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Write a short story about someone in the self-help aisle of a bookstore. What book do they pick up?

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 89 stories

The Karen

Submitted to Contest #25

"Excuse me, miss! I want that copy and he won't let me have it! Isn't he supposed to let the customer get it?" said a woman in a obnoxious tone.I turned to see who the loud voice was talking about.A woman with a bright pink shirt, lime-green skirt and mismatching socks glared at me resentfully, pouting as she put her hands on her hips. She waited impatiently as if expecting everyone to jump on her command.The employee stocking the shelf  behind me turned to me with a confused look on her face, her hands full with a carton of books as th...

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When the Past Meets The Future

Submitted to Contest #25

Every year, it’s the same thing. Friends gather around, clinking a vibrant glass of champagne, smiling together at the prospect of a newer, better future. Couples kiss, siblings hug, dogs bark. You really feel the magic in the air. That is; unless you’re me.  Since I was 12, New Year’s has been nothing to write home about. My parents hate the holiday, and they run to go to bed at 9 every year, just to ensure that they miss the ball drop. It’s a form of protest. I don’t know when they started hating the holiday, but I do thank them for m...

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The Year of the Rat

Submitted to Contest #25

I just want to scream! Work is frustrating and taking up all my time, the news is depressing like always. I mean, what is this world coming to? I just need an escape and vacation is still a few months off. I used to escape by reading books. They always led me to a magical world. I almost wrote one once when I was in 8th grade, why did I ever give that up? I was so creative back then. Too bad I have no time or energy to write a book now. I guess I missed that opportunity. I wonder if there are any libraries near here. Oh look, there’s on...

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They do it themselves

Submitted to Contest #25

The Conquest of Happiness.For a moment he focussed on the slim book, its cover as bright as pop art. He’d wandered into Self-Help for the second time that week. On Monday he’d done an about turn and had escaped. But today had a different feel to it – the shelves didn’t loom up around him with quite the same height or quite the same air of judgement.Perhaps it was because of this bright little dust jacket that had peeked out at him from the bookshelf. A pink, yellow and green that clashed against the more solemn (well, duller) colours around ...

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A Man Who Shouldn't Have Made A Resolution To Help His Family

Submitted to Contest #25

January 16, 2019I ran down the street, feet pounding on the pavement. There had to be something open. Something, anything! Any place I could go to get out of this horrible rain. My hood was soaked and my shirt stuck to my skin. Wasn’t there any kind of twenty-four-hour store here? I should never have come here. I should never have made a New Year's resolution, much less one to help family members in need. I should have left my sister to deal with her issues on her own. There! A bookstore, with a sign that read Scribble’s & Scra...

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Dirty Apartments and their Meaning

Submitted to Contest #25

The bookkeeper greeted me with a wrinkled smile as he stamped a small copy of The Bell Jar. It looked like a first edition based on the wrinkles around the spine. It was a book I had heard about, not something that I necessarily wanted to read though. Too depressing. Who wants to read a book that was written by some insane woman that died at thirty? Not me. I responded as best I could with a forced smile and kept walking. The universe seemed it fitting to introduce me to my request with an endless tunnel, miles of books on both sid...

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A New Book

Submitted to Contest #25

           Jane needed to get out of the house. She looked down at the baby monitor and felt the pressure as her heart contracted in her chest at the sight of her son waking up from his nap. She wasn’t ready. She barely had enough time to clean the disaster he had made from the morning. She still needed to run the vacuum and scrub the sauce from his lunch out of the highchair, not to mention shower. When was the last time she did that?    &nbs...

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Untold Stories

Submitted to Contest #25

The message in my inbox haunted me. "Performance Review Reminder" in bold letters from my company's HR ghoul. I was nervous but not because I was bad at my job - I do all right - but because there had recently been a merger of two companies and I was starting to feel a bit redundant. I was afraid the company might share my opinion and send me packing. Not a great way to start the week.The meeting was scheduled for after my lunch break but there was no way I'd be able to eat something other than my fears. I left the office just the same but m...

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My Name is Tabitha

Submitted to Contest #25

I am sixty-eight years old and I have a problem.  I really don’t quite know what to do about it, either.  My husband of 48 years has decided that he wants a younger model and is no longer satisfied with what he already has.  So, today I decided that I should be the dutiful wife. I decided to go to my favorite bookstore to find a book that might resolve his quest for that elusive newer model. I knew that the answer to this problem could be found in that wonderful store. So, after he left for work, I drove to the local bookstore...

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Property of Mel.

Submitted to Contest #25

I’ve been here before, but never with this feeling. I’ve walked through the aisles of this quaint corner side bookstore more times than I could ever recall. Rain pours down gently on the old foggy glass windows, which shadow the room with various shapeless patterns as figures of various shapes and sizes move along in their meticulous routines. As always I move to my left, my feet follow their usual rhythm, gliding between small tables covered in thick layers of discount books, new releases and collections of novels with elegant artwork ...

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I FOUND THE MEANING OF LIFE IN A HALF PRICE BOOK STORE BY DARLENE KWARTA

Submitted to Contest #25

When I was a little girl, my best friend's mom would brag about what a gifted reader her daughter, Emily, was. "She started reading when she was four years old and hasn't stopped since! She's in second grade and reading at a fifth-grade level! I have to take her books away from her when she goes to bed or she'll read all night." Then her mom would smile, tousle her hair, and give Emily an "I'm so proud of you" look. Then there was my mom. "My Jenny loves to read, too. Fact is, she was born with a book in her hand, and let me tell you, boy di...

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All She Had Was Now

Submitted to Contest #25

Olivia Grace was flooded with memories of a major snow storm when she was 10 years old. The whole block, the City, awoke that morning to the biggest snowfall that she could remember. She and her family lived on Brandywine Street. This street stretched from Barnaby Road all the way to 3rd Street. For more than 3 blocks in every home or apartment on Brandywine Street lived children. As a young kid, she could not wait to get dressed and go outside. She had a large bowl of hot oatmeal; dressed in layers of jeans and sweaters under her coat. She ...

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Jeremy's Lament

Submitted to Contest #25

Jeremy walked through the main entrance of The Literary Yankee, the tiny bookstore located at the northwest corner of Vermont Wool Commons. He found himself taken aback by his surroundings once again.Even after spending so much time not just at the bookstore, but in the building in general, the changes made to the old woolen mill over the years still caught him off guard once in a while.It seemed like mere months had passed since the massive brick structure was filled with everything from wool-processing machinery to an employee chapel to a ...

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Fishing for Friends

Submitted to Contest #25

Fishing for FriendsBurning an effigy, tossing white flowers into the lips of waves as offerings to the Brazilian Goddess of the Sea: Lemanjá, and eating 12 grapes in time with the chimes of Spanish clocks – New Years has transformed itself into a season of hope and change for the consecutive year, enticed by traditions and self-made lists that aim at improving our life-style. But as the dazzle of confetti concludes its debuts and falls to its inevitable grounding, we too end the glamorous festivities and resume the tedious nature of our regu...

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Too young for poems

Submitted to Contest #25

Ochaena's mother had been born blind. She'd never liked books and had passed that on to her daughter, who was now being forced to write a book report. In order to do that, she'd need to read one, something she rarely did.Whenever a teacher encouraged her to do so she'd shamelessly say; "I'm too busy with my napping and eating." The teacher would cluelessly respond; "I'm sure you can fit in some reading instead of lazing around your house.". Normally, she was a respectful kid. Her grades were good enough that the teachers were surprised by he...

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