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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone making a seemingly inconsequential decision, which goes on to have important consequences.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 153 stories

“The Personification of Merlot” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #95

Zelda had revisited the Prose & Wine café several times – well, eleven times to be exact – over the last four months. And it was all purely motivated by the opportunity to hear him read just one more time. She couldn’t remember ever hearing a lovelier recitation of any piece of classical work. She was sure that his voice, laced with a lilting and beautiful English accent, was a gift from the Gods, derived in ancient times. She still did not know his real name, since he was known only as The Eloquent Englishman when he...

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“The last lie” by Ray _

Submitted to Contest #95

CONTENT WARNING - minor language, slightly suggestive content I lied. And I wish with all of my damned being that I didn't. He was saying congratulations, and that he was proud of me even though we both saw the hurt in his eyes, the smile on his face being the equivalent of plastic. The green-eyed beauty next to me was grabbing my arm like a child, but still giggling with her friends behind us. All I had to say was I didn't like her, that I was sorry but I'm gay. She wandered off with her friends, oblivious. I'm stuck like this n...

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“Death Game” by Mathic M

Submitted to Contest #95

People dreamt of the future or creating it, but I found myself in it. The future was bleak, unpleasant, even nightmarish. People from the old-time warned themselves of my future, telling the population the warnings of climate change, but they didn’t listen or didn’t care. Either way, my future was ruined, living in a country half of what it used to be, with the east and west coast both underwater. "What do we do now?" That was an echo of the voices after the great raising tide. The world went into chaos. People didn’t know how to deal with...

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“Life and Death” by Theresa Bhowan

Submitted to Contest #95

The subtle symptoms are there. Nothing nearly as bad as the last two times, but he is still not well – physically. Mentally and emotionally he is in good spirits, blissful to be surrounded by his family.“Wow, Dad. You certainly chose an awkward time to develop a lung infection. Right in the middle of a deadly pandemic that attacks the lungs,” Tracy says jokingly. She tries to keep things light-hearted and good humored, even though the room is thick and compact with emotions.Dad laughs, but everyone else feels the weight of what is about to h...

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“KATE ” by Siuzanna Vyshneva

Submitted to Contest #95

It was mid July when I came to that camp for the first time that summer. I was visiting for many years and loved that camp.I was put in a senior girl squad house under "3B" for camp group and I went on to get settled for that good ole Christian summer.So, on the first day, after unpacking and such, I decided to quickly get myself a friend. I have always been a person of one good friend only, and I wanted to make this into my religion. And the opportunity to make a friend presented itself. I went into our common room and there was only one gi...

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“It started with a green jacket” by Charlene 🧙‍♀️✨ Boyce

Submitted to Contest #95

It started with a green jacket.  It was that kind of early spring day that makes you want to pretend it is much warmer than it is. So when Lindsay got up that morning, she dressed in bright colours and as she headed out the door to the coffee shop, she paused, hand hovering over her warm black trench. Impulsively, she reached further in the closet and grabbed the green jacket.  Wearing the springy colour put an extra bounce in her step, which was just as well, since it was actually still chilly. She got to the cafe a bit earlie...

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“The End of Before” by Samuel Bowen

Submitted to Contest #95

Storm clouds billowed from the twilight horizon, blotting out stars in their march across the sky. Brief crackles of lighting lit the night as rain sent ripples among the heaving waters of the Starlit Sea. Waves spilled in deep blues across jagged black stones; the water coated a crimson stained figure splayed upon the shore. His limbs were twisted in unnatural and painful ways among scattered bits of timber. Wounds and rain distorted his features and dampened his already soaked and tattered clothing. The man remained unmoving through the ch...

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“Witched out” by Rita N. Elechi

Submitted to Contest #95

Can't believe this is happening! I ran my hands over my curly hair once again, as Hailey's purple car sped through the streets. My hands were sweaty, and my heart couldn't stop beating so hard. Excitement and nerves bristled.I could finally have a real interaction with actual humans. I couldn't recall when I've had a real conversation with them. It's either I'm paying for groceries at the market, walking past them on the streets, or paying a form of bill or the other, but never a real interaction.Dad would never let me communicate with them,...

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“Choices of honesty ” by Clinton Siegle

Submitted to Contest #95

Let me be honest. Fate is what I did not believe in. I believed in hard work. Dedication. Honesty. And faith in Christ. I knew I was a sinner. And the only way to heaven was via faith. Since someone else has pushed me through the door of time, I am no longer sure that applies or is real anymore. I believed my choices would get me to the right gate. I did not understand that God’s statement is you are sealed meant your choice is heaven. Or God’s statement that to the clay cup or vase: why did you make me thus? I might be sealed to hell. Both ...

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“Always Put the Chick Back in the Nest” by Devin Johnson

Submitted to Contest #95

One year and four days. A whole fucking year and four goddamn days. James had been in Europe for one whole, miserable year and four even more miserable, shitty days. He was unimaginably tired. His bones were tired. His bones had been tired since the very first godforsaken step he had taken off of that insufferable boat. James just wanted to go home. He just wanted some decent coffee. He just wanted to stop getting shot at by fascists. He just wanted a pair of boots that didn’t cover his feet in blisters. Was that too much to ask? The 94th i...

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“Silence & communication” by Florian Wolf

Submitted to Contest #95

"Kjaa? You sound like an animal girl," she harshly judged him. He? He just jumped away from the table, shouting, screaming. He completely burned his tongue on the overly hot tomato soup. She laughed. "If you are that angry, I will go home." Right in front of his face, she waved at him. "Oh, you are mute, not deaf," she poked fun of him as she opened the door. Ronald looked furiously around the room. Usually, he is a time organizing freak, but he simply lost any positive feeling towards it. A heavily burned tongue is no child's play, okay? ...

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“The Beginning of Nothing” by Robert Consiglio

Submitted to Contest #95

Ted Perrywinkle looks in his fish bowl and frowns. Phred, his little red and green lower Alerian sardine, is floating upside down. Ted uses the fish net to snag the sardine and carries it over to the bathroom and flushes it down the Royal throne. Then, while Ted sits on his couch and reads the latest copy of the New York Times, Phred the sardine struggles desperately against the swirling vortex that is sucking him down towards the abyss.        “The price of stock for Transylvanian chocolate flavo...

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“Letter From the Editor” by Alaina Logan

Submitted to Contest #95

I have been in the editing business a long time, and just the other day, I came across my letter from the editor article from two years ago, when I decided to do something that ended up turning my whole life upside down. "Mom, guess what," I said excitedly into the phone. "What?" Mom sighed, sounding distant. "I'M GETTING A DOG!" I squealed. "Eek, isn't it exciting?" Mom paused. "Honey, doesn't your apartment building have a no-dog policy?" I laughed. Obviously, Mom wasn't as excited as I was. "Mom, please, it's just for big dogs. All...

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“Love Without End” by Adeiza Atureta

Submitted to Contest #95

I thought about her every day, but she never showed up. All I had was this old photo of us that's partly squeezed. Each time I go through this phase, I think of so many things at once. I suddenly become forgetful of everything else and can’t seem to finish a simple sentence. Is this what it means to have a broken heart? Back then, we enjoyed being soaked up in the rains under this old, rusty Glo stand. It could barely keep out the rains, but we kept each other company there, and weathered through together. There were occasional squabbles and...

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“That One Decision ” by Izzy Sellers

Submitted to Contest #95

If I could pinpoint the one major change in my life I made that took me from being unhappy to living my dreams, it would be the decision to live from my heart and not my head. That simple decision, and that’s all it was – a decision, really changed everything. It took a while to understand it, trust it and integrate it effectively into my life, but once I did, absolutely everything changed. You ever have that feeling where something is really annoying you and you just can’t shake it? Maybe it feels specific, like a co-worker or a friend, it ...

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