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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about someone trying to escape their situation.

Posted in Novel on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 47 stories

“We Might Have Been Brothers” by Esther Eckermann

Submitted to Contest #2

Trent It’s cold.And I want to get outOf this darn place. I’m not sureHow I’ll leaveBecause after allI’m justAn unemployed kidWho hatesPretty Much everything.I’m sittingHere in my dark roomWith the blindsShut and The light off.Thinking and wonderingHow I could leave.My foster familyWouldn’t care.Wouldn’t care that I’m gone.My foster brotherLukasTold me they didn’t Want me anywaySo why would they care ifThey woke up and I was Not there?They wouldn’t.I wouldn’t.But I can’t do it By myself.After all, two isBetter than one. Wait, I know.I know wh...

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“We Need A Better Word” by Joe Dozier

Submitted to Contest #2

You hear the word “survivor” a lot these days. Someone survived cancer. Someone survived a heart attack. Someone survived a stroke. I do not like the word.            When I hear that someone “survived”, I think of a car crash, or a plane crash. When my life crashed, survival was the last thing on my mind.           When I hear that someone “survived” abuse, I think of a broken person, struggling to face...

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“The Line at the Bus Station” by Julian Woodruff

Submitted to Contest #2

With mounting disgust Ernie eyed the printout of “In the Fog on Mount Tam.” The spark that had taken him eighteen lines into the poem the night before, and then died, had not been rekindled, as the continuation clearly showed. He opened “The Infinite Island,” started soon after Cathy, Eric and Annie in arm, had told him with ingratiating directness to be gone. He had laid it aside as woundedness and confusion suppressed invention. No magic, no thread, certainly no rope could he find by which to climb back into that one. He closed it dejected...

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“Moving West” by Kevin Barkman

Submitted to Contest #2

The sky shone fluorescent blue like the gleaming  of the sun off the boy’s eyes. His mind paced over the patterns of life that led him to this point; Pitter pattering over the most inconsequential  moments in his past. The placid sea of green ran off before him pausing only to shoot the occasional tree up towards the sun. Into the future a little road -barely a path-forced its way into the motionless world of green. The boy, named Elijah, after that pillar of Christian faith- a stranger who stood in the face of society to proclaim ...

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“Assassination on Gore” by Jackson Manley

Submitted to Contest #2

I woke up earlier than normal, despite being off from work. This horrible flu had gotten to me, making my body week and my brain incapable of fulfilling my position at the auto shop. It had been a fight, but my boss had eventually noticed the stream of snot leaking from my nose.The digital clock on my bedside read a quarter past four in the morning. I groaned, letting myself fall back onto the thin layer of memory foam covering my mattress. Something struck my left shoulder blade, catching me off guard. I cussed under my breath, my hand goin...

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“Plan B ” by Vanessa Sibanda

Submitted to Contest #2

"Leave ," the man grunted with displeasure .She knew her cue and didn't need to be told. It wasn't as though she enjoyed being with him anyway . "My pay ?" She asked as she picked up her bag simultaneously slipping on her shoes . He threw her a couple hundred bills. She stared down at them then gave him a questioning glare . He grunted then threw a couple more . She grabbed it shoving it in her purse and swung on her heel to leave. She flipped her hair onto one shoulder , straightened her back then sighed . Might as well leave with dignity...

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“First Letter ” by Aline Tomimori

Submitted to Contest #2

I was imagining when would be the last time I would hear:“Good morning Ms.Morris, how are you today?”One day eventually you start to think about the meaning of things that you didn't even noticed was there before.You discover that everything has value. The cold freeze made me feel a lot happier, that damn room was too hot in the summer, now I could finally lay down with my soft blankets without feeling useless. The woman with the nice eyes had came back and tried to start a conversation, poor lady, I was unable to speak, she thought I w...

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“Life After Death” by James Gallahan

Submitted to Contest #2

Dark, wispy clouds shrouded the moon and the light drizzle made way to large raindrops pelting the sand and ocean. Most of the vacationers at Rehoboth Beach were inside hoping for better weather tomorrow. But a father and his daughter were on the beach hoping to see one last glimpse of dolphins jumping out of the water before heading back inside. An old pale man wearing a tailored dark blue three-piece suit, and a Fedora with a feather pinned on its side, sat cross-legged on the beach as the waves crashed around him. His cap toe shoes craft...

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“Lilith the Crystal Ocean” by Natalie Pace

Submitted to Contest #2

“I thought falling in love was supposed to be fun,” I said.  She scoffed “I don’t know why. When has any type of falling fun?” Whatever you’re thinking this isn't my fault. She was the one who broke me. She destroyed the girl I was before. Lilly was kind and sweet until he moved here. She was my best friend, I was in love with her. She was my ‘Eureka’ moment, my shining star in the blackest sky. I’m not saying I have had the best life. Growing up was rough, my grandpa was trying to groom me for prositution and my mom was verbally abu...

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“APPLICATION SUBMITTED!” by William Rowland

Submitted to Contest #2

Richard hated his job. It wasn’t the hours or tasks. It wasn’t even his coworkers that he hated. All of those things didn’t really matter to Richard. He was easy going and fairly “unflappable” per his friend Katrina’s apt description of the thirty-eight-year-old man. He liked coffee, old movies and to be left alone, generally. True he did enjoy a night at the bar with some friends or going to a movie on rare occasions, but really Richard just liked peace and quiet. No, Richard was certain he did not hate his job for any of the usual reasons....

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“Free at last” by Elora Ackerman

Submitted to Contest #2

Lord Alfred Pearce was a wealthy nobleman in the 18th Century England. He was known for abusing and humiliating anyone that came into contact with him. The poor soul who got the brunt of his brutality was his gorgeous, sweet wife Rosanna. They were sworn to each other when Rosanna was just sixteen years old and Alfred was twenty-nine. Alfred had already had three wives before dear Rosanna. All three wives had passed away, all of the deaths being ruled "accidental". The surrounding village had their speculation of Lord Pearce's involvement, b...

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“Stuck in a RUT” by Mary Wood

Submitted to Contest #2

Tuesday, September 11, was an unusual day for a picnic; but, the weather was so warm for this time of year- almost seemed like summer again, I remember it well. I went to my friends Jamey’s house to go with her family to the park for a picnic. Jamey was always mad at her dad, this day was no acceptation, she had a giant chip on her shoulders you could see it in her behavior, the way she rolled her eyes, her frown on her face told you all you needed to know, no hiding her feelings. I could not understand her reasoning, why she was always so d...

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“The Girl Who Drank” by Kate Heesemann

Submitted to Contest #2

"Hi, my name is Molly Fitzpatrick, and I am an alcholic.” “Welcome, Molly,” the group responded back.  “I started drinking when my husband left me. I was hitting the bottle pretty hard, and that’s when he was awarded full custody of the kids. I couldn’t function. I couldn’t go to work, let alone take care of the kids. When he left, he took everything I had left — inside and out. I’m not talking just the car, the house — I had to find a new place to live, which wasn’t easy — I mean, he took every little piece of me.&n...

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“Adding to the Papers” by Amirya Gibbons

Submitted to Contest #2

“Do you want to be known as a chicken for the rest of your life?” Kathleen’s brother’s words pierced through her mind, as she continued her way down the road.The road she’s walking on has an infamous reputation. It’s known for the many disappearances in her town. Lots of people desperately try and cross this road, try and see if they can be the first person ever to cross it alive. But they’re wrong. They’re always wrong.The only thing Kathleen brought with her on her journey is a measly flashlight and her phone. As she makes her way down, sh...

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“Spider” by Ketevan Mdzinarishvili

Submitted to Contest #2

Two hours have passed since I locked myself in the bathroom. I sit on the toilet seat with my thighs pressed to my chest, pushing my hand into the wall, distributing the force between my fingers. I imagine that my hand is a spider climbing the wall, desperately clinging on for my life. My thumb lunges up, followed by my pinky. Then each subsequent finger climbs up one at a time. A loud thud hits the door of the apartment and the doorbell rings once more. The incessant noise becomes unbearable.  Focusing all my energy on my hand’s path u...

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