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Start or end your story with somebody stepping out into the sunshine.

Posted in Short Story on Jun 20, 2025

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✍️ 87 stories

The bookstore between

Submitted to Contest #308

Only someone who truly adored books could tell the difference between a hardback and a paperback by scent alone—a gift that belonged to Poppy. Poppy was in heaven the moment she stepped inside the antique bookstore. She inhaled deeply, savouring the papery, woody notes that welcomed her; a comforting change from the bitter smell of soggy cigarettes lingering outside. At the far wall, an open fireplace glowed amber and gold, promising warmth. Her skin longed for its heat—anything to thaw the frigid chill numbing her fingertips. Anything to so...

40 likes 39 comments 39
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The Problem of Distinction

Submitted to Contest #308

CW: This story contains crass, well-meaning humor. The gloam of late evening bestowed the withered sage grass with a tinged vermillion sheen as the stranger rode into town high atop his spotted appaloosa. He was grateful for the reprieve the setting sun gave from the furnace of peak summertime heat on the high desert plains. Removing the brick hat from his head and wiping the sweat and dust from his brow with the back of his forearm, he confirmed with quick glances all he had suspected to find in this out-of-the-way pisshole. One dirt-packed...

26 likes 33 comments 33
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Innis Fae

Submitted to Contest #308

May stepped out into the sunshine, wincing at the bright rays. Her weary eyes were sensitive and puffy from the tears of the night before. A flash of pain seared her heart when she seen the beautiful fields and mountains that rolled out before her. Innis Fae or the isle of the fairies as her Irish grandmother referred to it. Sheila often told her wild tales of the romance of the isle, and of the “Fae” the Fae were fairies and often featured in her stories of home, Sheila seemed to have a complicated relationship with them one day playing wit...

24 likes 18 comments 18
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Summer: Another Crazy Brother Story

Submitted to Contest #308

We stepped out of school, my crazy brother Ted and I, a giant load of completed papers and work books under our arms and something in mind-- as always. The sun blazed gloriously on our upturned faces. The sun had never felt so good. School was over for the year, and we were heading home for the ceremonial burning.A few friends joined us around the burn barrel in our backyard, and we heaved the paperwork in. It thudded as it hit bottom, ashes pluming upward like thousands of tiny phoenixes. My brother leaned into the barrel and lit a match. W...

21 likes 16 comments 16
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The Fault in the Midsummer Night's Donor

Submitted to Contest #308

Feldspar DykesSome men have hobbies—not sports, which are all about strength and camaraderie, nor interests like music or reading, but hobbies. Singular obsessions that offer no social currency, no practical benefit, just the quiet satisfaction of pursuit for its own sake. The kind of thing that makes women like Liz leave after three years because they can’t stand another dinner conversation about the Mohs hardness scale.Take your mind off stress, the article said. Interact with the physical world. Get tactile—knead dough, grip a tennis rack...

16 likes 5 comments 5
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Just Like Real Water

Submitted to Contest #308

cw: language, nudity, graphic skin-related injuries Nathaniel gets out of the water, and the sun blankets his bare back like a fluffy bath towel, still warm from the dryer, that Mother Nature has lovingly wrapped around his cold, trembling shoulders, as if he were her little boy. His wife Charlotte lies off in the sand, stomach up like a dead fish, in the strappy American flag bikini Nathaniel tried to sneak into their donation bin last winter. Her belly piercing glints in the sunlight, depending on which angle you look at her from. From whe...

15 likes 2 comments 2
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Bite Me, I'm Dracula!!

Submitted to Contest #308

The thick velvet curtains, smelling faintly of dust and despair, parted with a theatrical flourish that even after centuries, still felt a little dramatic to Dracula. He blinked, adjusting his eyes to the sheer audacity of the afternoon sun. It wasn't the searing, flesh-withering blaze of old, thanks to his latest UV blocking contact lenses and SPF 5000 (blood-infused, naturally), but it was bright enough to make him squint. He stepped out onto the cobbled street of Sighisoara, a faint sigh escaping his lips. "Sunlight," he muttered, "the or...

15 likes 15 comments 15
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The Landmark of the lost

Submitted to Contest #308

Content Warning: This story contains themes of child loss and grief, which may be distressing to some readers. The heat of the sun stroked my cheeks before I could even open my eyes. It was a new day. As I slowly climbed out of my tent, I stepped into the sunshine. Arms reached toward the heavens, I took a breath in. There is always peace in the first moments my eyes open. Then the cold reality hits me—and even the warmth of the sun can’t bring comfort while my heartbeat of joy is missing. The professional searchers greet me with condition...

14 likes 5 comments 5
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Life is But a Joke

Submitted to Contest #308

Sleeping in a crypt isn’t as comfortable as one might believe. But it helps if you’re already dead. Jones had never given much thought to what went on in graveyards before dying. He’d tried to avoid them, if he were going to be totally honest here. He’d played sick when the only boss who had ever been kind to him passed away unexpectedly. Had even missed his mother’s funeral, although the rest of the family had never forgiven him for that one. He hoped she had. Jones would have said, if you were buying him a beer at your local, that life had...

14 likes 4 comments 4
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Summer Solstice Theater

Submitted to Contest #308

How could a celebration change the way I view myself? “This anxiety is getting bad the last few days.” My friend sits across from me in our favorite diner looking sympathetic. “Last year was rough, teaching at that intercity school.” The hours and stress were horrendous. "Some clear plans would be nice." Dave just listens attentively. He is going to give me some kind of advice like “just don’t work”. Sorry, I didn’t have a career in Silicon Valley, have meetings all over Asia and make tons of money. I was a teacher, retired now. Extra income...

13 likes 2 comments 2
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The Sun's Caress

Submitted to Contest #308

THE SUN’S CARESS Six inches at a time was all Henry Meador could manage. Push. Drag your feet. Push again. The walker wearily advanced across the expansive dining room carpet. Henry’s hands trembled and arms quivered as he leaned his weight into the metal frame. The chatter of residents, clanking dishes, and a light piano drone melted into an endless white noise that he knew would echo in his head for hours. Like it did every night when dinner was long over. The vibrations pounded in his mind every time the day closed in and the s...

13 likes 2 comments 2
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For Her

Submitted to Contest #308

She walked out into the sun, 86 degrees biting at her forehead as she looked down at the patio. Beads of sweat formed just under her hairline instantaneously. “Ugh, I hate freakin Ohio,” she growled miserably. “Why is it either pouring rain or scorching hot for 90-percent of the summer?”“Drama queen, drama queen,” came the voice of her five-year-old daughter.“Wait a minute, whaddayu mean, stinker?” She called out.“Member when I said it was too hot to go inna garage,” she giggled. You said I‘m a drama queen, remember that mom?” She doubled ov...

12 likes 6 comments 6
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To Margot, on Her 18th Birthday

Submitted to Contest #308

You stretch a gloved hand toward Margot to swipe her auburn curls out of her eyes. The maternal urge to fix your child, like a primate yanking bugs off their baby, is baked into your DNA. You stop short. Her protective helmet blocks the way. You sit together in the showroom of The Time Dealer. It’s all white and steel and so bright you wish you had worn sunglasses. You haven’t had much need for those in a long time. The day’s travelers sit to one side. On the other, a display of glass domes, large enough for a person or two. The room looks ...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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Solar Return Policy

Submitted to Contest #308

At exactly noon on Midsummer Eve, Nora slipped from the pawnshop clutching a shoebox that glowed through its cardboard walls. The basement had been impossibly deep, carved from stone that predated the town above. Shelves lined the walls, crowded with objects that shouldn't exist—hourglasses filled with what looked like liquid starlight, mirrors that reflected different rooms entirely, music boxes that played melodies she felt rather than heard. And behind the counter, Vincent Ness had watched her with eyes like polished coal. "One perfect ho...

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Awake Between

Submitted to Contest #308

As I stepped out into the sunshine the day was so bright it hurt my eyes. I squinted to see where I was, who I was with, and what I was supposed to be doing. I could see other people around. Some were shielding their eyes. Some were squinting their eyes like me, trying to adjust to the newness. It was a new air, a shedding of the staleness. Refreshing.I could count thirty people in this field of flowers where we stood. We were all facing the same direction, west. We all wore a variation of a hospital gown. A woman knelt on the ground an...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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