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Write a story that includes (or is inspired by) the phrase "Out of the woods.”

Posted in Short Story on Sep 12, 2025

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✍️ 44 stories

The Woods of a Broken Mind

Submitted to Contest #320

TRIGGER WARNING: Depression, Suicide Attempt, Death, Car Accident, Mental Health THE WOODS OF A BROKEN MIND On September 14th, 2025, many things happened: Some with the potential to shatter the world, others forgotten as soon as they had transpired. Charlie Nightworth, head nurse at the children’s hospital in London, did not care about a single one of them, newsworthy or not. Not anymore anyway. In the distance Big Ben declared it was the eleventh hour of the night – telling her it had been four hours now since her heart had gone cold, her...

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The Tail Of The Dragon

Submitted to Contest #320

Through the lush brilliant green canopy, bits of bright sunlit sky peeked. Even from the inside of the car, she felt the dappled rays reaching through the sunroof gently warming her. How long had it been since she visited somewhere this green, Agnes pondered. Her head pivoted side to side trying to take in all the nature before her. Her brain, finally free from the ever-distracting life of the city, felt crisply conscious and her ever-present anxiety quieted.Freckled fingers found their way between her own that perched upon the center consol...

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The Escape

Submitted to Contest #320

My bright lavender eyes pulsed an iridescent purple as I sang a soft melody. The man before me, my parents’ biggest client, suddenly looked completely lost and oblivious. A wide smile spread across his dirty face, and he swayed on his feet to my rhythm. I just barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I backed away, stopping my song mid-note. It was always like this. My parents were always trying to improve their social standing in Mary’s Rest by showcasing my mutant talent to their peers. “Don’t go, Pretty Pretty,” he slurred, grinning ...

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The GM Experiments Fire At The Heels

Submitted to Contest #320

We ran and ran until I couldn't bear to take another step. I turned and looked at Eleanor. “I think we should stop and rest for a bit,” I managed to get out between my short gasps for breath. She, not even being winded in the slightest, curtly replied, “We have to keep pushing John. We aren't out of the woods yet.” “Yeah, no kidding,” I replied, breathing slightly easier now.We had been on the run for several weeks, and last night stayed at camp just a bit too long. The fire had caught up to us, and we have been running ever since, trying to...

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A Tale of the Great North

Submitted to Contest #320

The trees rustled in the wind of the Great Northern Forest. Kasah felt the fresh breeze kiss her cheek and inhaled deeply. She gathered up the wood for that evening’s bonfire and jauntily strolled in the direction of the lodge. Her thick, black hair swayed gently behind her. Her soft brown skin glinted in the sunlight. Everything was well in this corner of the world. However, after a moment of contemplating the evening festivities, she felt something was off about her surroundings. She realized she had not seen many animals roaming around at...

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The Woods of Remembrance

Submitted to Contest #320

Deep within forests, and across all lands, mother nature calls as she echoes the remnants of a long-forgotten rhythm and song. Her old growth forests weave a tapestry of wisdom through their roots, connected with each other and drawing from the Earth its treasures, holding within themselves a sacredness etched within the fabric of time, as the ancients and ancestors sing healing into the lei lines of the land as their custodianship and connection demands. If you listen quietly, out of the woods and through the land and the trees, comes an an...

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The Victory of Getting Lost

Submitted to Contest #320

Heading home from my business trip I found myself very close from the small town of my childhood. The stimulus to see it again at least through the car window as a short film was so vivid that I even didn’t notice how started to investigate the Google maps.Yes, it was still small. Several parallel streets with some perpendiculars were forming tiny net destined to catch living humans and to trap for long years, very often until the end of their life. My mother was from this town. Her parents worked hard to pay her medical studies in the Capit...

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Twisted Guilt

Submitted to Contest #320

TW: suicide, mental health, violence Page from Christa Bourn’s Diary, UndatedThe fire cracked, occasionally shooting a spark at my legs. Melted marshmallows stuck to my chin, and there was no bathroom nearby to clean up. I had anywhere from twenty-five to fifty mosquito bites. On paper, the company retreat was just encouraged, but our boss really pushed it on us. Echelon Peak wanted us to experience being out in the wilderness not having basic human rights and decencies for a night. Most of the group went swimming in the lake, but Eric, Lun...

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My Woods, My World

Submitted to Contest #320

I came out of those woods with thick, smudged eyeliner and glittery tears staining my cheeks. I felt the tightness of my face intensely, as if my skin had tightened around my bones. I walked with what felt like a ball and chain around each ankle, only thinking of one thing: home. I should be walking towards my parents' house, with walls, a roof, a door to slam, and a bed to hide in. But it's the feeling of home I need most. A craving I cannot satisfy by going to any certain location. So I walked aimlessly for hours.As I emerged into the stre...

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Out of the Forest

Submitted to Contest #320

Out of the Forest By Tim D. Smith In the broiling summer of 1993, Meg, pensive, reluctant, and ready to be anywhere else, arrived at her grandmother’s home, surrounded by sad pastures and moony, brown jersey cattle. In the distance, though, rising behind the banks of a twisting stream amid drooping River Birch, a forest tempted, its toad-gray-dangerous depths beckoning. Resolved, she would explore at dusk on her first day. The Dallisgrass and Yellow Foxtail wilted low (for the promised rains had not come), mute, and watchful as she gazed int...

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Out of the Woods

Submitted to Contest #320

The author sits at her desk. She looks out the window, into the cold snowy mountains, lined with trees. A fox briefly crosses her view. Her fingers hover over the keys of her computer. She can hear the clock ticking from the wall. Tick… tok… tick… tok… ‘Just the first sentence’ she silently negotiated with herself, ‘I just need a good hook, that’ll get the creative juices flowing.’ Tick… tock… the clock sounded off passive aggressively across the room. Tick… tock… ‘I hate working on a deadline.’ She thought to herself. ‘I knew this was a bad...

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Cara & Amp help 3 guys being hunted by bigfoots, a Slay Inc. story

Submitted to Contest #320

Things were heating up in the sasquatch world. Cara knew things were building, and getting worse. More sightings, more people being followed and harassed. More people disappeared, experienced hikers and hunters who knew how to get around in the woods. She was up to her pretty dark eyeballs in wendigo, and now needed to get someone else involved. Amp was a great fighter, just a wee bit crazy. Well sometimes off the wall insane. But she liked to work with him, and could depend on him. In a fight, he was the best to have your back. Tha...

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Out of the woods

Submitted to Contest #320

Out of the woods came a small caramel colored bundle of fur. Wobbly legs carried his tiny frame across the line that denoted the border of the forest and the beginning of a lush spring pasture. Silky green grass tickled his teeny paws and his belly. Petite yellow flowers drew his eyes and his nose. He couldn’t help but meander over to sniff the delicate sent of the beautiful blossoms all around him.He heard a noise he had never heard before and looked around to try to identify it and where it came from. He saw a creature fliting around from ...

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Out of the Woods and Into the City

Submitted to Contest #320

(Sensitive Content Warning: There is a little blood, restraint, and implied violence.) I grew up in a clearing filled with wild blueberry bushes, surrounded by an ancient forest awash in a sea of bright green ferns. My bare feet grazed over rock and root, branch and moss, dirt and sand, vibrating where toes touched down. The trees enfolded me in their knotted arms and whispered secret affirmations when I was too exhausted to go on. The streams taught me how to spring eternal and to ripple past doubts and droughts and anything trying to take ...

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