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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character who’s so afraid of making the wrong choice that their indecision ruins the very thing they were hoping to keep safe.

Posted in Sad on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 85 stories

“The A.R.C ” by Leanne Spencer

Submitted to Contest #70

The night had drawn in and the ethereal summer glow of the day had turned to a cold, icy blue tone and as Olivia set upon making the evening meal, she felt a sudden unease, as if there was an unwelcome and unworldly presence.She called for Leo with a panic in her voice. However, no reply came. Where had he gone, she realised she had not seen him for over an hour and the house wasn't sprawling, so that was strange. They live close to the beach and Leo loved to spend time on the porch watching the waves. It was his calming place and with ...

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“Afeared” by Tim Law

Submitted to Contest #70

“King Otto Battleblade you must listen to me!” implored General Hammer MacOrcbane. The two stout figures sat across from each other in the Great Drinking Hall, a grand table between spread with maps of the Twin Peaks Pass. Scouts had reported that The White Fang goblin clan had been sighted gathering forces in the pass. “We must close the Mountain Gates and defend whom of our people have managed to reach safety,” the General continued to argue. “But what of the pony farmers here and here, further south of the pass?” the King argued back. “Th...

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“If Nobody Uses the Library, is it a Library?” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #70

Narrator’s (or maybe Author’s) note: This story has ties to others on this site. The threads that bind them are the experiences of Dr. Lavinia Rivers from the Southern University of Maine or some institution like it. She’s in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, on sabbatical. That means she has several months to conduct research on a topic which was approved by her university. If she does not complete her research as designed and approved by her academic department and Dean of her college, she will be in a whole lot of trouble. Her career mig...

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“The Hitman's Hart” by Lee Kull

Submitted to Contest #70

I watched her through the scope, my elbows resting on the ninth floor window ledge. The crosshairs painted a red ex on the back of her head as she sat at her desk, working late again. My finger brushed the trigger, but then pulled back and rested lightly on the trigger guard. Now was not the time. I still had the rest of the week, I told myself. Today I’d be tracking her patterns, just like I had been doing for the past four days. Her slender fingers tapped a staccato rhythm on her desk as she poured over the papers before her. The light ov...

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“Namesake” by Paige Leppanen

Submitted to Contest #70

It is not easy to live inside your head. Maybe I’m the only one who feels that way. How else can others so easily decide what to wear, where to go, what to say and to whom, how to act, or how to feel? Every decision must be analyzed, or so my mind thinks. Every day, every possible consequence for every possible decision must be weighed. If I make the wrong choice, something dreadful will happen. So I mustn’t make that choice. Though the second choice might result in something equally dreadful. Even the third…This is how the days go, how the ...

2 comments 2
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“Red or Blue Slush?” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #70

  I rapped on the trunk.   “Back soon Rube. Call of nature.”   There was no reply. Maybe he couldn’t hear me. Or maybe I couldn’t hear him. Which was just as well, didn’t want my precious cargo attracting any attention. I began the walk to the service station, my goddamn bladder kicking me for pulling up in such a far, secluded spot of the carpark.   Washing my hands after attending to the necessary, I glimpsed myself in the smeared mirror. Between the speckles, I thought my grey eyes looked darker than they did this morn...

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“How He Lost It All” by Black Raven

Submitted to Contest #70

"You have 24 hours or the bomb goes off and everyone dies.", is the last thing Jacqueline said before Ash gripped the phone tightly and threw it at the wall. 'That motherf*cker, making me choose between my families.' Ash thought, tears slipping down his eyes. He knew what would happen if he didn't do anything. Still, how could he choose between his mother and his gang? They were all his family. His friends, who helped him when he had no place to stay. His mom, who never once abandoned him through poverty and stress. Even without all this...i...

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“The Third Day” by Emerald Pearl

Submitted to Contest #70

Her slender fingers danced mesmerizingly on the old piano. They skipped gracefully over the keys and hesitated not once. The soft requiem enveloped the air in a mournful thickness that left me curiously desperate for more of the sound. I wanted to weep, but tears would never fill my eyes again. My obsession with her music was becoming almost disgusting, but it was not something I could control. In me rose an emotion I could not describe. The mere angst of it sent me spiraling into thoughts I could not bear to indulge in. The frown of her b...

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“When the Glass Shatters” by Christie Greenwood

Submitted to Contest #70

When it rains, it pours. Or rather: When the glass shatters, everything breaks. In their case, it’s the entire universe. After the deed has been done, it’s easy to claim that it was an accident. I didn’t mean it rises to Henley’s lips even more often than I didn’t really do anything. She did, though, and she knows it. The mere lack of action is never enough of an excuse, enough of a get-out-of-jail-free card… …that is, if humanity (humanities?) didn’t have more pressing concerns right now than determining whether acute thumb-twiddling is ...

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“Right or Wrong” by __Achor __

Submitted to Contest #70

Two planets are seen, slowly moving toward each other, through a cockpit window. “Captain, are you sure about this? If we stay on this trajectory, we’re sure to be dragged into one of the planets!” “No, we’ll make it through!” “Sir! We won’t, there’s no chance! We’ve missed our timing. We’ll all die! You do get that? Don’t you!? Think of the passen-” “You don’t think I’ve thought of them already!? Yes, we may crash, but if we stay here, we’ll all be as good as dead. This is a risk we must take, FOR the passenger, a risk FOR THEIR LIVES!” ...

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“I Couldn't Protect My Heart” by Paige Winters

Submitted to Contest #70

His locker is stuck, again. I watched him for a full minute from across the hall before strolling over to him. Without a word, I knocked my boot against the edge of his locker, simultaneously grabbing the handle and throwing it open. I leaned against the locker next to his and smiled. “Hey,” I say. Adrian shook his head. “I still can’t figure out how you do that. I can never get this stupid thing open then you waltz up and BANG.” “I have the magic touch,” I teased, waving my hands around like I was about to pull a rabbit out of a hat. “W...

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“Too Late” by R L Brewer

Submitted to Contest #70

Leya Harrison glanced at the man on her computer screen. “What can I do?” “You have been dealing with this for years. What do you normally do, Ley?” “This time it is serious. I want to tell him...I need to tell him.” “What’s so serious? The boy has a commitment phobia. He’s not found someone he wants to move on with...has he?” Leya sighed. “Sit down and drink your coffee. It’s probably getting cold.” “He was talking about her the other day. You know what he is like. Talks all day about his latest, but it’s normally over with in...

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“Red Roses Too” by Zion Hintay

Submitted to Contest #70

A jazz trumpeter is playing in the background of a smoky bar just outside the city. The tunes are low and hushed so as not to take away from the conversations happening around them.The bartender is filling a wine glass with a daiquiri for a woman wearing a slender violet dress. Her skin a beautiful bronze as she picks it up and saunters over to a table. Where a young man nurses a gin and tonic."Grocer baby, when are we going to hit the club.""In a minute, love. I'm just waiting to tell sis the big news.""Can't that wait, we have so much cele...

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“Three Wishes” by Amalee Bowen

Submitted to Contest #70

The trees folded their hands above me, branches interlaced. There was nothing but the sound of my footfalls on the path, the snap of a twig beneath my shoe, the far off rustling of a bird amongst the leaves. The sky hung blank and aloof above me, not threatening rain but no bright vista, just a cloudy apathetic stare. Perhaps it would speckle me with mist later. Or perhaps not.  It didn’t really matter. My feet walked this trail through the woods, but I wasn’t really. I was walking down another trail, down the side of a mountain in l...

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“Shattered” by Devan Benton

Submitted to Contest #70

Trigger warning: suicide   Sun shown through the foggy hospital window, gently lighting Zach’s face. The beeping of the heart monitor was now background noise to Aaron. He had been pacing these hallways for days now waiting for him to open his eyes. He had been given a decision to make. The surgery could save Zach’s life, but it was also life threatening. It was too much for one person to decide.                Though Zach was in a coma Aaron had hope that he wou...

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