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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

“Disciple” by Michael Allen

Submitted to Contest #272

“Did you hear that?” Melissa was wide awake, her face flushed hot from panic. She grabbed hold of her husband Dennis’ shoulder through the sleeping bag and shook him until waking.Eyes still closed he rolled over to face her. “What time is it, Mel?” he mumbled, still half asleep.“I said, did you hear that?!” she hissed, concern in her voice—maybe something more than concern. “No, what’s going on?” “I dunno but there are weird sounds coming from outside our tent,” she shook his shoulder again.In the pitch-black Melissa could barely m...

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“Halloween Harvest” by Deborah Sanders

Submitted to Contest #272

Warning: content includes references to missing and harmed children I startle awake and look at the ceiling where the time is projected in red, 03:00. This light, combined with the streetlight coming in through the window, illuminates the room enough to cause some shadows.But I am no stranger to shadows, and they do not bother me in the slightest. What does bother me is the early hour, and the sounds I hear outside. “Did you hear that?” I ask my companion, Beau. But he does not answer me. He is snoring softly while taking up more of th...

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“Abandoned” by Graceann Cleator

Submitted to Contest #272

I always had an immense fascination with old abandoned houses. I’ve craved their architectural secrets and wondered what items were left behind by previous owners. The more the house looked decayed, the more I wanted to investigate. These houses were basically dangerous time capsules waiting to be explored, and I wanted to be the one to do it. I knew of an abandoned house located on one of the backroads headed towards a popular beach. The road curved off to the right, but was forgotten by the public since it led to a dead end. There were hug...

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“Did You Hear That?” by Curt Fulgham

Submitted to Contest #272

“Did you hear that?” I didn’t hear anything. Apart from the sound of sleeping bags rustling and a zipper struggling. “What?” “That.” I still didn’t hear anything. “What’s that?” “You hear it now?” “No -- I don’t know -- what is it?” I heard crickets and some other things probably. Certainly nothing special though. “I don’t know! It’s … something…” I guess Shelley wouldn’t agree. “Well I hear things…” “You do!?” “Well yeah, but I don’t think they’re anything to get riled up about.” I realized I had to pee now. Sigh. Was there dew outsi...

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“Carved” by Cameron Navarre

Submitted to Contest #272

With a bit of pressure, the knife plunged into the thick flesh. Jessica turned the knife, forcing it to cut along the lines she had sketched onto the skin. This was her favorite part, the carving. She didn’t care much about clearing out the innards, too painstaking and messy. But the carving, that artistic act of mutilation, that was what she had waited all year for. As the cut lines intersected, the freed pieces of orange flesh fell into the hollowed interior with a thunk! With knife in hand, like an artist with her paintbrush, she stepped ...

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“Haunting of the Holmes' Hotel” by Megan Wetzel

Submitted to Contest #272

“Did you hear that?” Barbara Jones looked to her coworker, Mary, for confirmation of the noise she had heard. “It was a scream, wasn’t it? Didn’t you hear it?”  “No, Barb,” Mary shook her head. “Then again, I can’t hear a thing over all these customers,” she said dull and sarcastic, looking around the barren shop. Barbara Jones had recently begun working at a post office on 63rd Street in Chicago, Illinois. Every now and then, she got a strange feeling about the place. Barb was always on edge, and since starting her job at the post offi...

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“Mallory's Haunting” by Rune Stigandr

Submitted to Contest #272

The worst part of camping alone was arguably the shadows.You make a campfire, the fire dances and the shadows move.It always make you think something’s there even when it’s nothing. The only way to stay sane was to ignore them.Mallory had struggled with that logic a lot in her early days, turning at every shift, looking over her shoulder after every creak and groan from the forest.Nine times out of ten, it was nothing. The one time she could remember it being something was just a deer that’d turned tail and run as soon as it had spotted her....

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“Haunted castle on sale” by Will Chu

Submitted to Contest #272

"Did you hear that?""I heard that! We're moving out tomorrow!"On a stormy night, in a seemingly old but very luxurious old castle in a distant suburb of England, a bunch of couples hid under the covers and exchanged words in trembling voices.The couple had bought the castle not long ago at a very cheap price, and at first they thought they had picked up a great bargain.However, a series of strange things happened one after another.On the day they moved into the castle, two of their children, claimed to have seen a headless knight on a skinny...

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“The Secret of the Silent Stranger ” by E.V Holland

Submitted to Contest #272

Did you hear that?  One would assume that after being dead for nearly two centuries, Albert could remember that he was a ghost. For some reason, the memory always escaped him in the most unforeseen times, but you couldn’t fault him. He had only been a young stable boy when a horse collapsed on top of him. One moment, he gasped for air, and the next, he floated above the horse. He wandered the castle grounds for days, chasing after his former friends for answers. They couldn’t see nor hear him.At first, the whole “being dead” thing confu...

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“Rebbeca's Awakening” by Balint Ale

Submitted to Contest #272

Rebecca's phone vibrated on the nightstand, cutting through the stillness of the night. She stirred, her eyes barely open, noticing the soft glow illuminating the ceiling. With a groggy sigh, she rolled over and reached for her phone, knocking over a glass of water in the process. The name on the screen sent a flicker of unease through her sleep-fogged mind: Tom. Still half-asleep, she swiped to answer. "Hello?" she mumbled. "Rebecca," Tom’s voice came through, sharp and urgent. The next few words hit her like a cold splash of water, and adr...

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“Seasonal” by Amber Heo

Submitted to Contest #272

“Good morning Poppy.”It was a morning on the start of spring. A black cat stretched in a downward dog-or maybe a cat?-pose as it too, slowly woke up. The fresh cool wind greeted me as I opened the window of my bedroom.“Goodbye winter and hello spring!”I shouted to no one in particular. I was in a very good mood today. I always loved the warm and soft spring more than the cold and harsh winter. Not to mention spring is the season of love and a new beginning! Speaking of new beginnings, I clean the whole house every start of spring, and today ...

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“Welcome to Horror Mansion” by Marsmallow Bearpaws

Submitted to Contest #272

The golden leaves crunch beneath my feet as I walk through the forest toward the abandoned barn. In a few days, this place will be transformed once again into a loud, extravagant haunted house, one that appears here every year and stays until Halloween. But right now, it is just another expanse of abandoned and overgrown piece of farmland that surrounds Esteredge. A cold breeze ruffles my hair and seeps into my coat. In the distance, a single candle is lit in the decaying building. I turn around and hurry home.***Word travels fast, but none ...

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“3 a.m.” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #272

When this story happened I had nice black hair and wasn't bald like now. But I have to tell someone this story. Maybe then it will stop haunting my mind and I will drink my tea in peace. We were fresh married and were renting a one-bedroom apartment in Ulaanbaatar. You know these nights when it is especially dark and cold? It is then when it all started.I woke up at 3 a.m. to my wife eating loudly in bed. I waited for a few minutes, but no luck. She continued eating, slurping, and smacking. Finally, I burst out:  “Stop smacking! If...

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“15 minutes ” by Elizabeth Johnston

Submitted to Contest #272

"Did you hear that?" I asked, I sat up and nudged my husband who was snuggled into the blankets, eye mask over his eyes, the dog on the pillow above his head just stares at me. "NO!" he says. "Of course you didn't" as he pretends to snore. I pick up my phone and look at the time. " 2 am" seriously.!" Every morning something wakes me up at exactly 2am. The cat puking, the dog barking a single bark, my bladder, car alarm outside. You name it, it has woken me up at 2 am. I have to get up to pee anyway, so I thought I would do a once o...

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“Familiar Faces” by Jay. T

Submitted to Contest #272

“Have we met before?" A question that I had asked to a stranger that looked familiar. "Do I know you? I think I've seen you before..." She looks at me with a hint of wonder, and then she softly responds " Sorry, I don't think we've met before." with a faint smile. Then slowly turns her head back to her phone, But I know I've seen her, I just don't know where.  Those hazel eyes, loud perfume and raspy voice. As we sat and waited on the bench, Waiting for our ride home. A real cold night, and only a few parked cars around. Sitting in...

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Contest #272

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