A chance encounter brings together two old friends who have changed in surprising or strange ways.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 4, 2024

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✍️ 48 stories

“A Rowing Pit Offers Hours of Sit-up Sleeping” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #271

They don't tell you in rowing school that you sleep where you row. No! They let you believe you'll have a quadruple bunk or at least a wooden floor to sleep on. Surely, a ship in Selwyn's navy affords that much comfort? But no. The rowing pit offers hours of sit-up sleeping, no room to stretch out, and splinters to rollover sleepers - like Flimlet."Curse that cursed belt," Flimlet mumbled to himself loud enough for Lady Nimmo to hear.Lady Nimmo lay against her husband, unable to sleep. The belt wasn't the only thing she'd like to curse right...

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“In The Morning Light” by Breanna Dawn

Submitted to Contest #271

The earlier days of the apocalypse was only chaos. Death and smoke gripped the air, I could feel it stale all around me. It coated my skin, my clothes, my hair. Fear pulsed through every vein. Terror gripped every muscle. Dread gnawed every brain. It was melted into the eyes of everyone you passed. When would it happen to me? When will I watch it happen to someone I love? What could we have done differently? Thoughts that would plague my mind over and over, my new reality. The dead no longer stayed dead and those bitten became deranged...

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“A Bitter Blend” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #271

***TW Mentions of child loss, infertility***Hat or glasses? Tough decision. Couldn’t wear both. Looked about a hundred years old… Still got it, girl…? Not like this! Outdoor conditions, in spite of the onset of winter, weren’t too adverse yet, so the glasses would have been more practical. But my new white angora slouch beanie… Ah! So soft and gorgeous… It went so well with my white zip-up jacket and snow-boots, those black fleece-lined leggings which lifted and shaped and sculpted and trimmed and controlled.A backdrop flurry of snow, blonde...

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“An Awkward Work Meeting” by Rozmarin Ideas

Submitted to Contest #271

Paul wasn’t his real name. Neither was Victor, or Jean, or Dean. But he could convince just about anyone that they were.Passports, Driver’s Licences, Birth Certificates. Victor was married, and you could call his wife. Jean had a civil partner, whom you could watch gardening in the back yard of their suburban home. But Paul lived alone, and it was the simplest person he could be.These men provided services- all kinds of things. Maybe you needed someone found, or someone lost. Maybe you needed a package delivered that the post wou...

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“The Timeclock Punchers” by KA James

Submitted to Contest #271

Their chance encounter happened, appropriately enough, in front of a clock, a rather famous timepiece rather than an old-fashioned timeclock with punch cards like the one that they used to meet in front of every morning.Ralph had been orbiting the information counter, checking the departure screens as well as admiring Grand Central Station’s brass and opal masterpiece clock, when he caught the shock of red hair passing by, peeking out from under a hat. His eyes did a double-take as he saw his old work companion lumber past, but his mouth did...

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“Don't Lose Your Head” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #271

The old man’s ghost passed through the wall, slipping out of sight like a child down a Slip ‘N Slide.Sadie Marshman let out her held-in breath, but the tension didn’t leave her body. That had been the twelfth ghost this morning. How many had visited whilst she’d been unconscious or out of it on hospital drugs? Sadie couldn’t say, but since they’d weened her off the good stuff, she’d become more aware of her surroundings. Wasn’t it enough that she’d had her accident and sustained her head injury? Must the dead also visit her? At first, she’d ...

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“Homecoming” by Lindsay Flo

Submitted to Contest #271

In times of mass casualty, we come together. As helpers, we’re the ones who pull people out of burning houses and highway wreckages and hold their hands when they inhale their last breath in the back of an ambulance. I wasn’t expecting to see Bard here, but the need for all hands on deck is mounting. We are suspended right now; its not quite time to swoop in but its coming. Bard looks just as surprised to see me. In another life, we might have harbored low-key embarrassment at being reunited without warning. But that was, well, another life...

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“Twisted AI Sisters” by Victor Wouters

Submitted to Contest #271

“You sure?” He hesitated, unsure if we were awake.“About timing, or our half-pregnant rituals?” I mumbled.“No, that thing you're—” He glanced down the sheets, pretending casual.“You’re getting us in trouble,” he muttered, trying to disengage from the morning routine. “Thinker! Isolate the house!” He always beat me to it.I tried a few contortions, even using my velvety voice to tempt him. Posing in an irresistibly sexy position, I lifted a leg, but the silky sheets betrayed me. I slid off the bed, knocking over my stack of unread sci-fi novel...

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“That Night at Sandra's” by Isabel García

Submitted to Contest #271

It hasn’t really been that long. At least, that’s what I thought when I saw her sitting at a table at Sandra’s. The walls are practically all window, that’s why. And you can see everyone inside, you know, drinking, talking, having fun. I didn’t even know that she was back. She wasn’t alone. That should have been enough to make me head back home, it’s what I was going to do anyway. I don’t know what possessed me, really. I’m not normally what you’d call a sociable person. If it had been anyone else, I would have just walked right on, headphon...

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“Fast Friends” by J T

Submitted to Contest #271

“Hi.” Silence. The little red-haired girl stared at the brunette one sitting under the slide. “Can I come under there?” Silence. The redhead plopped on the ground and scooted over. “I’m Tina.” Silence. “I’m six, you know. My family moved here last week. This is my first time at the park. Do you play here a bunch?” Silence.“Michelle!” A woman called from a nearby bench. “Michelle, it’s time to go home now.”The brunette girl climbed from beneath the slide and dusted off her jeans before running to her mom. Tina called after her. “Nice to meet ...

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“Alone” by D.C. Wright

Submitted to Contest #271

The bullet ricocheted, making impact with her flesh with a soft sound.“Shit!” Her ears thrummed with the sounds of her heartbeat as she felt the cold thrill of adrenaline coursing through her veins.Turn Miles. Turn, turn turn! FUCK! Why isn’t he turning?!Lillian focused her attention on Miles, her eyes devouring information and churning out details. Her mind needed only a moment to evaluate the scene in front of her. Miles’ vest shredded and his left hand bloody and mangled. Shreds of skin barely holding to the bone. His right hand gripped t...

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“The Bell” by Christian Banna

Submitted to Contest #271

Tears stream down to the corners of her mouth as she talks, but I’m not listening. I haven’t been awake for more than a few hours, maybe only minutes, and I don’t remember falling asleep in a hospital room. There’s a lot I don’t remember. My name, for instance. The nurse almost pokes her own eye out with those fake nails as she wipes away a tear. When she wipes the ones that had gathered around her mouth, it smears her makeup, revealing the faint moustache she’d tried to hide. It rings a bell somewhere in the back of my mind. A strange wave ...

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“Cafe Hopping” by Elise Mori

Submitted to Contest #271

Cafe Hopping “There you are,” she said, “Gavin, honestly, where have you been?” The name made the back of my neck tense, my hands stopped typing at my laptop. It couldn’t be the same Gavin, what were the odds? Still, I kept my head bent forward over my keyboard, I looked out of the corner of my eye at the man approaching. Instinctively, I raised my hand and rested my head in it, with my elbow on the table, to hide my face. What an obvious move. He was standing right next to me now. I’d know that ring anywhere. I felt my heart rate rise, I f...

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“When Life Gives You Reunions” by Keleigh Hadley

Submitted to Contest #271

I tripped over a mountain of sketches and coffee cups—clearly, my design process was 'organized chaos’—or at least that's what I told myself. "Focus, Nikki," I muttered, pushing my unruly curls out of my face. The deadline for this logo design was creeping up faster than my caffeine could kick in. My phone buzzed. Another client requesting changes. I groaned, realizing I'd need to put on real clothes for a video call later. Reluctantly, I shuffled to my closet, coffee mug in hand. I rifled through the hangers, each item a reflection...

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“Silence ” by Amelia Corbeau

Submitted to Contest #271

This morning you wake with the taste of flesh in your mouth. Not muscle or ambiguous carnage, but flesh. Clean, bloodless. Thin shavings of skin that feel like they might get stuck between your teeth if you aren’t careful. You don’t think you like it. You can’t say that it’s a craving, it isn’t, not quite. You don’t want to eat the flesh, but rather, it’s as if you already have, and now it's stuck on your tongue. Like a song that replays and refuses to leave. You examine your bare arms for bite marks, nothing. You wrack your brain for new ex...

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A chance encounter brings together two old friends who have changed in surprising or strange ways.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 48 stories

“A Rowing Pit Offers Hours of Sit-up Sleeping” by Daniel Rogers

“In The Morning Light” by Breanna Dawn

“A Bitter Blend” by Carol Stewart

“An Awkward Work Meeting” by Rozmarin Ideas

“The Timeclock Punchers” by KA James

“Don't Lose Your Head” by Joshua G. J. Insole

“Homecoming” by Lindsay Flo

“Twisted AI Sisters” by Victor Wouters

“That Night at Sandra's” by Isabel García

“Fast Friends” by J T

“Alone” by D.C. Wright

“The Bell” by Christian Banna

“Cafe Hopping” by Elise Mori

“When Life Gives You Reunions” by Keleigh Hadley

“Silence ” by Amelia Corbeau

🌟 Similar prompts

A character crosses paths with a stranger who looks eerily familiar.

Write a story that includes the line “Have we met before?”

Two strangers discover they have a hidden connection that alters their understanding of each other and themselves.

A character finds a clue or object linking them to a stranger.

Contest #271

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

384

Contest entries

135

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: