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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

A package arrives at your character’s house, but they didn’t order anything. Write about what happens next.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 59 stories

“Present Past” by Edward Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #122

Present Past by Edward Hamilton PING!     As soon as he heard the sound from his pocket, he felt annoyance wash over him. He pulled the phone from his pocket. A couple of swipes and a security code later, he saw the text. Dad! The limited-edition Christmas red Rainbow Troll doll is available ONLY at Toys-a-Lot at 5pm on Dec 24th. I hope you can get it for me. Love you.     He groaned as he stared at the text. This time of year was not a slow time for his work. He was going to get off on Dec 24th...

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“Dawn of Armageddon” by Georgia Papp

Submitted to Contest #122

The package sits neatly on top of my tightly made bed. I stare at the carton container of an unassuming brown color, devoid of all inscription, for five minutes before venturing a step near it. The fact that I hadn’t ordered anything wasn’t the strangest detail. But rather I wondered how it reached my bedroom upstairs when there hadn’t been anyone home all day. The gate and front door had remained closed, and there appeared no sign of an intruder. But even this wasn’t the strangest thing to have happened today. My eyes dart to the backpack ...

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“Apocalypse Present” by Barak Nicholes

Submitted to Contest #122

The doorbell rang with an eerie GONG at four in the morning. I had become an incredibly light sleeper over the last several years, so the instant I had woken up I had already rolled off the bed and was looking for something to defend myself with. I had to be prepared for when whatever rang the doorbell decided to force its way in. “Wait a second,” I thought, realizing that didn’t make any sense. Nothing trying to break in would’ve rung the doorbell. That just made me more worried. I’ve never heard this house’s doorbell ring before, I didn’t...

2 comments 2
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“Two Wheels” by Norp Dee

Submitted to Contest #122

        One fine early fall morning, a young delivery man stepped out of his truck. He walked up the driveway of a small, well-maintained white ranch house. He carried a large cardboard box pressed tightly against his wide chest. His long muscular arms were outstretched, and his fingers tightly gripped the sides of the box. The words, “FRAGILE, TV, Glass, THIS SIDE UP,” appeared in large black letters on the big box.               &n...

3 comments 3
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“Signature Required” by Lisa Roberts

Submitted to Contest #122

What fresh hell is this? The porch motion detector flash of white light blinded me.  As my eyes adjusted, I  tore off the yellow post office slip fluttering against the screen door. What now? I had signed all the documents for the sale of the house. Did the realtor forget something? Again? The post office slip said “Signature Required” In bold letters along the bottom. Struggling to balance my purse and keys,  I miss the lock, after several tries the key catches and my  front door unlocks.   I dig in my ...

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“The Package” by C J Howell

Submitted to Contest #122

The package arrived on a Thursday. December 2nd. Natalie spotted the thing as she pulled into her drive that evening. It was squat and brown and all taped up. It had been placed neatly on the top step before the front door. She frowned. She hadn’t ordered anything. Natalie was smart, you see. She’d gotten her Christmas shopping out of the way in November. Had she ordered something and forgotten about it when it didn’t arrive? Late shipping? She was thinking this as she got out of the car. She watched the package warily as she climbed the st...

2 comments 2
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“Mind Astir ” by Agnes Goldfinch

Submitted to Contest #122

It was not its sudden appearance that she found the most suspicious. No. It was the name that was written on the box, which otherwise was quite bare, lacking in the usual stamps, stickers, and obscure signs, maybe even the occasional QR code (and this lack was particularly glaring in comparison to all those other packages that she hoarded throughout the week). But even the absence of a sender’s address did not startle her as radically as that name did. Elle N. There was no last name, no Nichols, just these two words (or, perhaps, a word and ...

7 comments 7
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“In the Loop” by Anne Sellers

Submitted to Contest #122

There is a certain type of person that loves 100 degree weather, scant breeze, and barely a lick of rain for days on end. Texans. There are a new breed of Texans that wake up at dawn, walk to the gym or gets a run in, stop off for morning coffee at Starbucks, walk to work and then back home again along the paved streets and busy intersections. Downtown Dallas was the place. Contrary to popular belief, Dallas isn’t just full of cowboys. The Dallasites have taken over and they love the allure of the big city.Living inside the loop was att...

3 comments 3
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“The Fool and The Forgotten Dreams” by Robin Geissler

Submitted to Contest #122

TW: death of a relative (mentioned) Miracles are always made and killed by adults. They make you believe that Santa is the one who spends an entire day at the mall to get you a remote control helicopter, that the Tooth Fairy is willing to pay for your teeth (creepy) and that Easter is somehow about bunnies. Rudolf is different, but it doesn’t matter as long as he’s helpful, and Frosty the Snowman will always come back. Nothing to worry about, kiddo. First, they tell you Santa isn’t real; then goes the Easter Bunny and as you g...

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“Leave the Light On” by Elizabeth Romanyk

Submitted to Contest #122

A driver crept down Brownie Lane, an eerie street tunneled by vines and ivy. He came to a stop in front of a cottage. The olive home seemed a bit out of place in the middle of nothing.He made his way to the great wooden, arched door and rang the bell.Fully prepared to see a hag, with wired, gray hair and a hunched back, the driver was almost startled to see a beautiful woman answer the door. She had luscious black locks down to her back. She wore faded jeans and a button-down flannel.“Oh!” he said.“The name’s Aurelia, actually. Can I help yo...

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“Christmas Chicks” by Kathy Philpott

Submitted to Contest #122

Christmas Chicks The holidays are about traditions as well as happy memories. By contrast, this Holiday season will be dramatically different because of the Covid-19 pandemic. There won't be the kind of activities Kitty created with her friends and family years past. Kitty would meet her friends the Friday before Thanksgiving for lunch and then plan their Christmas activities, especially the shopping. They called themselves the Christmas Chicks. They all had full-time jobs with lifestyles that mirrored their successful careers. A couple of t...

1 comment 1
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“WHAT WAS IN THAT PACKAGE?” by Gerard Watson

Submitted to Contest #122

     One Saturday morning, Bill Carter found a package sitting on his doorstep. Brown paper wrapping covered the entire box. Bill examined it, then looked up and down his block, searching for whoever delivered the package. He didn’t see anyone.          “Ethel! Ethel!”          His wife appeared in the hallway.          “Yeah, what do you want? I was in the middle of sorting the lau...

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“Pandora's Box” by Sophie Smith

Submitted to Contest #122

Today should be a lazy day, lounging around in my pyjama’s, eating junk food and anything that would never or will ever be classified as healthy whilst watching movies all day.  A classic Disney movie day.  Just me, myself and I, an unbelievable amount of snacks and movies.  No visitors.  No interruptions.  Biting into the custard-filled doughnut, the smooth yellow custard oozes from where I had bitten as the dusted sugar coats my ruby red lips and pale thin fingers. My attention is all on the movie playing...

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“Whoso Pulleth This Sword” by Jethro Pili

Submitted to Contest #122

NOTE: My main character describes a short scene involving suicide and gore on his phone.I was in my room on a late Friday morning (it was a Flex Day at Brennan’s Glenn High School, which meant school budget meetings and planning for the next school year—teachers get stuck in boring meetings all day and students get to stay home, except for the football team and cheer squad). I was listening to my music when the doorbell rang. I hit pause and removed my earphones to make sure it was the doorbell and not part of the music. After making sure th...

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“Called to Duty” by Jon Butters

Submitted to Contest #122

Called to Duty With a muted BINK-bonk the ring around the small speaker turned a pulsing yellow, indicating an incoming notification. Agatha Freeman sat on a high stool pushed up against the island in the middle of her kitchen, her laptop opened in front of her and a large mug of hot black coffee off to her right. The morning sun filtered through the window over the sink and played itself in a wedge across the dark granite island top. Agatha was scrolling through her emails, left thumb dragging down the rectangular trackpad, and she took a l...

4 comments 4
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Contest #122

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Ended on 23:59 - Dec 03, 2021 EST

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