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Write a story about love without ever using the word “love.”

Posted in Short Story on Feb 14, 2025

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✍️ 132 stories

The Night We Killed Kyle: Heartbreak Edition

Winner of Contest #290 🏆

Kyle had a few good days before we found out he was a no-good, lying, cheating, sack of you-know-what. “Twelve days,” Mei cried, sprawled on my bedroom carpet like a collapsed Jenga tower. “Right before our two-week anniversary.” Zoe handed her a yellow pre-strawed Capri Sun, but Mei swatted it away. She was in mourning. “He told me I was special,” she wailed. “He gave me thaaat.” Without even looking up, she pointed to the mood ring on top of her peach JanSport backpack—suede bottom, obviously—an iconic middle school status symbol. The ring...

137 likes 90 comments 90
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Unspoken

Submitted to Contest #290

The buzz of his phone on the nightstand pulled Ben from sleep.For a second, he just lay there, blinking at the ceiling, willing it to stop. But it didn’t. His hand fumbled for the phone, and when he saw the name on the screen – Chief Cable – he exhaled slowly, already knowing what was coming. He answered in a low voice. “Yeah.” “There’s been a stabbing. Hospital’s a mess. You’re the only one answering. Get here now.” Ben swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his face. “On my way.” He glanced back at Claire, curled under the blanke...

49 likes 25 comments 25
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The Art of Passion

Submitted to Contest #290

The Art of Passion.Pencil sketchesEach day I don’t see you, each day I can’t be sure of your happiness, the sky is bleak and sunless. The air is motionless, without heat or chill. Birds are silent, and squirrels hide. There is no music, no speech, no laughter. The world is grey and distant.On those days I think about you and pray that you think of me too. That you share my thoughts, feel my wishes, and live for the day that you will be with me. Then I lie back and sketch new scenarios of our time together. How we will explore each other. Wha...

48 likes 36 comments 36
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Beyond the Shrouded Path

Submitted to Contest #290

ACT 1: THE FOREST AND THE VISION  The mist clung to the trees like whispered secrets, curling around gnarled roots and weaving between the ancient oaks. The air shimmered with unseen forces, the scent of damp earth mingling with crushed herbs and wild blossoms. This was no ordinary wood—it was a place of old magic, where time twisted and the veil between worlds thinned.  Elaine knew this forest as she knew the rhythm of her own breath. It was sacred, untouched by the march of men who now built their stone temples and preached of on...

44 likes 63 comments 63
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What They Had Taken

Shortlisted for Contest #290 ⭐️

He moved ahead of her, quick and sure, kicking at shells, stopping now and then to wait for her. His dark curls lifted in the wind, shifting and falling with each step."Slow down," she wanted to say, but the words never left her lips.The sea had pulled back in the night, leaving the shore wide and bare. The sand lay damp and ridged, marked only by the memory of waves. In the shallows, tide pools clung to the earth, cradling bits of sky.Her boots pressed into the ridges the tide had left behind. The air smelled thick with salt and things long...

39 likes 34 comments 34
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She walks in beauty

Submitted to Contest #290

“When I ask myself why so many come to Italy to find a larger version of themselves, I wonder. Is it Italy, or is this where you come when you’re about to bloom?” – FRANCES MAYES, WOMEN IN SUNLIGHTIt was 6pm on Wednesday evening and I was feeling pleased with my small achievements so far. I had successfully completed my first lesson with eight five-year-olds and no one had cried or wet their pants including me. I had survived a whole four days of my new job as an English teacher. And my biggest highlight so far was that no members ...

30 likes 13 comments 13
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The Accidental Retreat

Submitted to Contest #290

The room is overflowing with eager conference attendees, abuzz with palpable dreams of transformation. The theme of this week’s retreat is “Finding the True You.” Makes me want to vomit, but hey, I just work here. I took this extra shift, in desperate need of quick cash after my boyfriend abruptly moved out. He offered to pay his share of the rent for the next few months, but my new Functioning Adult Status, and frankly my pride, didn’t allow me to accept his money. I’m rethinking that decision right now as I’m working for the eighth day in ...

28 likes 17 comments 17
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Shifting Lights

Submitted to Contest #290

They couldn’t stop looking at the sky that night. Ribbons of green and purple, pulsing above the city skyline.“Auroras here?” Anna whispered, eyes wide.Steven pulled her close, his hands resting low on her waist. “Never thought we’d see this here, of all places.”The lights were dazzling, and it wasn’t just them who took notice. On all the balconies of their apartment complex, couples and families stood, heads tilted back, faces painted in the flashing colors. A shared silence, awed, uncertain.Kuala Lumpur was normally lively with the sound o...

25 likes 12 comments 12
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Friends on Ice

Submitted to Contest #290

“Friends on Ice”“It’s a great day for hockey.”-Bob “The Hawk” Johnson, former University of Wisconsin hockey coachA visitor couldn’t tell the color of the walls in little Lincoln’s bedroom. They were covered floor-to-ceiling with posters of the all-time hockey greats- Howe guiding the puck down the ice, Gretzky dropping one in coming around the side of the net, Lemieux hoisting the Stanley Cup, and Hashek with a spectacular skate save.Lincoln’s Grandfather was once the stick boy for Chicago’s hockey team, so the Blackhawks were well-rep...

24 likes 9 comments 9
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Memories of Stories Past

Submitted to Contest #290

Some summer nights, when the stars were just blinking their hellos to the sleepy world below, when it was so still it seemed the world had stopped its turning, when the cicadas and crickets harmonized their strings with the periodic bass of the bullfrog, my grandfather would give me a wink at dinner. Our secret signal would soon find me hugging the rolled navy blanket to my chest, taking deep breaths of the musty, earthy smell that never left its faded threads, and trotting behind my grandfather next to the lilac hedge that fenced our backya...

21 likes 8 comments 8
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[REDACTED]

Submitted to Contest #290

'I'm right behind you, I [REDACTED] you.''Those were your words, were they not Mr. Morton?'The prosecuting barrister. That jumped-up, mid-tier hack in his perfectly pressed KC's robes and a horsehair wig that somehow made him look even more like a prat. He was really pressing the point. Wanted to catch me out, make me say the word back to him. The one that had gotten me into this mess. Had gotten her into this mess...'Those are definitely words,' I replied, somewhat sarcastically and with that childish sense of impudence you got when you had...

20 likes 7 comments 7
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Unspoken Connections

Submitted to Contest #290

Mia worked as a graphic designer in a trendy downtown Seattle office. Her days were filled with creativity and deadlines, but she always made time for her morning coffee at a quaint café on her block.As Mia waited for her morning latte, she saw a man at a corner table, focused on his sketchpad. She sat nearby and noticed his drawings. The sketches showed busy city scenes with detailed strokes. Mia kept glancing at the sketches, her curiosity growing each time.Over the next few days, Mia and the man named Jack began exchanging nods and smiles...

17 likes 4 comments 4
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I Have Heard the Mermaids Singing, Each to Each

Submitted to Contest #290

1One morning Father observes that she has brought forth these downy hard nubs. So coldly forlorn in the bright morning frost as to seem almost dead, her diaphanous white buds augur a quickening in white and pink. He knows that her blossoms will soon blush awake, her young leaves will blink shyly at the chill dawn. Dressing her spindly twigs in bright green promise, her leaves and blossoms will attract flies and bees and all manner of little things.The rain will come, persisting for several days. Petals falling with the rain. Littering the tu...

17 likes 14 comments 14
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Moment in the Sun

Submitted to Contest #290

The smell of coffee and pastries is thick as I twiddle my thumbs at my usual table. Any other day, the delicious scent comforts me, but today, it’s the only thing distracting me as I wait. Facing the door, I see many faces enter and leave, enter and leave. Some are alone, some hand-in-hand trading glances and smiles with one another. An ache of longing, hollow and deep, echoes through my stomach, reminding me that I came through the door alone. And with the way things were going in my dating life, I would more than likely leave alone, too. G...

17 likes 4 comments 4
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Variables of Emotion

Submitted to Contest #290

Dear James,The barista wrote "Happy Valentine's" on my coffee cup this morning. I nearly dropped it when I realized I'd ordered your drink by mistake - that absurd concoction of half-caf oat milk latte with cinnamon and nutmeg that I used to mock. The same one you'd bring me on rough mornings, insisting that comfort doesn't follow logic.One year ago today, you left a trail of paper hearts from my front door to the kitchen, each one containing a reason why... well, a reason. I cataloged them as "frivolous decorations" and reminded you about t...

17 likes 9 comments 9
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