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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story where a character is experiencing parallel realities.

Posted in Science Fiction on Jul 22, 2022

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✍️ 65 stories

“The MacLarsen Incident” by Khalid Hussein

Submitted to Contest #156

Kal was stocking shelves. This was his least favorite part of the job. He enjoyed the customer service element, helping people solve their problems. At an arts and crafts store there was always a parade of characters with questions. The most annoying customers were those who really just wanted him to do their project for them. He would sometimes indulge the pushy old ladies or lazy teenagers, and go beyond his job description by helping them cut foam boards, or even drawing out schematics for their projects. This was not why he had gone to a...

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“The Beast” by Connie Roys

Submitted to Contest #156

I woke with the sunshine streaming through the window. I loved this time of year, late summer. All the flowers in my garden were in bloom. Butterflies and birds flitting about before their final journey to warmer climates. I stretched, threw on a robe and headed out to the back patio stopping only long enough to grab a cup of coffee and the coffee pot. I had put the automatic brewer on so the rich dark aroma could wake me each morning. As I took a seat, I was startled by the shadow that crossed behind me. I turned around to find Fred standin...

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“The Open Door” by Olivia Snead

Submitted to Contest #156

After a short vacation in Jamaica, Kate returned to work. That October morning, she enjoyed the copper lined sandy leaves that shimmered on the trees in the sunlight. She crossed the street from the bus stop, and humming her favorite tune, she walked up the steps. The soft autumn wind ruffled her dark curly hair.            She looked at her watch and saw that the train would arrive in five minutes. She stepped in haste on the escalator and almost bumped into an elderly gentleman whose s...

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“Maladapted” by Sara M

Submitted to Contest #156

He pushed her gently against the wall and kissed her. Sunshine streamed in the window; an orange butterfly danced along its frame. Her mind was filled with his heady sandalwood scent and her skin tingled where he held her arms. Enya sighed, first contented by the kiss, then frustrated at being dragged back to the world by a lorry beeping outside. She picked herself up from where she had half-slumped against the wall and sat back down at her desk. He stroked her hair. --- On th...

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“To Soar” by Ryan Roarke

Submitted to Contest #156

Kestro would not simply walk. He grimaced as he entered yet another excessively long hallway. They seemed to be a trademark of the Palace of the Amethyst Court, as if the Queen wanted her subjects exhausted whenever they attended to her. Kestro pitied those shackled to the terrestrial; to never leave the soil, in his opinion, was no better than to lie beneath it. To be damned to eternal incarceration upon the ground, left to stare ever upward and long for the sky above. It seemed all too maddening. No, Kestro would not be mad, nor woul...

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“Rise and Shine” by Jermaine Packer

Submitted to Contest #156

He stared at the circulating propellors that rotated opposite to the ticking clock prepared to awaken him from his trance. “I don’t want to get up,” he grumbles as he turns to view a beam pinpointing the very reason he desired to stay in bed. He smiles as his mind takes snapshots of the auburn angel sharing his realm. A constant gentle breeze was heard proceeding from her nostrils as the securely wrapped covering portrayed her impeccable anatomy. Her lips remained unlocked and arched in a position that enticed the gentleman to connect his li...

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“The other 'Ana'” by Vedantee Padte

Submitted to Contest #156

She could smell the faint aroma floating through the air as she tried to clean the floor.She had bumped into Roger on her way into the bedroom. Roger’s fizzy drink had spilled all over his shirt and then some on the floor. Roger must be enraged, she thought. He had simply stared at her and had left the room without saying anything to her. Anything! But she thought that…“The muffins are ready!” exclaimed Laura. She is always this upbeat and overly enthusiastic person. Baking, cooking, caring, oversharing. She is as pure as a soul can be.Laura...

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“Wazirs” by James Corson

Submitted to Contest #156

"Our wazir is gone too long from us, Muni." Muni gazed into the red earthen floor, knelt before the synod. "Lord Iluud's duty is here with us and we've had much need of him," the counselor woman pressed on. "What is it that so preoccupies your master?" Muni licked his lips to speak, and found he was shaking in fits before the small council. I must appear calm, he thought. Already he was too afraid to meet the counselors' eyes, his own still ruddy from the last bout of weeping. He knew the synod was in terrible want for their trusted wazir, a...

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“AN EARTHLY EXPERIENCE” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #156

I hear the humans say I’m in a coma. That is only partly true…this human vessel I’ve entered is lying on a bed, hooked up to beeping machines and devices I do not recognise. Fear grips me and I don’t want to be here. I need to return to my planet, Zoron. I fell into this world they call Earth, purely by accident. We were heading to another galaxy, on a mission to rescue one of our planet’s from an encroaching battle – when suddenly we took an unexpected turn, a disruption in the system sending us spiralling and pitching, and we ended up dive...

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“The Faceless Figure ” by Ellzita Rochè

Submitted to Contest #156

CHAPTER ONEFrightened with sweat and tears dripping down my cheeks. Takingshort, sharp breaths with my eyes pinned to the path before me. I need to get out of here, it’s too quiet, unnaturally quiet, not even a cricket, only the thunderous pounding of my feet. I don’t even know what I’m running from, just that I need to get away from it. Suddenly I stumble over a broken branch, only now noticing the dirt, leaves and dried blood covering my feet. I frantically try to get up, glancing over my shoulder - the number one rule of what not to do wh...

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“Secretly Hero” by J.J. Spurlock

Submitted to Contest #156

Nothing exciting ever happens to me. It is always the same mundane day every single day. I wake up, take a shower, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat a microwavable meal that's depressing but the packaging likes to say it's not, brush my teeth, then go to bed. That's it. That is my day-to-day activities during the week when I go to my nine to five jobs. Now, I know what you're thinking. My weekend is the time where I get all the 'exciting' stuff done. I go to the grocery store on Saturday morning to buy the same old groceries I have bee...

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“I Wake” by James Masters

Submitted to Contest #156

I wake. Dim, hazy, featureless nothing. I blink. A bar. Light comes from somewhere above or around. Dim, warm, yellow. Cheap. I grimace. A man. He nods to me. Me? My drink. “Another?” I look down. Empty. I look up. I smile. Something of a smile. “One more.” He nods. He turns. He pours. He returns. He nods. I nod. I drink. “You always drink the cheap stuff?” I laugh. Something of a laugh. “Sure. Why not?” He shrugs. “Cause it’s shit.” I laugh. More of a laugh. I shrug. I smile. More of a smile. “Buddy. Everything’s shit.” He laug...

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“Another World, Another Me” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #156

Do you ever wonder if there is another you somewhere out in the universe living the life you are suppose to be living? Sometimes I wonder if that's true for me. Two weeks ago I began having dreams of myself. I didn't understand them then and I still don't understand what they mean. In the dreams I see myself living out a life I could have had. Instead, I'm living a simple yet satisfying life. My life hasn't turned out the way I always dreamed of. I'm not saying I hate my life. What I am saying is that I have or had dreams of being a chef...

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“Sundown you better take care” by John Passadino

Submitted to Contest #156

Sundown You Better Take Care by John Passadino Francis brushed his teeth with fervor. The cool water and mint-flavored paste gushed over his gums and teeth, stimulating his taste buds. He savored the sweetness, thinking of the stack of York Peppermint Patties he layered on his tongue on Easter Sunday during his formative years. The experience and thoughts jolted him with an oxytocin high. “Ah yes, nothing like a peppermint toothpaste rush.”  He spat into the sink, feeling a trickle of warm drool on his chin, and watched the fluffy...

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“Rota fortunae (The Wheel of Fortune)” by Manu Jankus

Submitted to Contest #156

A rickety rocking chair was swaying in rhythm, simple gravity bringing forth the feeling of unprecedented control. Nothing new and unexpected was happening. One morning, I was perusing the newspaper in my favorite gray and creaky chair, observing the radiant sun emerge from behind the mighty clouds that had settled in the clear sky. The weather was favorable, with optimal humidity and a light wind. But, like every other morning, I was not untroubled. Yet another day consisted of meetings at the Royal Court, where I worked as one of...

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