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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

Posted in Short Story on Oct 11, 2024

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✍️ 84 stories

“Drone” by Mortimer Ridgewood

🏆 Winner of Contest #272

She first heard it while she was making coffee.The morning was already off to a rough start. Rachel had woken up, lazy and languid in the wake of her twice-snoozed alarm, and reached for her husband’s side of the bed. Much to her disgruntlement, the spot where he should have been was empty and cold. She glared at the empty space for a moment, then promptly snoozed her alarm again out of spite. One of the downsides of working from home was she missed out on good morning kisses as Mark got ready for his morning commute. The upside, however, wa...

63 comments 63
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“Strange Noises Strange Eyes” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #272

There are many strange noises in a forest on an island: the hooting of owls, scurrying of small animals, crunching undergrowth of larger ones. Or are the hooting secret signals from man-eating natives moving into position to attack? Or angry grundle barrs? Or confused ellawyns about to blow the marooned sailors into the sea. Captain Wington imagined them all."Did you hear that?" Captain Wington said.He gripped his sword tighter, peering into the spooky tree line for movement. Not that his frazzled imagination needed any proof. He "saw" plent...

16 comments 16
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“Moon Face” by Kate Simkins

Submitted to Contest #272

I banged on the door again, loudly this time. I hadn’t seen or heard from Iris in over a week.“Iris? Are you in there?” I peered through the letter box and finally saw some movement. I took a step back onto the pavement as the locks and latches slid open.I looked around the door as it opened, hoping to see my friend, but it wasn’t her.“Anna! I didn’t know you were here!” She looked awful. “Anna? What is it?”She opened the door fully and welcomed me into Iris’s small, over-crowded living room.“Hi, Helen,” she said, dully.I looked at her prope...

26 comments 26
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“Coward” by Breanna Dawn

Submitted to Contest #272

“Did you hear that?” Her whisper cut through the silence like a cold knife.  I shook my head despite her unable to see me… We couldn’t see anything through the heavy darkness. Once surrounded by the constant buzz of electricity, the city now sat still… silent.  I peaked out the windows over the helpless city. A chill swept over my skin as I stared out at the vastness. Skyscrapers that once shone like a beacon were now shadows against the stars in the sky.I tried to focus my eyes on the street below but the moonlight would...

5 comments 5
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“Dreaming” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #272

The boy woke up with a shudder, sweaty and scared. For the last few months, at least once a week, he had been having the exact same dream: a cabin; a light; no one else around. Why was this happening to him again?He turned on a small lamp beside his bed.“Mom!”He shouted at the open door and waited. She was a patient woman and knew that something like this was bound to repeat itself. She woke up from her light sleep, put on her slippers and trudged down the hallway. Her perfume entered the room before she seemed to float inside.“Another one?”...

12 comments 12
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“October Surprise” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #272

"Oy choi, show me your tongue!" That's what you got to say to a suspected serp. They can't hide their forked tongues even if they've gotten better at copying just about everything else. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you. I mean, it was all over the feeds, this little old man, he could've been anybody's Grandpa, except he was living under a stolen ID and preying on small critters near a school zone. But luckily some Final Front guys caught him, and when they backed him into a corner, out came that freaky serp tongue. And that's just one exampl...

8 comments 8
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“Gardeners' World” by Chris Miller

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #272

You’ve chosen a good time to pay me a visit. I’ve pulled up some pretty decent leeks this morning, got some lovely onions in the store and a rosemary bush that is totally oblivious to all the nonsense that seems to have befallen our world. My garden really has been my saviour, my little farm. I can grow what I need and get by very nicely on what my garden supplies.I do wish I’d had a better crop of carrots. I used the finest bone-meal fertiliser, but they were a total bust this year. My soil is a little too heavy for them, too much clay, but...

35 comments 35
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“The Unforgiven” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #272

Laurena's family lived in a large fawn adobe home supported by long wooden posts. "Es muy grande casa," their servant Maria said with pride.These beams projected from the top corners of the house. The walls were relatively smooth. A covered verandah at the front divided the lower and upper floors. The flat top had a parapet around it, which could be accessed through a trapdoor via a narrow internal stairway. This opened inside a tower room with another narrow stairway and its own trapdoor. The tower room had a door that opened onto the ...

24 comments 24
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“Out for the Count” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #272

A knock-knock-knock came from the top of his coffin lid.Ekkehard Freudg closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. One day’s sleep was all he wanted, one day of peace. That damn boy would jump at the shadows of his own bat wings. Ekk pushed up his coffin and glared at the boy, not even deigning to sit upright. He kept his arms crossed over his chest. ‘Yes, Dunstan, what is it?’Dunstan Grieves stood there in his PJs, holding a blanket. He shifted from one foot to the other, looking awkward. ‘I heard a noise, Ekk.’Ekk’s eyebrows rose. He tried to ...

20 comments 20
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“Phantom of the Mist” by Suzanne Jennifer

Submitted to Contest #272

The sideways rays of the sun painted a soft glow over the land, a familiar scene for this time of year. The deserted dock was a common sight during winter, and today was no exception. A lone figure walked toward the end of the pier and stepped into a small rowboat. Glancing skyward, the man in the dory silently pleaded with the sun for its guiding light to navigate the perilous channel.In the summer, this channel was teaming with seagoing vessels, large and small. Sailors and yachtsmen came from all directions inland to vacation here in this...

10 comments 10
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“The Spook Who Sleuths” by Daniel P. Douglas

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #272

My office was darker than FDR’s fireside chats and twice as smoky. That’s how I like it—keeps the clients on their toes and the spirits at bay. Name’s Roxie Hart, and I’m what you might call a supernatural tomfoolery private dick. Some folks get their knickers in a twist over that last word, but in my line of work, you gotta call a spade a spade and a detective a dick. I kicked back in my chair, feet up on the desk, pondering life’s great mysteries. Like why dames always fall for the wrong guy, or how Spam manages to be both a wartime delica...

13 comments 13
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“Stay Quiet, Friend” by Nuria Kojic

Submitted to Contest #272

Lyla sank into the couch, the flickering glow of the TV screen illuminating the shadows that loomed the darkened room. She had chosen a silly romcom, hoping to distract herself, but the air felt thick, almost suffocating. Every creak of the old house made her jump, and the shadows in the corners seemed to whisper her name in a language she couldn’t understand. It was late, and her roommate Clara was working on her thesis upstairs, but Lyla couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t the only ones in the home. An uneasy tension coiled in her...

1 comment 1
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“Dark Secrets of The Black Forest” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #272

The last glowing trails of red and orange light disappeared behind the trees as Megan opened her eyes. Something cold, soft, and wet pressed against her cheek. Moss. She was lying on the floor of the woods, an ache in her head and arms. And she had no idea how she got there.  Not five feet away, she saw Deanna, also just opening her eyes. And Alicia. Why were they all in the woods, at sundown, with nothing but the clothes on their backs?  “My head…it’s pounding. How did we get here?” Deanna asked.  Alicia cradled her head in h...

9 comments 9
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“Pineapple” by S. Hjelmeset

Submitted to Contest #272

Spinning, spinning, spinning, her tiny feet walk up my legs, over my belly, over my chest, until she turns to land on her feet. «Again!» she squeals, and I take her hands in mine to let her spin once more. I look over to my brother, who is doing the same thing. Our cousins are in an exceptionally good mood today. Even the toddler in grandma's lap hasn't cried once. The children's infectious shrieks of laughter have put smiles on all our faces, and to make matters even better, mama and aunty are preparing the first real meal in days.The smell...

8 comments 8
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“THE HOUSE WHERE DEATH WAITS” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #272

"Did You Hear That?" The question slipped from my lips, though I knew no one could answer. I hovered in the thick shadows of the old house, watching the couple by the fire. The man shifted, eyes scanning the room, a furrow growing between his brows. His wife's fingers trembled around her wine glass, the deep red liquid shimmering in the flickering light. They couldn't see me. Not yet. It's strange being dead. Time loses its grip, and all warmth becomes a distant memory. I no longer feel the pulse of life in my veins. Only flashes remain of...

6 comments 6
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Contest #272

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Ended on 23:59 - Oct 18, 2024 EST

Won by Mortimer Ridgewood 🏆

Title: Drone

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