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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a character emerging from hibernation, whether literally or metaphorically.

Posted in Winter on Dec 1, 2023

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 61 stories

“A Day in the Life, of a Beetle” by Randy Koester

Submitted to Contest #227

The migrant maiden was stirred to life by the avalanche of pumpkin spiced air spilling out the coffee shop’s open back door. Her dullened mind was shaken into clarity by the consecutive quakes from one plastic bag after another being flung by a disinterested barista into her dumpster. Unfolding her wings and stretching them wide, the hopeless beetle elected to abandon that frosty trash in search of one last meaningful day. She chose the name Randi, which she had gotten from a used sedici-size cup that did not make its way into the garbage. ...

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“Tower of Heart” by Kaito Ikari

Submitted to Contest #227

Natalie was cold.  Every day, every night, he did naught but her daily chores. Once upon a time perhaps she would have enjoyed them, but ever since her home grew quiet and all other people left, she was left alone with nobody to talk to. Nobody to sing to. Nobody to be warm to.  But that’s what she wanted. It was better that way. She worked more efficiently alone, and she had more time to herself, reading books and all the other things that were fun. Alone.  So alone. But no matter. Her tower was beautiful, and even if it was ...

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“Adrift” by Charlie Christmann

Submitted to Contest #227

The cold was the first sensation that crept into Alexei's subconscious, a biting, relentless chill that seemed to pierce through the very fabric of his being. It gnawed at his bones, a sharp reminder of the void's unforgiving nature. Alexei lay in the hibernation chamber of his spacecraft, adrift in the silent expanse of space. Here, the temperature was deliberately kept well below zero, a necessary measure to preserve his body during the long journey.Alexei, a seasoned astronaut, hovered at the edges of awareness, teetering between wakefuln...

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“Shadows In The Nightgarden: Dream Weaver's Dawn ” by Lauren Dawn Miller

Submitted to Contest #227

A tremor, like a hummingbird's wings brushing against a sleeping rose, rippled through Anya's slumbering form. Memories, fragmented and hazy like mist clinging to a mountaintop, drifted through her consciousness: vibrant landscapes woven from moonlight, the chilling laughter of nightmares echoing through desolate spaces, and a desperate struggle against an encroaching darkness that threatened to consume them all. Then, a jolt. It wasn't a simple awakening nor a gentle nudging from slumber. It was a cosmic earthquake, a sudden eruption of raw...

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“Light at the End of a Dark Night” by Ray Murphy

Submitted to Contest #227

Jan 3RD, 2023The birds chirping outside woke Lars Bregman around 6am. The first thing he noticed was the steel mesh covering the windows, a ray of bright morning sun reflected a dusty white trapezoid on the yellowing tile floor. He could remember the Christmas party he had attended with the employees of Buddy’s Grocery in Jersey City. Two Beers, he thought. All it takes now is two beers and I’m in trouble.He looked at the bedside table and saw his black snowboarding helmet. The uneventful room did seem familiar, and after gett...

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“The Assignment” by Hilary Yelvington

Submitted to Contest #227

Everything had gone right. He could come out now.  Not that he needed to rush. Ronan had stocked plenty of provisions. Hardtack, venison jerky, and a large canteen for water — he’d had enough salt, enough fluids and just enough protein to survive underground. Still, his jacket and trousers were starting to hang off of him like laundry on a clothesline. That was nothing, though, compared to how things looked upstairs in the master bedroom.  Hadn’t they deserved it? He hoped so, but then he wasn’t paid to hope. He could still see...

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“Awake, Awaken My Love” by Josue Silva

Submitted to Contest #227

She does not rise. I do. The Abyss claimed us for longer than we had planned. No matter, we did not have much say in the situation. I woke up first as had always been the case through our long lives together. I breathed deep, the air afterwards was always musty and unpleasant, but I always loved the first breath. It tasted like new. My body creaked and cracked as I began to move. It took an uncomfortable amount of time to get my muscles and bones to follow my orders again. The rest we experience was never particularly deep, but it was nec...

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“Hibernation for Life!” by Stephen McManus

Submitted to Contest #227

Charlotte noticed the drone squirrel from the corner of her eye. Its tawny coat flashed in the sunlight as it skittered across the awning. Slowing her pace, she watched as its right ocular lens telescoped out; she could almost hear the camera click as it photographed her.Placing her index finger on her left temple she turned on the digital relay in her contact lens, simultaneously giving Command access to her visual cortex and allowing nonverbal cognitive communication. Command, this is agent Sparrow, are you seeing the security drone? Over....

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“Sarah's Star” by Michael Ginsberg

Submitted to Contest #227

SARAH’S STAR Michael Ginsberg, 2023 My daughter, Sarah, 16, walked into our living room, holding up a star-shaped cloth: yellow, faded and ragged. Is this what I think it is, Dad?” “Depends on what you think it is,” I said, smiling.  “Looks like the badges that Jews were forced to wear during World War 2,” Sarah said. “I found it while I was looking through Great Grandma Sarah’s things. I just wish I knew more about her.” I wasn’t surprised that my sensitive, inquisitive daughter wondered about her sensitive, inquisitive great grand...

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“The First Line of Defense” by Daniel Griesdorf

Submitted to Contest #227

The First Line of Defence By DannyG “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” Mary Oliver I was convinced that my all of my future reincarnations were nullified by the enlightenment I had just attained. But something was wrong. The cycle of Samsara wasn’t broken -- not as broken as my family, as broken as my community, or as broken as the middle finger I had snapped getting up from my cross-legged pose under the shading Ficus. Also, after forty-nine days without moveme...

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“In Their Shadow” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #227

I hadn't seen the surface in a long time, and I don't wish to ever again until the light of day returns. Our flashlights created a path forward through the darkness. My eyes strained to see past the thick goggles and the maelstrom of snowflakes.  My team pushed step by step over the icy ground with me in the lead. One of them said something, but through the. respirators covering our faces and the raging storm is a wasted breath.  Our destination is only thirty yards or so from the airlock, but it might as well be miles. It take...

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“Cabin Life in the Winter” by Robert Barr

Submitted to Contest #227

Cabin Life in the Winter January 10 I have just returned to my winter cabin. Writing this diary entry, I realize I have not painted or written much since coming back. This lack of activity is contributing to my dark mood. It was a strange new feeling because I had begun to relish being alone. I am becoming depressed.  Something must unquestionably change this is not hibernation. I am sitting up in bed writing this entry after a restless night. It had been a long week of doing practically nothing creative. I need to write more thoughts...

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“Instincts of Survival” by Daniel Mueller

Submitted to Contest #227

*Content Warning* This story contains themes of survival in challenging and extreme conditions, as well as depictions of violence and perilous situations. Reader discretion is advised. The cave remained in eerie silence. No critters crawled, no embers crackled in the hearth, nor did the family within dare to move an inch. Within the pitch-black stillness, they extended their ears, straining to catch the sound that signified the short escape back into the past world. The incessant howl of the wind; once a subliminal echo in the depths o...

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“The Accident” by Ruth Zschoche

Submitted to Contest #227

When I step from my house, over the threshold that holds the fairy-tale magic to contain the spirit within, I take with me a lack of skin.I lie open and vulnerable to every presence that comes up against me, or passes me on the street.Today is a propitious day. Today I have to get something from a shop myself, in person. I have to walk on my own to that shop, over stones and gravel and dirt and concrete, and pick it up with my own hands.It has been three months and three days, or 95 days to be precise, since I last left my hibernation.On the...

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“Space” by Eko Epsilon

Submitted to Contest #227

“Blue?” She touched her ears. Furry and soft, it brought confusion upon her symmetrical face. “Like a bright blue I think.” He stared at his hand. The strong, lengthy jointed fingers spread so far apart than what he was used to. She wrung her orange fuzzy tail through her fingers. Maybe not fingers but talons. “No, more of a teal.” He saw the fur on his body, everywhere. “Oh yeah, yeah that's it.” “Is this real, Dab?” She asked, tracing her jaw in the mirror. He rubbed his hand down his chest, feeling the muscles under his safe fur. “Egy, th...

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Contest #227

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This week's theme: Snowed Under

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Ended on 23:59 - Dec 08, 2023 EST

Won by Warren Keen 🏆

Title: The Winters of My Discontent

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