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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story with two characters who meet for the first time — and one of them has a secret.

Posted in Short Story on Sep 6, 2024

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✍️ 83 stories

“The Celebration” by Peter Wallace

Submitted to Contest #267

“Here, let me get that.”           Jacob reached for the door handle as the striking young woman closed her umbrella before entering the building.           “Thank you, sir. Not a nice day, is it?”           “I guess not, but I suppose you could say it fits the mood of the event. Funerals aren’t generally that bright and cheerful.”        &...

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“Dagger Brothers” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #267

Smack!  I slapped a nasty horsefly against my leg just before I stepped into the quagmire of horrific odor.  I stumbled forward and caught myself before I fell head first into the smelly bog.  I paused and breathed through my nose.  I reached down and picked up a piece of alligator hide. Woof had spotted it and asked me to retrieve it. I turned around and sloshed back to the massive Siberian husky. I tossed it in front of Woof.“We have been stomping around in circles for two hours.  Can we take a brea...

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“The Natural” by Burton Sage

Submitted to Contest #267

The NaturalbyBurt Sage “Phil Haskell to Reception, Phil Haskell to Reception,” the loudspeaker blares. That’s me. I’m service manager here at Ed Haskell Cadillac. “Not again,” I think. It’s been like this all morning. I was hoping for a break this year. It’s Tuesday, the morning after our annual Labor Day sale. It’s the biggest sales event of the year for us. Customers wait all year to get their new Cadillac at clearance prices. The new models will be arriving in a few weeks and we need to reduce our inventory. I don’t blame them, though....

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“Last Stop” by Anil Ibrahim

Submitted to Contest #267

Last Stop Alyss pushed herself back into the seat of the train as she looked out at the landscape blurring past. Was there anything better than traveling by train? She asked herself. No responsibility, no anxiety of all the other drivers on the road. Just being able to get from point A to point B without any worries, all travel should be like this. She stood up and looked at the large window in front of her. This particular car had individual rooms. It consisted of a couple of padded benches facing one another and some shelving ato...

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“An Unexpected Meeting ” by Michaela Watts

Submitted to Contest #267

Evangeline stood in the corner of the dimly lit inn, her back against the wall. The leather-bound hilt of her silver sword stuck out over her shoulder, glinting in the candlelight; a sturdy fur wrapped quiver rested just below the double-edged sword. Silently she took in her surroundings: one elderly (and frail) bar wench, two burly men in the far corner engaged in a round of cards, one middle aged woman and her husband in the center, and lastly a greying gentleman in the corner across from her. The last one caught her interest.   ...

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“Panthera's Princess” by Robert Scott

Submitted to Contest #267

Panthera’s Princess Aurora finally evaded Seamus, her elderly, very strict tutor, as she made her way out of the kingdom’s giant iron doors. She was almost one hundred percent sure that no one saw her face as she dashed away with a gray hooded cloak around her shoulders.  She had been trying to sneak away from Seamus for what felt like forever as they walked the streets of Panthera. As far as her tutor knew, they were out of the royal palace that afternoon so they could stretch their legs after hours of what Aurora deemed boring histor...

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“Restricted Affection” by Hildah Nabuule

Submitted to Contest #267

In the vibrant village of Nakawuka lived a hardworking, shy, and naïve girl named Malaika. She greeted everyone and played with the children she met. Each morning, she hummed songs while gathering firewood for her beloved grandmother. Daily, she found neatly stacked firewood and a basket of fruits accompanied by a note filled with compliments and encouragement. One day, intrigued by the gifts, she followed a path to a charming homestead, only to be startled by a man named Tembo, who tapped her on the back, causing her to faint. Tembo looked ...

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“Gone, But Not Forgotten” by Ron Conte

Submitted to Contest #267

It does not seem that long ago, but it has been almost 70 years since I first met the “Bowl”. The Bowl. Every boy at Sacred Heart, our Catholic grammar school, had a nickname. Michael Bowles was his given name, and it took several weeks in our fifth-grade year before I learned about his secret.  I remember it was in the middle of a typical Indian Summer when I first met Michael. The familiar warm breeze gently moved over the valley as if my mom had just covered me with a soft blanket on a cool evening. The smell of stewing tomatoes...

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“Better meet me” by Daria Hrytsenko

Submitted to Contest #267

Drops of condensation rolled down the glass, and Edith felt as if in this stuffy basement she herself would soon turn into steam and run down the wall somewhere in the corner, between the blaring speakers and the straining air conditioner. After all, the "Old Barrel" lived up to its name with its arched vaults - one could hide somewhere in the shadow and hope that at least there they would be able to get rid of the smell of alcohol and burnt oil coming from the kitchen.The hands of the clock have long since passed half past ten. At such a ti...

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“A Song of Death” by Michaela Christoff

Submitted to Contest #267

Lyric’s feet dangled in the air looking for something to perch on as he was hoisted in the air by a very hefty, drunk man. Despite the sign hanging above the entrance outside threatening anyone who started a brawl within the walls of the establishment here this brute was, hot malt laden breath, smacking Lyric in the face. He replayed all of his actions and words that night when the man's slurred speech finally registered.  “What are you, some kind of hired killer? You think you’re better than all of us?!” Sure, Lyric was dressed crown ...

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“Echoes In The Waiting Room” by Alex Marmalade

Submitted to Contest #267

There were two things in life that Trevor Williams hated above all others, and Trevor was about to let the loud foreign girl at reception know about one of them. The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed with the incessant hum of an indifferent institution. It was the kind of place where time moved in strange increments, where the days stretched, and nothing of consequence ever happened. Trevor hadn’t been here in years—decades, maybe—but the smell, the ambiance, it all remained unchanged. The heavy scent of bleach mingled with dust. It made hi...

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“Wayward Girls” by Eric Holdorf

Submitted to Contest #267

There are references to potential abuse, physical and sexual    I retired early, got bored, so I went into private investigating. I got bored with that too. I never got the chance to sink my teeth into any crimes, or at least nothing that concerns the law. I was paid to document moral crimes for the sake of retribution and civil suits. But after a friend called and teased me about Marilyn of Sister Margeret’s School for Girls, I remembered, how the nuns treated her was a crime. The rest of that memory,...

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“Christmas At Gin & Pips ” by Davina Vanié

Submitted to Contest #267

Our tale begins with a boy named Luca. Luca was a year-round traveler, all he knew was to travel and he seemed to travel alone and always seemed to be everywhere but nowhere at once. Luca didn't really have a home. I suppose the world was his home... or dare I say the multiverse was his home but we will get to that later.  On Christmas Eve Luca bundled up in his brown wool coat, blue wool scarf, and mittens put on his torn brown boots, and made his way out onto the snowy streets of England. The weather certainly set the scene for the t...

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“Bianca ” by Jessica Janelle Williams

Submitted to Contest #267

“Stop squirming and tell me where to find Peter Huyin” the tiny little blonde girl tied up in a chair starts crying. Bianca isn’t 100% sure it’s Peter’s niece, but she doesn’t care enough to double check. The girl stays dead silent, afraid to speak. Her eyes fill up with tears “I’ll ask one more time where he is before I lock you and your little pigtails down here in this dark lonely basement forever. Now where is Peter!?” Bianca yanks a knife out her boot and the girl nearly soils herself. Reluctantly in her frightened and shy voi...

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“Aisles” by Claire Bezdek Gochal

Submitted to Contest #267

Aisles By Claire CB Gochal Kate needed bananas and Bran Flakes—she was determined to stick to her diet and lose the ten pounds circling her waist like an inflatable donut she’d gained in the weeks of lockdown-—but her Zoom meetings ran until supper, and she was still too terrified to bring her asthmatic toddler into the store with the Covid virus raging.  The Instacart grocery shopping and delivery application was far improved from when she’d tried it years ago, pre-pandemic. The app prompted her to add her favorites, so she ordere...

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