get whatever remnants it could. It then raised its can-encased head, not panicking q...

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“Mr. Skinny Legs” by Adam Brockman

Submitted to Contest #84

I got up early this morning – first mistake. Should’ve stayed asleep. Should’ve just let the notification delivery wake me. Then I wouldn’t have sat in the chair and stared out the window. Like a dog waiting for its owner. Kept looking over at the herd. They stared back at me, their marble eyes haunting me. They knew they’d be getting a brother soon. Must have been excited. Must have known the new one wouldn’t be any different, wouldn’t be like the old one. Wouldn’t be like Mr. Skinny Legs. A van drove by and I thought it was the post offi...

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