There’s been an accident — what happens next?

Posted in Short Story on Sep 6, 2024

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✍️ 70 stories

“The Beheading of Sarah Churchill” by Rebecca Hurst

Submitted to Contest #267

Victor Churchill turned off his 600W, 1700 RPM hedge trimmer and stared, open-mouthed, at his wife’s headless body lying on the lawn. The tray, which had slipped from her hands at the moment of decapitation, lay right-side-up, and although the tea was all spilt, the biscuits, sitting in a little pile on a bone china saucer, were perkily undisturbed. The silence was profound. Even the birds had stopped singing. As his senses adjusted to the reality of the moment, he heard the splashing of the ornamental fountain in the fis...

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“Unconditional Love” by Lily Finch

Submitted to Contest #267

This story deals with death. It explores the difficult decision of parenting in the face of an adult child's independence to choose death. [Not the parents's choice.]Stefanie gazed wantingly at the pond and the steam fog coming off it, as her parents rarely let her outside without them---the mist as the water evaporated as it hit the cool morning air---even to the backyard to look at the pond.Stefanie awoke hours before her family to experience the pond's wonder alone. Her parents had liked to sleep in since they retired, and Stefanie liked ...

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“Nuclear Fallout” by Linda Kenah

Submitted to Contest #267

It’s funny, how life works with all its twists and turns, Lynn thought, sadly. I had so much more planned for us. Lynn gazed at her husband peacefully sleeping in the chair by her hospital bed and smiled. She knew he hadn’t slept much this last week, since her return to the hospital. He was there for her, as he had been these last three years. It had been rough, and she had fought valiantly with him by her side. Each time, after returning home, he had supported her, only to get punched in the gut in the months following....

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“Call 9-1-1” by Gloria Dawn

Submitted to Contest #267

Calling 9-1-1 Rose: A voice asked, “Please state your emergency: Police, Fire or Ambulance?” “This is Rosemary Wesley; There’s been a vehicle rollover, on the S-curve in the Stevenson Road, eleven miles south of Paisley. “There’s an overturned half-ton truck in the ditch. The headlights are on and the wheels are still spinning. I’m going down there to see if anyone is inside. The hill is so steep, I’ll have to use a rope. I’ll leave my truck on the shoulder of the road ...

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“Side-by-Side” by Perseus Patroclus

Submitted to Contest #267

I'm calm. I have no idea how. I haven't cried, thrown up, screamed, anything. I can’t tell if I’m in shock or if this is just how I feel. How do people normally react when they realize they’re dead? Pain? Relief? Probably not that- I didn't kill myself. Jesus, I had a life ahead of me. College, marriage, career- all of it down the toilet because I was being an idiot and pushed my brother. Then, as he had every right to, he pushed me back. What he didn't expect, though, was for me to trip over a branch. My head hit the stairs leading up to ou...

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“The Conductor and the Bear” by Brandon McWeeney

Submitted to Contest #267

My engineer, Mark, scarfed down his peanut butter and jelly sandwich while operating the train—a necessary skill acquired by seasoned railroaders. His greasy hands stained the Wonder Bread black, but he didn’t seem to mind. He even licked his fingers clean when he finished, then hammer-fisted the whistle button as we went over a crossing. Long, long, short, long was supposed to be the sequence, but he gave one long horn blast instead. Mark started at APEX Rail in the late nineties, before I was born, and as one of the last original “ho...

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“Wings of Salvation” by Jing L.

Submitted to Contest #267

“Did you know? We call the young ones around here ‘fairies.’ They seem to quite like that title.” “...I’m eighteen.” Gospel tilts his head down to look at me. He smiles. “Still a young one, then,” he muses. I make a face at him. “It’s a little something that’s popular amongst everyone.” He stacks my paperwork on his desk and stands up, making a motion to follow him. We exit his office and make our way down the marble halls. The roof caved over us in delicate swirls of a crystalized color, glimmering in a purple, blue, pink, or wh...

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“Of Doomsday and fortunate despair” by Weronia Writes

Submitted to Contest #267

Life on Earth ended on a Thursday. Deities met not long after to discuss the Doomsday properly, choosing a crater of the Earth's only moon - The Moon. From over here they could still see the burning planet, blown up, in hundreds of pieces, floating in space and disturbing the otherwise peaceful area. Their vantage point allowed them to observe and evaluate the level of destruction, each of them judging on their own, moods ranging from boredom and disinterest to utter sorrow and satisfaction. Some said it was long due, others wondered what co...

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“The Accident” by George Wallace

Submitted to Contest #267

Detective Inspector Paul McMillan started the journey from Dalroy near Inverness back to the Police Station in Inverness. It had been snowing heavily with an east wind blowing in the bitter cold air from Russia. Sitting next to him is Detective Sergeant Geoffery Hunt. They had been investigating a murder in Dalroy. It is a small hamlet but it has plenty of action. The investigation had not got anywhere. Both of then felt they were looking at the wrong people. The mobile in Geoffery’s jacket rang with the Star Wars theme. &n...

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“The Hidden” by Ann Marie Beresford

Submitted to Contest #267

The Hidden Precisely two weeks after my fifteenth birthday, on a mild and bright October afternoon, I saw a man get hit by a car. Although I was deeply afraid of what I might see, there was nobody else who could help. The road was otherwise deserted. I ran over to the driver, who was frantic and in hysterical tears. I tried to calm him down. Told him we needed to call an ambulance, but he insisted there was no time. We must drive straight to the hospital. It was the only way. Anything I had ever read or watched on TV had made it clear to me ...

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“An Accidental Friendship” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #267

A bearded man of senior age stood alone and still, in a remarkable ancient church, now a well-preserved historical site. Early in the 19th century it was built by a sect of Quakers who called themselves ‘Children of God’. The old man looked around like he was trying to capture living memories of its history with his eyes. His thoughts rang loud in his mind like he was a one man crowd. He had been to this sacred place two times before, both of them wonderful. One time he was with his paternal grandfather, Ebenezer, who was...

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“FOREVER CHANGED” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #267

My life changed forever the day I got the call that the love of my life was in a car accident. I fell to my knees crying. That morning me and my love shared breakfast. I looked into her beautiful eyes and told her I loved her. She gave me that playful smile I love so much. She told me she loved me too. To the moon and back. Angeliyah, a beautiful name for my angel. My one and only. She left home after breakfast never thinking I would get the most devastating call of my life. I waited all day at work eager to get home to my beautiful Angeliya...

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“Visiting Hours” by Aidan Romo

Submitted to Contest #267

"Excuse me, where's Blake?"Jeremy leans over the reception counter, composed but panicked in thought and emotion."I'm sorry, sir, Blake who?""Blake Himbley, I rushed here as soon as I heard about his accident. Where is he?""I'm sorry, who are you?""I'm his brother, Jeremy. Could you mind just telling me where he is?"The young woman takes out a clipboard from the side of her desk, flipping through it as quick as she can."Ah, okay, Mr. Himbley, we just took him out of the emergency room an hour ago, he's in 107."The woman points towards the ha...

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“Apex Predator ” by Grace Bell

Submitted to Contest #267

I opened my eyes to an upside-down steering wheel looking back at me, broken glass from the shattered windshield encrusting the inside of the car like glittering stars. I could feel my short hair barely brushing the ceiling down below me, my seat belt digging into my collarbone, the only thing keeping me from smashing into the inside ceiling of the car. I was hanging, upside down, in the driver’s seat of my crashed SUV.The darkness of nighttime made it hard for me to get my bearings, so I resorted to fumbling with my hands for the latch...

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“Monkey Business ” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #267

Content warning: traumatic injury, non graphic With a clatter and squeal and rumble, the enormous black steam train and its carriages roll forward, exposing Uitenhage Station's unfortunate safety inspector.James, nicknamed Jumper, is known for his antics of jumping from one moving train car to another in the rail yard. This time, Jim has missed his jump. His lower legs have been crushed. Doctors amputate both crushed legs just below the knee. Without the ability to walk easily and crawl under the trains, Jumper Jim automatically loses h...

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There’s been an accident — what happens next?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 70 stories

“The Beheading of Sarah Churchill” by Rebecca Hurst

“Unconditional Love” by Lily Finch

“Nuclear Fallout” by Linda Kenah

“Call 9-1-1” by Gloria Dawn

“Side-by-Side” by Perseus Patroclus

“The Conductor and the Bear” by Brandon McWeeney

“Wings of Salvation” by Jing L.

“Of Doomsday and fortunate despair” by Weronia Writes

“The Accident” by George Wallace

“The Hidden” by Ann Marie Beresford

“An Accidental Friendship” by John Steckley

“FOREVER CHANGED” by Melinda Madrigal

“Visiting Hours” by Aidan Romo

“Apex Predator ” by Grace Bell

“Monkey Business ” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story with two characters who meet for the first time — and one of them has a secret.

Your character overhears something that changes their path.

Write a story set against the backdrop of a storm.

Your character wants something very badly — will they get it?

Contest #267

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

357

Contest entries

127

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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