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Write about a person trying to learn a new skill or hobby they find intimidating but want (or need) to learn anyway.

Posted in Nonfiction on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 47 stories

The Curse of Gifts

Submitted to Contest #15

 I didn’t have to learn. I could have just sat down and watch everyone die. Watch the world end. Watch everything that gave life a meaning be destroyed. And I would’ve still been fine. On the outside, that is.On the inside, I would be ripped apart. I would feel a deep ache in my heart every single day, and feel weak at the thought of it. I would be dead, deep inside. I wouldn’t have a reason to be alive anymore. Sure, I could make up a lame excuse like ‘if I’m alive then I wouldn’t have to suffer from dying, and the pain of it’. But the...

40 likes 5 comments 5
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Up From the Ashes

Submitted to Contest #15

“You have to do something, Keilo.”I blinked. My mother was staring at me. I knew that, yes, but I couldn’t see her. My head was in the blankets. Deep, deeply burrowed like a little bug who knew they would surely be killed if they came out of their hole. Not that my own mother would kill me. I knew that, at least. I blinked. “What are you doing with your life, Keilo?” I shut my eyes closed tighter and pulled my legs close to my body. If only I could will her to go away. I was okay. Really. It was fine. It was. My mother didn’t think so. ...

37 likes 9 comments 9
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Wyvern

Shortlisted for Contest #15 ⭐️

The scales are a bright luminescent purple. As large as my head. Gorgeous. Even with my hands trembling and my heart racing, I can still recognize their beauty.  I may be terrified of riding these magnificent beasts, but I absolutely adore watching them from a nice, safe distance.  None of my siblings are scared, though. They love riding wyverns. Training them. Pretty much everything about them.  I’m the outlier.  I’m sixteen and have yet to mount one. My siblings all were riding as toddlers. Most of them, anyway. All of ...

36 likes 4 comments 4
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On the Hardships of Being

Submitted to Contest #15

The thing is, being oneself is hard. It’s always the advice one will get, of course, if one asks folks. Be yourself. Be honest. Be true. Be good. Don’t wear any masks. Don’t put on any airs. Don’t strive for something you cannot ever have. Don’t waste time and energy trying to become someone (something) that you are not. Be good. Be true. Be honest. Be yourself. Yeah. Most advice is doled out by well-meaning people who believe they’re doing you a massive favour by telling you how to improve your attitude – how to make the right choices, a...

10 likes 0 comments 0
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I Love You

Submitted to Contest #15

‘So, I can call someone a dickhead without them knowing?’ Emily’s eyes are wide, as if she’s never realised that Deaf people can swear too. Then again, she probably hasn’t. I raise my eyebrows at her, biting back a smirk. ‘You could, Emily, but the sign for that one is less subtle than others I could teach you.’ ‘Why, does it involve making a dick shape on your head?’ She starts laughing when I don’t answer, her tight brown curls bouncing off her shoulders. I’m going to miss hearing her laugh. At least I’ll still be able to see her smile. ‘W...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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A Passion for Writing

Submitted to Contest #15

Maxwell Waterson is a 9th grade student at Bridget Highschool. He struggled at school, but despite his struggling he had made it to the 4th term. Max hated school, his hatred for this odd building grew stronger and stronger throughout the year. He especially didn’t like Mr. Harris, his English teacher. Mr. Harris was an old, strict man. Someone you didn’t really feel happy around. He had dark mysterious blue eyes, and he had wrinkles on his forehead that appeared every time he laughed, which wasn’t often.   Max sat quietly at ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Ballroom Dancer

Submitted to Contest #15

Ok, so I’m only a minor celebrity in the TV world, but when the call came from my agent asking if I would like to go on Strictly Come Dancing, without thinking, I said yes. I had never danced in my life. I was sure that standing waving my hands and bobbing up and down in time to the music did not count as dance in the proper sense of the word. Our first day of rehearsals dawned. I arrived early in my usual anxiety. Thinking, “What have I done? Here I am sitting in the rehearsal room, it is huge with mirrors all around and it is fre...

6 likes 1 comment 1
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Driven

Submitted to Contest #15

Leo Ferguson told himself he was delighted to work for Penfold Publishers because he loved books, which was true, but he sometimes also told himself he had no aspirations to be promoted, and wasn’t even especially ambitious and that wasn’t true. Not really.     So when he was called to Alexander Penfold’s office and Alexander told him he wanted to promote him to area manager, though he went through the motions of self-deprecating reluctatnce, he hoped Alexander wouldn’t take him too seriously. There was som...

6 likes 0 comments 0
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Now we are free

Submitted to Contest #15

I pull the broom through the living room one more time. The old pendulum on the fireplace is still ticking steadily. Shadows run through the room: children playing in front of the window in the late summer evening light. There were so many things in that house, now our attic is full of furniture and clutter, or mess actually. What is left here can go to the second hand shops. Valuables will only be divided after their death. Is the care over, or is it just starting now? Will I leave them in good hands? Who knows. They have become so vulnerab...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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A Dancer

Submitted to Contest #15

When I was a little girl, I always thought that there were three jobs a girl could have. A teacher, a nurse, or a nanny. My mother however, proved me wrong. You see, ever since I was six, I saw my dear mother work twice as hard compared to the other mothers in the neighborhood. With their shiny cars and their big houses. And their husbands. My mother didn’t have one of those though. She used to always tell me, “Annabelle, you don’t need no man to get along fine in this world, and you remember that.” I always thought she was crazy. I thought ...

5 likes 1 comment 1
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Legs

Submitted to Contest #15

There it was, large, no doubt hairy (I didn’t get close enough to see), just waiting for me to come along. I did what my mother had always taught me to do in such situations – I screamed.David was the first on the scene. A bit of a loner, our David, but good at his job. “Kill it, kill it”, I yelled, pointing towards the sink. He looked at where I was pointing and peered in, apparently unphased by what he saw.“Wow, she’s a real beauty, isn’t she?”“Well don’t just stand there, kill the bloody thing.” By now an audience...

5 likes 0 comments 0
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The Key to Driving

Submitted to Contest #15

The loud slam hitting the pavement. My mother’s screams still ringing in my ear. 2 years ago today my parents were killed in a car crash. We were just going to the grocery store. Why couldn’t we have waited until tomorrow? Why did that man have to run through the stop light? Why did I survive? My breath races as my hands grip the steering wheel. I glance next to me to see my driving instructor give me an assuring look. “You can do this,” her gentle voice almost calming me. I nod and hesitantly push my foot against the gas pedal.  The br...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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The Range

Submitted to Contest #15

I stared at the black silhouette hanging five yards in front of me, a faded red and gray bullseye decorating its chest. My fingers trembled as I curled them around the grip of the revolver. “Now, ya wanna make sure ya squeeze the trigger. Don’t just yank ya finger back. That’s the trick, Mike. Keep it straight, keep it slow and keep it steady,” a gruff voice barked behind me. I winced and adjusted my earmuffs. “I can hear you just fine, Uncle Rick. You…you don’t have to yell,” I said. Rick growled somewhere deep in his throat but did lower ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
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Learning to Face My Fears

Submitted to Contest #15

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Shannon asked as we stood in line to sign up for horseback riding lessons. “I’m positive,” I responded looking up from my feet, “This summer is about facing our fears and this is first on my list.” I had always wanted to ride a horse. The only problem was the fact that I was terrified of horses. The thought of being close enough to touch the large muscular creatures gave me chills and made my stomach churn. During New Year’s I told everyone that my resolution was to do as many things that scared me as I co...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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The Power of Words

Submitted to Contest #15

The Power of Words “Gracie,” said Mama, as she held out BearBear. “Who’s this?” Ooooh. Ooooh. Ooooh. GAAAH! I answered. Then I went limp and fell on my head. Mama picked me right up. “Oh, Baby Girl, “she said. “Are you OK?” She cuddled me on the couch. I like the couch. I said, Gaaah. Mama pulled a little on my hair. It felt good, like when that ant crawled around on my lip. Mama hadn’t liked that, though. Dad came into the living room. “Everything OK?” he asked. “I heard a ‘thump.”...

4 likes 0 comments 0
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