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Write about a character breaking a rule, but for good reason.

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 38 stories

The Price of Life

Shortlisted for Contest #116 ⭐️

“It’s cancer.”Rose rested her phone on the kitchen bench and stared at Aiden standing in the entranceway, the raindrops on his jacket glinting in the light.“What’s cancer?” she asked. Her mind felt sluggish, fixated on the photo displayed on the screen.“The lump. Under my arm. It’s cancer.” Aiden ran his hands through his hair, sprinkling raindrops onto the ground.He stumbled into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed into her hair. She slipped the phone into her pocket.“I went to the doctor today.” ...

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The Potter's Field

Submitted to Contest #116

The sign read No Trespassing.A tattered waif of a girl stood before the towering wrought iron gates, contemplating. She looked around furtively before twisting to slip between a gap in the cold iron. The hunger had thinned her until ribs pushed against skin like a delicate birdcage that gently cradled her persistent heartbeat. Her hands now resembled birch twigs, bundled in pocked wool, and the planes of her face cut with shadows in sharp relief.The place was brimming with people. Many who were loved and many who were loathed— ofte...

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The Siren

Submitted to Contest #116

My heart pounding in my throat, I pulled the fire alarm. Its blasting siren filled my ears almost as quickly as terror washed over me. With tremulous breath and body, I slipped into the chaotic crowd of students and teachers that were hurrying towards the exits. My brain swam and I hardly recognized the hands that patted me on the back as I walked. "Way to go, Ben!" The owners of those hands said. "I didn't do it for you," I breathed, shakily. "I didn't do it for you." A teacher caught my eye and I quickly jogged deeper into the mob. Fina...

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Seeing Red Over Her

Submitted to Contest #116

TRIGGER WARNING: ASSAULT, CURSE WORDS, BLOOD, MURDER Feeding on the living; Punishable by loss of claws or loss of one’s fangs. Turning a human; Punishable by starvation in solitary. Killing a vampire; Punishable by execution.  There aren’t many things a vampire can get in trouble for in our town, but when we do the consequences are not merciful. In my time being here in Scorchholde, this has always been normal. What is not normal is the way a human can make me lose all sense of breath and conscious thinking. Her name is Ma...

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Eight Days with Anna

Submitted to Contest #116

Prologue: The Plan Her name was Anna. Pronunciation: “Ah-nuh.” Any other pronunciation was unacceptable, so you had better not try “An-ah” or any other nonsense like that. Anna worked as a secretary at a paperclip corporation, and she rode her bike to work because she read in The Times that it was good for your health. She had lived in New York City all her life, and lived in the most sensibly priced flat she could find. She was twenty-eight and a half years old and lived with two roommates, Marcie and Ivy, and exactly one dog. The dog was...

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The Apothecary Shoppe

Submitted to Contest #116

Trigger warning: murder and physical abuse The Apothecary Shoppe by Kyla Stan The warmth and security of William’s Dewell’s bed made Claire Ratherford sigh with ease. Naked and unashamed, she lay next to him and felt a sense of fulfillment, but it was more than that; she felt safe in her lover’s arms, something her husband would never provide. William’s rugged hand moved a dark curl off her face, and she smiled.  William’s confined apartment with just one barely furnished room squatted in the poorest district of London. His simple...

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Sticks and Stones

Submitted to Contest #116

“I would rather be a little nobody, then to be an evil somebody.” ― Abraham Lincoln Angelo “Angie” Porco did not fit his name. He was no angel because he acted like Satan. And if you thought he was just a dumb football player, you would learn how cunning and depraved he was. Being the biggest and strongest boy in the 6th grade probably helped, and since he was also the strongest boy in St. Bernard’s School in Wauwatosa, even older boys stayed out of Angie’s way. It only took one “accident” in the locker room when ...

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40 years

Submitted to Contest #116

My little fingers were resting on his stomach, moving up and down with every breath. His steady snuffle was the best lullaby. The same rhythm. Over and over. No fault in this machine. Those soft lips were slightly open, waiting for my kiss. I loved his manly beard. Stingy and tickler. They say love makes you blind. Silliness. Who wants to be a half-person? A fragile, dingy little piece on the floor, waiting for someone to trample on you. “I feel your eyes on my body,” he whispered. “Are they heavy?” I tried to make fun of everything...

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Keep On Keeping On

Submitted to Contest #116

Standing in front of my buddy’s childhood home I breath deeply, willing my mind to accept what I am about to do. I raise my shaking hand to the door for a third time, fearing this will be the moment I am strong enough to announce myself to the broken people inside. Hearing a sob from just behind the door makes me wonder if it is in fact possible to die of a broken heart.  Dropping my hand in failure I squeeze my eyes shut refusing to break my father’s most sacred rule; men don’t cry. I force the tears back that have been threatening to ...

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Paradise Lost

Submitted to Contest #116

The sound of muffled steps slithered along the floor, accompanied by nothing more than the blind stare of the stars, pinned against the night sky. The darkest blue, where the lone figure was walking, was one with the fabric of the firmament, perfectly still and unchanging. Time itself had never touched that space, a room without ceiling or walls, a boundless expanse made of the same velvet of the pitiless sky. In that endless blue an infinity of pedestals stood scattered in all directions, reaching way beyond what the eye could see. Above ea...

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Breaking Rules Can Reap Rewards

Submitted to Contest #116

Breaking Rules Can Reap Rewards By Julie Ryan McGue I will admit to being an ardent rule-follower. Both the fear of discovery and public shaming factor into my strict adherence to regulations. Yet inwardly, I often admire and applaud the courage of rule-breakers. Occasionally, my fellow rule-followers and I step out of our comfort zones, and if we are rewarded for our bravery, the thrill is something we never forget. After my husband and I sold our downtown Chicago condo, we crammed our SUV and headed south to deposit the furnishings at our...

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Off the Track--of Common Sense

Submitted to Contest #116

     A misplaced boyhood adventure could have meant not only the final Summer of elementary school for myself and my best friend. It could, theoretically,  have resulted in the last summer on this earth for both of us.       Sure, we had bent the rules many times in the past--like the time we stole Old Man Pinto’s grapes and escaped serious injuries after scaling his fence just ahead of the guard dogs in his backyard vineyard. Seldom, however, had we actually put our lives on the li...

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Behind Closed Doors

Submitted to Contest #116

“Shit,” she mumbled as she opened the door of their rugged, one-bedroom apartment. She rustled through her bag, reaching for the air horn she carried to wake her mother up from her high and drunken state. She blew it right beside her ear, “Wake the fuck up,” she said, irritation bounced around in her windpipe so vigorously it needed to be released.  “Jesus Christ Madalyn,” her mother yelled, swatting her hands in the air, “I worked a long night at the Strip, can’t you give me a break?”  Madalyn ignored the plea of her mother, rol...

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Moody Movies

Submitted to Contest #116

“I will not drink alcohol while here as a student.” That’s easy to agree to as I don’t like the taste of alcohol.  “I will not smoke while here as a student.” That’s easy, I can’t afford cigarettes. “I will not gamble. . . swear. . . play cards. . . go to movies. . . play pool. . . etc. etc. It seemed to me, a seventeen year old, that I could agree to everything on this long list of negative behavior. While other teenagers would be enjoying “free love” and unbridled pleasures of the 60’s, the only joys in life I cou...

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Office Meeting

Submitted to Contest #116

OFFCE MEETING “What are you doing in my office?” I started at the sound of the voice behind me. Slowly stood up from my crouch over the drawer I had opened at the bottom of the desk. I turned around. Don Irving was standing at the doorway, unshaven, hair a mess, jeans and a loose leather jacket replacing the snappy suit I was used to seeing, his right hand in the jacket pocket. Not his usual well-dressed look. He was a big man and his bulk seemed to block the pale early morning light which filtered into the room from the small reception ...

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