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Write about a character attempting to meditate or do something mindfully.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 38 stories

10 Days to Mindfulness

Winner of Contest #146 🏆

Day one: finding your breath.“Take a moment to listen to your breathing,” the recording of Dr. McCourt said, through the car’s speakers. “Don’t try to control it, just feel the air as it enters and exits your nose.”Garry slammed his brakes and his horn. Just like the driver ahead. Just like the driver behind.“Stop fucking honking at me asswipe!” he screamed over his shoulder. He could see the driver behind him, screaming himself red. Look at this guy! What an idiot.Somewhere a light turned green. All the cars lurched forward a metre and...

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Margaret, Meditating

Submitted to Contest #146

Today I will focus on my breathing. Today I will-- Is that a dog? I think I hear a dog. That sounds like a big dog. Is the dog in distress? Should I go help the dog? I miss having a dog. But, you know, you get a dog, and it’s like having a child. You have to be home. When am I ever home? That’s not fair. It’s not fair to the dog. If you’re going to-- I need to breathe. I need to focus on breathing. I wonder if Napoleon had a dog? Focus. Focus on breathing. God, breathing is so boring. Why is meditating...

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A Tempestuous Mind

Shortlisted for Contest #146 ⭐️

I fear I am unwell.My startling outburst last evening must have confirmed this for you, and it will come as no surprise to anyone if you choose to put me away. I heard the viscount committed his own wife for a much lesser offense; the poor woman allegedly exhibited a fit of rage over tangled embroidery thread. Describing her behavior as “unnerving and volatile,” his assessment was damning enough to secure her future behind a stone-walled asylum. Though I dare never mention where my loyalties lie in the matter, I feel quite sympathetic toward...

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Mind the gap

Submitted to Contest #146

“Ok, Quiet place? Check! No distractions? Check. Cup of tea? Check! Well, here goes nothing.(Inhale, Exhale)“Since when did we start drinking tea? Does tea make us hip? Are you a hipster now? But, you can’t even grow a beard!””It’s chamomile. It’s supposed to help me relax. Now please be quiet.”(Inhale, Exhale)“You know what’s a fun word to say? Cabbage! It might be even more fun to say than bubbles. That reminds me of a time when….”Do you mind?!”“Oops. I’ll shush.”(Inhale, Exhale, Inhale….)“Somethin bout you, makes me feel like a dangerous ...

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Hanlon's Rialto

Shortlisted for Contest #146 ⭐️

Hanlon’s Rialto was a redbrick bar occupying a corner unit where the streets Nemsin and Elpis met. A flickering neon sign proudly captioned its entrance. Inside was all dim yellow lighting and old stonework walls, booths with threadworn red cushions that looked like a good smack to one would kill an asthmatic. As fine a bar as any to sit and stare and wallow. Absolutely nothing special about it, absolutely nothing to distract from the drink, which was a ten year old single malt scotch glowing gold in the bar’s sallow light. The bartenders se...

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No More!!!

Submitted to Contest #146

It has been pouring rain for hours! Men could notice it due to the large number of earthworms that has come out. Temporary gun-powered lighting allowed them to observe the little creatures. The earthworms were escaping from water; nevertheless, some of them have been swimming desperately in little puddles formed by the footprints of hundreds of boots. The puddles looked like seals stamped on letters made of the ground of mysterious maps… urgent massive letters that came but will never reach their multiple addressees. Addressees who didn...

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Good for Something

Submitted to Contest #146

Christopher Allegro had been managing the Fix It Up Auto Collision Center for more than ten years. Allegro knew how to squeeze profit from spot-painting scratches and repairing dented doors, fenders, and quarter panels. Responsible for new hires, he had given Gonzalo Gutierrez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, a position as an auto body technician.  Gutierrez, called G.G. by close acquaintances, had only worked at Fix It Up for six months when he approached Allegro with a business proposal. In his native S...

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Krasinsky

Submitted to Contest #146

Breathe. Concentrate. Inhale. Air enters the nostrils. The chest expands. Exhale. Air escapes. To the very end. All the way, to empty. Repeat the cycle. Living now. In and out. In and.... An itch. Between my right temple and eye. A curiosity to be examined. Moment to moment, it crests. Disappears. Such things always go away.  Saliva below my tongue, between lip and gum. I swallow, and reset my rhythm. In, and the chest expands. Out, and I deflate. In... "Motherfucker!" Who said that? "Uhhhh." Involuntary utterance — refle...

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Fighting Friends and Breaking Blades

Submitted to Contest #146

Day two of the tournament pitted Sir Danielle Longbow against Sir Aled Cadogan. Her friend had been a knight for many years while she was a homeless beggar. He’d fought by her side and trained with her. Now they faced each other with swords in their hands.             A crowd of thousands screamed in the stands of the arena. Danielle’s girlfriend Lupita and extended family were watching from the stands below the royal box. Alongside the queen was the new wise one of the cenaga. &nbs...

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The person inside

Submitted to Contest #146

You have twenty minutes. It would be twenty-three if you included the cooldown, but you don’t need to commit to that; just commit to twenty minutes. Yesterday you didn’t meditate morning or night, and you were disappointed. You promised yourself that you’d do better tomorrow, well, today’s tomorrow.  Swipe up on your iPhone and open the TM app. Don’t get distracted. You know the outcome of last night’s game. You can wait to see who the guest is on Smartless.  Have some boundaries. It’s too early to feed your addiction to your phone...

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You Do As I Say

Submitted to Contest #146

“Picture your reader,” was the pithy advice my editor gave me yesterday.Not sure he if meant literally, but I wasn’t going to embarrass myself and ask him to elaborate on it. I am imaginative – I can figure it out on my own.So, tonight, I found a comfortable position in my desk chair and closed my eyes. I got this. Imagining things was my day gig.Lots of faces flashed in my mind’s eye. From all continents. All skin tones, occupations, genders. Various degrees of intelligence and creativity.I singled out a guy sitting in an armchair, reading ...

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Meditation, mindfulness and me

Submitted to Contest #146

Mindfulness vs. Mindlessness The room is a cool green, minty, or aquamarine, a colour which encourages the atmosphere of comfort and relaxation which, I believe, because I am told, is central to any mindfulness therapy. We are told to close our eyes and think about our bodies in relation to the chair, the floor, the ceiling, the window; anything really, except the other people in the room: those others (why are they here?) whose eyes dart about, who shift uneasily, who avoid eye contact. We are asked to imagine that we are walking beside a...

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Chasing Time

Submitted to Contest #146

Another breath, another hour, another day, gone. I thought time was supposed to slow down as you grew up. No. It slips through your fingers like sand. Time treads at its own pace. It doesn't care whether you're jogging beside it or gasping for air miles back. I've been choking on Times dust for a while now. Twenty-four nothing to show.  Wedged between the cushions of my hammy down couch, I stare numbly at the ceiling. Couches were made to feel comfortable and peaceful, yet here I lay drowning in insecurity. My boyfriend and I broke up t...

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this is for school I'm sorry I do not know how to write

Submitted to Contest #146

Mauve immediately knew something was wrong when her two best friends slunk into the library, lunch boxes in hand. Riley’s hair was a mess, and Reese was walking slightly faster than usual to get away from him. This was never a good sign. When Reese got to their spot, he simply stared at Mauve, his lips pursed together, and didn’t even start a conversation. Riley followed after shortly, looking even more anxious than usual. “What is it.” She frowned at them. “Oh. It’s nothing. It’s just a certain someone in this room doesn’t value his frie...

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Still

Submitted to Contest #146

Take the pink sponge rollers out of your hair quickly because it’s Sunday morning and everyone is already rushing toward the car to go to church. Slip the black Goody comb through your dense, hot combed, jet-black, Ultra Sheen-glazed hair and style your curls because it is important to look shiny, crisp, and coiffured at your church. When it doesn’t look good, keep combing it over and over, even when Mom is banging on the door. When you finally open it, angry because your hair is still a flat, lackluster mushroom-shape, do not give Mom any a...

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