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Write a story about a family dinner that includes someone unexpected showing up.

Posted in Thanksgiving on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 80 stories

No Place Special

Winner of Contest #17 🏆

“Hey, Fish, what’s happening with those beans?” My head comes up at the sound of that voice, with its distinctive East London accent. “Underway, sir,” I reply, returning my attention to the task of mixing green beans with a can of something labeled cream of mushroom soup. Around me, laughter breaks out at my response. I can feel my ears burn; I’ve been on this ship a little over four months, long enough to discover that habits formed during four years’ service aboard military vessels are a source of endless amusement. I sneak a peek across t...

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A life changing reunion

Submitted to Contest #17

The long awaited day had arrived.  The day that everyone knew about, but not everyone completely cared for.  Today was the day to feast. The day to rencounter people long lost.  And the day to bring back the old problems as well as the new.  Today was the day for Thanks. And the day for giving. --- “Mother. I don't want to go this year.” Little Annie whimpered from the back seat of the family car. “What was that dear?” Came a shout from up front.  “Nothing.” Annie called back. Nothing at all. See, the thing was that ...

43 likes 4 comments 4
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Moments

Submitted to Contest #17

They say we live in the moment, that the past is always gone, and each day is something new, a stepping stone into a future we dream of even in the cold. For James, that is snow, that is those wintry days of bluster and ice. He sees the Earth of yesterday covered as white as any new page and the toddler inside of him rises as if armed with a rainbow of crayons, eager to set that right.Yet today, James is happy to simply walk in it, create a few footprints of his own . He watches them tumble, those feathered crystals, their chaotic flight to ...

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The Dinner Guest

Submitted to Contest #17

“Giana! Your mother needs her assistant chef!” Zeke knocked on his teenage daughter’s door. It opened, revealing a girl with brown eyes, a dark shade of chestnut brown hair, and a sprinkling of cute freckles around her nose. Her nose was just like her Aunt Illeana’s. “Give me five minutes.” Giana told her father. “I’m on the phone with Yori.”    “Fine. Five minutes!” Giana closed the door and Zeke went back into the kitchen.    “Is she coming out of her room?” Freya looked up from mashing the potatoes. “Sh...

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My Toy Soldier

Submitted to Contest #17

“Leonard PLEASE I am begging you, play with your gadgets later and GET READY!” My wife, Roberta, is always fussing at me when I’m in my “tech zone”. But I guess I can’t blame her this time. It’s our first holiday as an “extended family” and I know she’s eager to make a good impression. Our Tommy won’t care, and that bride of his, Leah, is an absolute sweetheart….it’s meeting her parents that’s got Bertie in a tizzy. Our first encounter only included her mother, Ramona, at the wedding ceremony. A reserved and stern woman, I was left with the ...

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The Witches' Thanksgiving

Submitted to Contest #17

“Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in?” Cynthia, the oldest witch, licked her fingers after she bit into her drumstick. She picked at her tangled gray hair. “What do you know, there’s my wand." “This is quite unexpected.” Samantha, the prettiest of the three witches, let go of her floating fork. She straightened her black skirt and turned to look at the cat. “Smells human and very fleshly,” sniffed Martha, the mature one, who rose up and pulled the front door wide open for the cat. Tom, the family black cat, lugged th...

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Black Sheep

Shortlisted for Contest #17 ⭐️

I sit on a barstool at the kitchen island, swinging my feet and staring off into space while the influx of family milled around me, chatter rising and falling in volume, punctuated here and there by laughter. I can smell the turkey cooking, and the pecan pie sits on an oven mitt in front of me, covered by tinfoil. Even though I don’t like either of those foods, I’m not a heathen. I can still appreciate the smells. After all, for as long as I can remember, those have been the smells of family Thanksgivings, just like the loud murmur of voices...

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Five souls

Submitted to Contest #17

Old Henry Mortimer was extraordinarily wealthy and universally loathed, two traits which had served him well his entire life. He enjoyed fast cars, fine wines and a good argument.His relatives never asked him for money. Not after what had happened Aunt Gertrude. She hadn’t asked for much, oh no, just a few hundred, to fix that dreadful leaky roof, and he wouldn’t be so cruel to his own flesh and blood, would he? The roof had come crashing down the next month and Aunt Gertrude had ended up in a gloomy boarding house overlooking the railway, w...

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The Shadow of a Father

Submitted to Contest #17

“He’s my son!” I exclaimed to my too noisy and too opinionated personal assistant, Shelly. “You’re not related to him! He has a father already!” I felt a tear threatened to fall. “So what! I love him like a son! His father is never around anyway!” I curled up in a ball on the sofa. “So why can’t he be my sooonnnnnn!” Now monologuing, I added. “I was always alone as a child, you know?” “You’re breaking into hysterics.” “My parents were never around for me. I was all alone. So alone. So very alone.” I whispered. “Alone.” “This conversation is ...

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Last Call

Submitted to Contest #17

Charlie kissed his little boy, Charles Jr. and girl, Jenny, good-night and went downstairs to the living room. He clicked the remote, surfing through channels on cable. Nothing grabbed his interest. Charlie looked at the clock. After ten. He was restless.The phone rang. It was the landline they kept for emergencies.“Is Miriam there?”“Who is calling?”“Sergio. Let me talk to Miriam.”Charlie paused. Miriam was his wife. Wherever she was, she wasn’t with this idiot.“She isn’t here. I’ll give her a message.”“I need to talk to her.”“I’ll tell her ...

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Frank

Submitted to Contest #17

1We all thought that Frank was dead. Had we known that he wasn’t, we would have killed him again. We buried him six feet deep – not in a coffin, mind you, but in a roll of old carpet that Mama didn’t want anymore – and patted the earth down good and proper.We’d buried him by the old well out back, under the watchful eye of the moon and stars. Jim and I dug the hole, taking turns because we only had one spade. Gary was there, too, but Jim and I both knew that he’d probably have another heart attack if joined in.“Let me have a go!” Gary cried,...

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"The Empty Place at the Table"

Submitted to Contest #17

"The Empty Place at the Table" “We’ve never had such a beautiful Thanksgiving table," said Marsha.“You say that every year,” Mike responded with a smile.“But this year is different,” she answered, glancing over at the photo of their son Mark.“You’re right,” said Mike. “This is the first year he won’t be here.”“Well, maybe not in person, but certainly in spirit. I made sure to set a place for him right beside me,” Marsha said quietly, as a tear rolled down her cheek.Their heartfelt conversation was interrupted by a ruckus in the driveway...

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DINNER WITH TIFFANY

Submitted to Contest #17

Jeanette and Kenneth had just settled down to a cosy family dinner. They’d originally planned to go to the cinema, but their babysitter, Angie, had gone down with the flu and been forced to cancel. She worshipped the ground their little boy Alec crawled on, and it was hard to tell how much of the blocked up sound to her voice was because of the flu and how much was because she was fighting back her tears. Jeanette assured her she wasn’t to give it a second thought, she was just to rest up and drink lots of fluids until sh...

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Landing Day

Submitted to Contest #17

Jonathan's taxi only ran four lights on the hour-long journey from the spaceport to his parents' house in the Lower New Tokyo. The gentle swaying of minor traffic violations would have been soothing, even nostalgic for Jonny, as he hadn't been planet-side in twelve months, but for the taxi driver's insistence on talking to him about the local sports team -- a topic to which Jonny, a devout sports atheist, had little to contribute.He stepped out onto the driveway and looked around at his parents' home. Marguerittestown, their little suburb, r...

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Family Skeleton

Submitted to Contest #17

No one thought that she would actually have the nerve to show up. I think that’s why she was able to get inside, truly. No one moved. No one stopped her. She just… she just kind of showed up at the door, sat herself on the edge of a chair and smiled. By that point, there was nothing we could do to make her leave without causing a commotion.It’s not that I hate her, you know. I mean, I don’t. My aunt Susan is another story for sure, but I’m just sort of following the flow on the matter. Everyone in my family hates her. I simply see no reason ...

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