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Write a story about two characters who start as mortal enemies but learn to embrace their differences.

Posted in Short Story on Jun 7, 2024

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✍️ 36 stories

Hat Trick: A Professor Deshpande Mystery

Submitted to Contest #254

NOTE: JUNETEENTH WAS A LANDMARK EVENT IN U.S. HISTORY AND HOPE. THIS IS FOR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND FAMILY WHO EMBRACE THAT HOPE.“I am asked -- in fact, asked often enough frankly to annoy the living shit out of me -- if the arts, and in particular the textile arts, were the best and highest use of my powers as a woman, as a black woman, as an educator and a civil rights advocate and activist. Most of the time, it comes up at family suppers and reunions.”Appreciative laughter rustles through the still Central Illinois Wednesday afternoon a...

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Echoes of indifference

Submitted to Contest #254

Days of angered fighting had marked the border clash between Aethoria and Sylvaria, a monument to the long-standing hostility between the two countries. The sound of steel hitting steel and spells roaring filled the valley, echoing like the distant thunder of a storm on its way to invade but the storm never came. Elara Windrider, a fierce warrior from the highlands of Aethoria, guided her group with remarkable intensity. Her family's sword flowed through the air with deadly accuracy; every blow was well-planned and devastating. Her tight bra...

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A Liar and a Cheat

Submitted to Contest #254

“I can’t believe he’s here.” My back stiffens and I whisper into my husband’s ear as we walk into the party, onion dip in hand.“Just relax Mary,” Jim says. His hand slides up my arm and moves over to my back. He rubs in slow circles, pulling me close. I resist his gentle touch, but then try to relax. I need a distraction from the philanderer who is standing on the other side of the room. How dare he come to our neighborhood potluck after what I just learned about him.  I smile over at Jim, feeling grateful that I’m not married to a liar...

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Grace and Guile; or, the Adventures of the Shadow and Fox

Submitted to Contest #254

Grace and Guile; or, the Adventures of the Shadow and Fox As I descended the grand staircase in my midnight blue ball gown, I inwardly commended my discreet modifications, which rendered the gown far more comfortable than those of the vapid and affected ladies around me. These women, with their simpering smiles and ostentatious gowns, fluttered about in a vexatious manner. Their garrulous chatter grated on my nerves, making me grateful for the small adjustments I had made to my attire.Instead of the usual baleen that provided structure to my...

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Would it be forever?

Submitted to Contest #254

"Have you ever been in love?" Kim slowly awoke in the morning light, asking herself. She had been brought up to show Godly love to all around her. Supposedly, according to her religious elders, friends can leave, but your family are forever.Right now, Kimberley was finding it a real struggle to demonstrate humble Christian forgiveness. In her church group where she was the youth leader, she had been cruising, newly engaged after meeting cute Logan. She respected herself, and did not abandon her family's teaching.But Logan had a few other ide...

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The Zen Protocol

Submitted to Contest #254

The child Sebastian Destinato was a socially unwelcome circumstance labeled in the habit of the times as developmentally backward. At the age of three years people avoided eye contact with him for fear that he might speak or gesture toward them, that they might be expected to respond, that he might want something from them. They looked right through him because it was convenient to pretend he did not exist. Young Sebastian did not process sensory information gracefully. He became distraught at certain noises or movements. He rejected th...

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The Legend of Sun and Moon

Submitted to Contest #254

“Olivia,” he says, smiling at me. “I’ve written a vow.”He is wearing a cream colored suit, and there is an explosion of violets tucked into his breast pocket. He is so close to me I can smell them, and the sweet warmth of his skin. The minister bows his head and steps back, allowing us as much time as is required. After all, this is about me and him and no one else.“Hunter,” I breathe, “I wrote one too.”Sun had pearls for teeth, and his hair was made of tamed fire. He smelled of brimstone and bonfires and hearths burning too hot when h...

9 likes 5 comments 5
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Compassion Amidst Desolation

Submitted to Contest #254

 The screams and shouts of agony have faded away. The wind whips across the body-laden grasses, carrying with it the scent of death and decay. The cries of the dying cut through the wind only to be buried in its cold, empty silence. The grasses are patches of crimson red glistening towards the sun, a haunting reminder of the blood spilled this day.A lone man steps cautiously through the blood-stained bodies. His name is Marcus, a seasoned warrior with a face weathered by countless battles. He's shirtless, covered in mud, blood, and swea...

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Stormy Seas

Submitted to Contest #254

Her long brown hair danced like Medusa’s snakes in the ocean wind. The sails were full as the ship’s bow crashed through the waves.   With this current and wind, we should be in Jamacia tomorrow. Maria stood at the foredeck, her face pointing into the sun. Taking a deep breath, she soaked up the fresh air. This smells better than the cesspit below the deck. Feeling refreshed she made her way down the steep wooden steps. The air was heavy with the musty smells of rotten food and urine. Descending i...

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Bonds formed in the rubble

Submitted to Contest #254

Ryan's heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted through the chaotic streets of Ferguson. The harsh chaos of enraged voices, broken bottles, and sporadic gunshots created a dissonant symphony that threatened to swallow him whole. His eyes scanned the landscape, desperate for a brief respite from the madness surrounding him. As a business owner, Ryan never expected to find himself caught in the crossfire of the riots that had engulfed the city. He'd immigrated a lifetime ago to America hoping to leave behind the troubles of Northern Ireland, ...

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Adversary-"To Be or not to Be"

Submitted to Contest #254

Prompt: Write a story about two characters who start as mortal enemies but learn to embrace their differences.Adversary : To Be or not to BeThe cry “Help Me” was whispered by a terrified voice fearing it would be heard by his nemesis. With supersonic hearing, our hero Superman appears on the scene. He uses his super powers to battle his nemesis known as Rex Luther. The hostage is released, but Luther escapes to continue his rampage of terror on other unsuspecting humans. Superman’s adversary has not been brought to j...

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At the Metapsychical Salon

Submitted to Contest #254

Some arrived on foot from East Side apartments, others alighted from 5th Avenue trolley cars, and a swaddled few pulled up in automobiles. Regardless of starting-point, mode of travel, or status in the upper strata of Manhattan, they each faced the same bitter wind on the sidewalk, the same battle for advantage at the cloakroom, and the same squeeze into the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria.The Women’s Entertainment Club was host of a Metapsychical Evening featuring the most prominent Psychics, Spiritualists, and Clairvoyants of the day. ...

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Hearts and Hands

Submitted to Contest #254

It was finally Joanna Wilson’s moment to shine, and all she wanted was to sprint out of the ballroom. The blinding light of the photographer’s Nikon sent her heart racing, but what happened next thrusted Joanna from discomfort to shock and embarrassment, faster than the blink of a heavily mascaraed eye. Mrs. Manning, the sponsor of the Belles, handed her the Top Shelf prize for the best all-around Belle for 1990 in the Southwest region. When the camera flashed, Lisa Martin appeared at the podium and wrested the plaque from Joanna’s trembling...

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To the Races

Submitted to Contest #254

Sensitive Content: Animalistic love. With the evening dew settling into his oversized buckles, Pierre chuffed at the cold. By no means at all did he measure up to the hale and hearty stockiness of his brothers and sisters working the fields, nor did he quite yet attain the misshapen corpulence of the well statured servants. Simply put, Pierre was a runt. The frills of his court uniform hung limply into his concave chest, while the over-starched tails of his coat outshone his skeletal frame in propriety. With his wig askew (his slick oily hai...

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RiffRaff

Submitted to Contest #254

RiffRaffAs squad cars and a SWAT team fanned out across the campus of Eastern High School, I tried to remember our summer training on the effective barricading of a classroom door. With quick help from a few football players, we wedged most of the desks and bookshelves against it and stacked chairs nearly to the ceiling.  Whatever threat was outside my classroom, unless it was a bomb, it was not getting in. The cops were looking for and quickly found Granby Parcell, who pissed his pants in the C-Wing when an officer aimed a long gun at ...

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