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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 214 stories

“Mission Failure” by Josie Banner

Submitted to Contest #42

Sam woke up in a cold sweat. Although, that wasn’t any surprise to him. He sat himself up, staring at the wall of his tent, flapping in the Antarctic wind. He took a few deep, icy breaths before getting his gear on and leaving the tent. His tent was one of 30 others, all strapped to the ice and surrounding a few small, snow-covered buildings: the weather station, the mess hall, and a lab. The thermometer he had on the outside of his tent read -27 ° F. Wading through the freshly fallen snow, he entered the mess hall, grabbed a plate of food, ...

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“To Tell a Tale” by Megan Meyerson

Submitted to Contest #42

She could barely button up the back of her dress, her hands shook so badly, and she made sure to wear slippers, as she did not trust her unsteady feet to carry her safely on heels. She did not fully register anything on her way to the banquet: the carriage ride, the walk into the theater, the sounds of the other performers; Breacon’s last, encouraging pat on her shoulder, or the climb up the steps onto the stage.Her eyes took in the audience, clearly visible in the sun’s rays slanting through the colored windows above, and felt the panic she...

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“The Purfect Minion” by Eva Vidal

Submitted to Contest #42

I never thought a ball of fluff would be the thing to bring about my destruction, but here we are.  As I look at said ball of fluff, sitting across from me, I consider the irony of my situation. My once grand entryway, immaculate in all its splendor, now lays in such a state of disarray that it has never seen before. All brought about by that damn pile of fluff.  It was only a few days ago when I first encountered it, looking at me then as it did now, pure innocence sitting on my doorstep. I had no idea where it came from, or how i...

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“Begin Again” by Amy DeMatt

Submitted to Contest #42

"Come, come on an adventure. Won't you see what you are made of? There is another mountain to climb. . . " I'd been watching those words crawl across the ceiling of the train car for at least the past three weeks. The accompanying picture was what had drawn me in, though. There was a path, and in the foreground, an athletic, handsome man, holding his arm out, as though beckoning. I couldn't place his nationality, his open shirt was too generic and features too exotic. Behind him was a path that started wide but narrowed as it climbed a...

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“Classroom of Truth!” by Justice Akagbulem

Submitted to Contest #42

Oh shit! Here we go again.     Matthias jumped out of bed all covered in sweat, trying to undo the tie that was wrapped tightly around his neck. He breathed heavily as if he had just finished running a marathon. He sat on the floor and leaned against the wooden frame of his bed, trying to wipe off the dust the sandman had graciously dumped on his eyelids. He sighed when he was done and buried his face in his palms. He had a nightmare the previous night yet he could barely remember anything that happened. All he knew ...

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“Where am I?” by Cecelia Bernard

Submitted to Contest #42

Where am I? Where am I? I know where I am in the most literal sense of course. I am sitting on the leather couch in the small room off the kitchen, hearing the crackle of kale leaves as they sizzle on the surface of our Le Creuset cookware, smelling the starched, green leaves mixed with the chicken dinner that waits for me on a small red plate, humming the songs my mother hums as she prepares her own dinner. It’s warm and quiet. The only other sound is the soft muttering of my brother, sitting on the kitchen floor, maybe translating a line o...

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“Stay Safe, Elora” by Luly Mayfield

Submitted to Contest #42

Stay safe, Elora I looked up from the crinkled paper in my hands, fear coursing through me. The unknown man had dropped another one at my doorstep. The promising words had been delivered in a deceiving envelope with a box of chocolate. I frantically ran towards the trashcan and dumped the goodies in it.When would the notes stop? He expected my acquiescence and I had given it. This was a prodigious mistake, but it was never too late to correct it. This was reason I was making a visit today.Torture clawed through my skin, ripping my heart out...

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“An Endless Mist” by Jasmine Broberg

Submitted to Contest #42

I slammed the door to her room open, adrenaline and fear pumping through me in place of blood. I frantically scanned the room, my ears roaring and my eyes stinging with tears I refused to let fall until I was certain. Then, I saw the thing I had told myself over and over wouldn't be there. A scream welled up inside of me, straining against my skin. So, I let out the most horrible sound to ever escape the lips of mankind.I was sitting alone in my bedroom, scrolling through something on my phone. That's when Angela texted me.Angela: Hey, do yo...

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“Bookmarks” by Christine Johnson

Submitted to Contest #42

His name is misspelled on his headstone. I notice this as I stand at his grave for the first time since the funeral. Over a year ago I stood near this same spot as my dad’s casket was lowered into the ground. I didn’t think I would ever be able to move from the spot. It was the closest I would ever be to my dad. My aunt had to lead me by the hand to the car so I could be one of the guests of honor at the memorial luncheon. I don’t remember walking or getting in the car or arriving at the restaurant, but the stac...

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“Fly” by Clara McCourt

Submitted to Contest #42

She sits in the unfamiliar pew, shifting on the hard wooden seat, fidgeting with the hem of her new black dress. She has never had to buy a dress like this before. Not for something like this. Her vision becomes hazy, staring blankly at the cold stained-glass windows which seemed to do anything but let sunlight in. But there was no sun in the sky today, just a humid scattering of grey clouds. Tough luck, the nun had said.  Her mother grasps her hand, firmly, sharply. But her hand remains limp. She had never been able to match her m...

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“Escape” by Elmar Kert

Submitted to Contest #42

GREEN.His name is CHUUCKKKKKK! He fights his way through anything and everything dodging objects and bullets with lighting speed! He runs towards the first set of crates, leaping over them with ease. He picks up speed and wall-runs along the next set of houses jumping from one to another in an assassins-creed kind of manner.RED.“Why would you not take care of this? Gosh! I didn’t sign up for this. She is everywhere!”GREEN.He leaps inside the building, being chased by people, people who want to do him harm. Powerful people. Chuck runs through...

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“Soulmates..” by Briana Pinion

Submitted to Contest #42

It was my 18th birthday...I live in a world were when you turn 18 you get a soulmate tattoo..it's my birthday, and i'm getting my tattoo! I looked everywhere on my body then I saw a broken heart under my eye..HM..I didn't understand why it was broken..so i grabbed my laptop, and looked it up. "Only 1 person in the world has this marking. It means their soulmate is either dead or just doesn't believe in soulmates." That means..MY SOULMATE COULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!? This is bad..dad threatened to kick me out of the house if this happened! I wen...

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“The Problem with Story Writing” by Hannah Villani

Submitted to Contest #42

Help!Please help me!Yes, you. I'm talking to you.No, don't worry, you haven't stumbled across some character x reader fan-fic. And don't look down the page either. Not that you should be anyways, because even you should know not to read ahead. That's where the spoilers are, stupid.Anyways, don't look down, because I'm not talking to some upcoming character. There are no characters here. I'm talking to you, the reader.And that's the problem, see? I'm not supposed to be talking to you, am I? I'm supposed to have characters but I don't. I don't...

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“Moving” by R K

Submitted to Contest #42

She wasn’t sure when it began exactly; she wishes she could remember the complete feeling and freedom of movement. Looking back, she can place certain times when things began to pause and shift. In particular, she can recall one time and place when she first lost her balance quite unexpectedly. It was when she was walking from the front door to the car in the driveway, and her heel did not place down on the ground correctly. It seemed as if she was pulled off of the front porch without any warning, and with the cement wal...

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“3:45 am” by Mahathi Sathish

Submitted to Contest #42

“CRASH!”, screamed the night sky, startling Tommy out of a deep slumber. The storm had intensified severely in the past few hours. The sky cried gallons and gallons of tears while Thor ranted and raged with fury. Tommy, still half asleep, checked the bright yellow alarm clock beside him.“3:45am.” he sighed. As he shut his hazel eyes tighter than ever begging his brain to tune off. But no matter how many times he tossed and he turned, no matter how many times he sat up and lay down again, he couldn’t get a wink of sleep. The stormy night seem...

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