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Write a story in which the first and last sentence are the same.

Posted in Short Story on Mar 14, 2025

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✍️ 117 stories

Black Hole Writer's Block

Submitted to Contest #294

It was a dark and stormy night… Good Grief, here I am quoting Charles Schultz’s Snoopy to start my fifty something novel resurrecting my worn-out protagonist Tanner Blitzen. Even hiding out in the woods of Vermont, where I have written every Tanner Blitzen book that currently rules the Fiction Murder Mystery section of Barnes and Noble.   Next to perhaps Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates, I am the most published author in the country. You must’ve seen my name plastered on every social media platform. Yes, I am Reynar...

16 likes 10 comments 10
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AS IS

Submitted to Contest #294

AS IS ‘…This contract involves the sale of a used vehicle and that vehicle is sold ‘AS IS’ with no representation of any warranty, expressed or implied, except as stated in writing.’ A new generation of witches switched from traditional broomsticks to electric ones, but a witch is a hard sell. You need a lot of courage, liquid or otherwise, to stay in this industry. Every manufacturer tried to make sure the law was on their side because in a society of mages, witches saw themselves as above the magical and mundane laws. Witches were the lea...

15 likes 4 comments 4
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Unfinished Reflections

Submitted to Contest #294

I told myself I wouldn't say goodbye this time.The letter arrived on a cold, unremarkable Tuesday morning, its edges yellowed with age, the handwriting unfamiliar yet somehow known. "Your presence is requested at 214 Ashgrove Lane. Unfinished business awaits," it read. Evelyn stared at the words, her pulse quickening as forgotten memories stirred beneath years of careful burial.She set the letter down on her kitchen counter, hands trembling slightly. Seven years had passed since she last thought of that house. Seven years spent methodically ...

15 likes 8 comments 8
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Jason's Epiphany

Submitted to Contest #294

“You can’t run from your past,” Mildred told her son, Jason. “And that’s why Momma can’t belong to the PTA.” She smiled at her son and kissed him. She handed him his lunch and pushed him out the door. When Jason got outside at the end of the walk, he turned around and said, "But Momma, if it’s your past, then why do they keep bringing it up? Haven’t you already paid for what you’ve done?" She waved him on, and he met with his friends and talked about anything and everything sports. “Mrs. Horan, I have something on my mind,” Ja...

14 likes 7 comments 7
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The Insufferable Silence of the Sun

Submitted to Contest #294

Despite all efforts to the contrary, his features cracked in a small, knowing smile.Watching the drama of human weakness unfold had that effect on Manny. Only briefly, though. Stare too long, and you might burn your eyes; it was like looking at the sun. So, shortly, he looked away, concealing his pleasure at the woman’s obvious discomfort, though he continued to track her progress from his peripheral vision.She was petite, and her cropped, curly black hair bobbed with the rhythm of her exit, her face alternating between expressions...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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Buttons and Banter

Submitted to Contest #294

The journal was flat on the table. In a small, cluttered room filled with odd trinkets and the faint smell of burnt toast, Detective Jack and Professor Emily were deep in discussion about their latest adventure. The last case had left them with more questions than answers, and the objects before them seemed to hold the key to solving the mystery. “Let’s start with the journal,” Jack said, flipping it open to a page filled with hasty, scribbled notes. “It says here that the treasure is buried beneath the old oak tree in the park. And look! Th...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Poems

Submitted to Contest #294

Lazy RiverI am a ghostDrifting down an endless lazy river,To frontiers unknown.I bob and nod and list,Moving slowly in the warm pool water,Up and down and up again.There are others with me in this lazy river, Other ghosts, in innertubes, Clutching sweating metal soda cans.Ghosts lacking direction or destination.They are blind to everything around them.They stare out at nothing and no one.Nothing and no one stops our journey To frontiers unknown.I struggle to stay above the water.To stay in the air.To stay breathing.To stay ali...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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THE HUNT NEVER ENDS.

Submitted to Contest #294

           'You thought that we wouldn't find out, didn't you?' the note read.                     The man had shivered when he had read those ominous words, as perspiration began to drip down from his temple. The salty liquid seeping into his eyes and temporarily blinding him.                 "This is the...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Nothing Lasts Forever

Submitted to Contest #294

Nothing lasts forever. Darcy Tanner reminded herself of this universal truth as she approached the ship that was docked at the end of the pier. With combined nervousness and excitement, she felt ready to see her life in England come to an end as she set sail for a new world, for a new life. After her marriage ended, her husband running off with the housemaid, and her career as an artist became overshadowed by the scandal, Darcy knew her time in England was done. Despite these hardships, Darcy felt as though the universe itself was ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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The Lovers' Parable

Submitted to Contest #294

“I do.”That’s what I said many years before I met the man of my dreams. The man in front of me as I said it wasn’t even smiling; to be fair, neither was I. Both of us were just desperate to get the whole ceremony over with so we could go back to being ourselves: the people we had dated and fallen in love with over the past five years. We weren’t suited to suits and gowns – still aren’t – let alone suited to upholding the expectations of every person in an overcrowded room. Though it felt interminable, eventually the day and night did indeed ...

11 likes 5 comments 5
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1956

Submitted to Contest #294

"Where are you from?" asked the heavy-set police officer who sat across from me. He had tired wrinkles around his eyes, reminding me of a racoon looking for a trash can. He lit a cigarette, filling the dimly lit room with a gray cloud. I coughed. He ignored my plea for fresher air, stood from the table, and walked over to another table to refill his coffee cup from the burnt pot. "I will ask you again, where are you from?" He turned to face me, taking a sip of the bitter grounds."1956," I replied. I studied his reaction to my answer. It was ...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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The Angels and Lisa

Submitted to Contest #294

"Lisa has returned!" Lisa held her arms to the heavens, daring the angels to try and take her again. She had a loaded water gun ready to drench their wings and pull them down to Earth if they tried. The water inside had been sitting for one year now, and it would sure make them stink if they ever came back for her. She had come up with one way to ensure the angels never returned. She had committed to being the demon they'd never dare go near. Ha-ha, you evil angels shall know the eternal flames. "Close the door and go wash your hands, sweeti...

11 likes 10 comments 10
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Seven Ways of Looking at a Thief

Submitted to Contest #294

It’s never just about the mascara.I followed the directions of the night watchman to the backroom of the pharmacy, my briefcase bucking against my leg, and the smell of pine-scented cleanser intensifying as I hurried. I had just delivered my regular Thursday evening history lecture and my suit felt rumpled, sweaty, still humming with debate. Sniff. In the backroom corner a wiry green-haired girl was wound like a worrywart’s twist-tie on a high metal chair. I knew better than to expect a hug from Sue, or even a small “Hi, Dad.” She contorted ...

10 likes 11 comments 11
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The Forgotten Maze

Submitted to Contest #294

"Do you Dare Enter the Maze?"I gasped as I woke up from a little nap I had taken in the small plastic chair, feeling a little disoriented. What was that about a Maze? Where was I? Oh yeah. I was in at the laundromat, and it was Thursday.Thursday: That was our thing, my mother and I. It was a Thursday at the laundromat with its bulky, industrial washers and rows of dingy dryers that lined the walls.Dust and grime lined the walls of the single restroom in the back of the place, and a dilapidated vending machine stood discarded the window.When ...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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The Scene and the Unseen

Submitted to Contest #294

Page may as well be the silver screen. Cursor keeps time—time, and more time wasted. “How DARE Word try to sully me?” Cursor rants. Fingers hover over a keyboard, and eyes stare fixedly at Page. Cursor hates it. A moody table lamp commands light to wrap around an already bright screen, waiting to be perforated with letters like a distress signal meant for Page alone. Page is alternately immersed in the nighttime of dark mode. She doesn't mind undergoing the experimentation but longs to be plunged into one depth or another to pull out pearls ...

10 likes 6 comments 6
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