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Write a story where a character is experiencing parallel realities.

Posted in Science Fiction on Jul 22, 2022

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✍️ 64 stories

The purple room

Submitted to Contest #156

People have their whims and quirks. Their seasons of recklessness. Entire communities can fix their minds on an abstract thing, whatever it is; real or imagined, and go mad in pursuit of it. They can be so impressed by a delusion that it becomes a new reality for them. Until their attention is drawn by another folly, and only regains their senses when rivers of blood have been spilled, and harvests of sorrow have been sowed to be reaped by their posterity. Some delusions still thrive far and wide, and perhaps that is why the present, as we k...

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Reality is an illusion

Submitted to Contest #156

Outside the cracked window, the squirrels shoot up the tree, leaping from one crooked branch to another. Their ginger fur shimmers in the autumn wind as it sweeps them from side to side during their play. I can’t tear my eyes away from the scene. Like a fish out of water, my mouth opens and closes. Opposite the squirrels, a decaying tree. The rotten leaves tumble from its branches, losing the battle against the wind. My eyes hurt as I forget to blink. I strain, and finally, I convince my eyelids to shut and reopen. But the world changes. ...

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Coffee Shop Vibes

Submitted to Contest #156

Randy Florence brought the milk-filled tin pitcher up to the thin steaming wand of the espresso machine and pulled the activating lever. The milk hissed and gurgled as he moved the wand in and out of the ivory liquid until he heard a dull groan. With his free hand, he cued the espresso and listened as it poured into two shot glasses. Once done, he dumped them into a cup and carefully poured in the steamed milk. The foamy white liquid turned a sweet brown as it filled to the top. Randy ca...

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Venus's Sister

Submitted to Contest #156

As I ascend the steps, the door opens in front of me.No one has a key, not even me. There must always be a security guard waiting at the door to let me in.I walk past him without acknowledgment, as if the door has opened automatically, but know that he watches the departure of my broad back, the lumber of my fat waddle, the breadth of my polyester-clad bottom and my frizz of greying hair, with an amused disdain. My satisfaction is in knowing that I don't have to be young, skinny or attractive. I am indispensable. The rest of them are no...

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We Caught the House on Fire

Submitted to Contest #156

We caught the house on fire, and he’s smiling.Heat presses against the windows, desperate for an escape. They’re all locked. Every door is shut. There’s no escape. It rushes back toward us in an angry yell. Let me out. Let me out.Paint curls against the walls. Ash sketches the ceiling in soft brushstrokes. Then that, too, begins to curl. The corner I’ve retreated to is shrinking around me. My legs curl to my chest. My head curls to my knees.My shrinking space is invaded by a hulking figure. His hand hovers over mine. Then it clamps on top of...

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Breakthrough

Submitted to Contest #156

My second life started on May 6, 2012. I drove to the Virtual Lifestyle Assignment building, which was situated at a right angle to the highway and across from Moody's delicatessen on Broad Street. I couldn’t believe my luck; This was the first and only time I’d ever won anything, and the timing couldn't be better. My nephew, Ajax had passed away in a terrible motor vehicle accident only two weeks ago, a loss that left our entire family reeling. I struggled with depression on a regular basis, and the news of Ajax’s untimely death had only se...

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The Bridge

Submitted to Contest #156

THE BRIDGEA soft heart may break, but a hard heart will shatter, I am holding yours in my hand. She put then pen down and pondered what she had written. Grim satisfaction welled in her own broken heart, buoyed by the sinister words. She read the words again, she crumpled the paper and through it in the bin. She leant forward and put her head in her hands. “Their hearts won’t break or shatter,” she thought “they will be glad to prune the twisted branch of the prestigious family tree.”This was Victoria Sykes, she shifted he...

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Here Nor Now

Submitted to Contest #156

“I won’t go back. The past is in the past. I won’t go back. The past is in the past.”It was no use. As Tobias slammed his eyes shut he felt his presence begin to slip. Warmth and tingles began to wash over him. Starting at his toes and then to his legs, the feeling rose. As the feeling hit his waist, he clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white in hopeless defiance. He was overcome now, his stomach in his throat and still he whispered, “The past is in the past.” But the sensation continued to engulf him and he continued to slip, as if fa...

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The Napkin Flower

Submitted to Contest #156

(contains physical violence, substance abuse and language) The road looked blurry. The two lane highway had turned to four. Back and forth Jonathan swerved behind the seat of his truck. Back and forth. Back and forth. He tipped back the rest of his Coors and tossed the can outside the window. The blowing air felt nice on his face. It pushed back his hair and gave him the scent of a summer night.  Jonathan reached over to grab another beer from the case. As he reached he pulled the steering wheel with him and the truck lurched. Veeri...

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A Few Drops Difference

Submitted to Contest #156

“Damn it!” Orteia muttered to herself in the quiet of her apartment.  The only sound was the subtle scraping and clinking of the hangers that she quickly moved from one side to the other, trying to find the outfit she was looking for. She had been through her wardrobe twice already trying to find it, and she did not want to make that a third. As she continued to move them, looking for the outfit, she flinched as she put too much pressure on the cut she had got yesterday. It was bandaged now, but it was a deep cut to get on her hand. “Ug...

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Delightful Duo

Submitted to Contest #156

The boy in the car looked at him as if he knew him, and he felt like he did... Jimmy had a fairly plain lifestyle. He was 27 years old and still lived with his mother, Caroline. Caroline was generationally wealthy and widowed. He tried to stay out of her way, for fear of waking the demon inside of her. She was a wretched old woman, and she deserved to be alone. She was awful. Jimmy didn’t have to work, so he didn’t. He was out running a few errands for her wretchedness, when that car passed him going toward town. When he locked eyes with tha...

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Shared Reality

Submitted to Contest #156

I’m lying in bed, staring into the eyes of the woman I love, wanting to stay there forever, but knowing that I’ll be gone soon. And I might never find my way back. I don’t know why it happens. I don’t know how long it’s been happening. But I just can’t stay fixed in reality, in the reality I want to be in. I move through space and time, or whatever, unfixed, bouncing across and between the possible realities. It happens frequently, without any warning. For the longest time, I didn’t have any hope, any reason to think I’d ever live a normal l...

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Thanatology

Submitted to Contest #156

TW: Death The Merriam-Webster definition of thanatology is as follows: “The description or study of the phenomena of death and of psychological mechanisms for coping with them.” 2032 I wake up at 3 a.m., as is my habit. It's a cool autumn night, and a shiver goes up my spine as I pull on my sweatshirt. However, the shiver has nothing to do with the cold. I've been having the same nightmare for weeks, and it always wakes me at 3 a.m., right as I die. The story leading to my death is never the same: one night it's a terrible natural ...

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Honey Man Dan - Part 1 (2nd book in series)

Submitted to Contest #156

Honey Man Dan  I’m always afraid to touch it. I’m always afraid until I lay a finger flat down on its wavy tube. Neon lights always looked like frozen glow-in-the-dark worms to me from when I was a kid. My mid-aisle seat 20s aren’t any different. I still tap this sign every time I pass it, almost expecting one to thaw out and crawl on me. I just knew it would jump on My hand, wrecking my scream record. Outward emotion came to me like a forgotten birthday–the planning part of it all wasn’t a quality that showed up for...

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The anti-mirror from Stalin's secret bedroom

Submitted to Contest #156

The anti-mirror from Stalin's secret bedroom     The wrought-iron gates of the British Embassy in Moscow opened slowly and quietly, giving way to the four-wheeled "monster" - ZIL KARATEL Ansyr (ZIL PUNISHER Anti-Gradient) - belonging to Russian special armed forces. The military vehicle turned right, towards the New Arbat, going parallel to the bank of the Moscow River. Inside it, which looked like a spaceship, not as a land vehicle, were four people.     In the front seat, to the right of the driver (a li...

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