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“Start your story with the lines: "Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake.””

Posted in Angst on Jun 5, 2026

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✍️ 46 stories

Beyond the Falling Sky

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake.And maybe you wouldn’t have blamed them. I made a terrible song and dance last Autumn, flapping around like a headless…you know…prattling on about the sky. I know that was ridiculous. I’ve learnt about gravity and changing seasons but at the time I really believed the sky was falling.And I convinced them to believe it too. Henny Penny. Goosey Lucy. Ducky Wucky. All of them. They denied it later, said they were just humouring a stupid chook, but they believed. They believed right into Foxy’s...

30 likes 28 comments 28
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CHARLIE'S NUMBERS

Weekly Contest #358

PART 1 - CHARLIE “Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake.” Charlie carried those words since he was a kid. It was how his father had started every story about his time with ‘The Agency.’ A secret agent, a man of mystery, a spy. An American James Bond but with Tennessee whiskey, a roaring muscle car and better teeth. Charlie used to live for those stories. Until he realized that's all they were. Just stories. When he was older, his parents' marriage fell apart. It was during the divorce his mother told him the truth. His father w...

24 likes 9 comments 9
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Cat's in the Cradle

Weekly Contest #358

“Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake,” Zach told his wife Michelle, retelling the story about setting up a command bunker in Baghdad Iraq during the war.She smiled patiently. “You are an American hero. Now, can we please watch some TV?”He leaned back on their living room couch, and with her familiar warmth at his side, he felt deeply at peace. And that evening, for once, the three secure lines downstairs remained blessedly silent. From somewhere, the giggles of his daughter Isabella, drifted in, busy with whatever it was teen...

23 likes 20 comments 20
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Pas de la Mort

Weekly Contest #358

Author's NoteThere are two performances in this story.One is witnessed by the audience.The other is remembered by the dancer.Pay attention to both. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. The stage breathed before I did. Beyond the curtain, the audience murmured in their velvet seats, restless and hungry for a show. They came dressed in silk and pearls, in pressed suits and polished shoes, carrying little golden programs with my name printed across the...

18 likes 8 comments 8
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Harbinger

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. Nobody believed you could see faces in the hot dust that rose in the wake of rusty trucks and children’s bikes as they clattered past rotting fences. No one paid any mind to the change in the tune of the windchime on their grandmother’s porch, a subtle shift when the wind started blowing in a troubling direction. Not anymore. I gave them signs, I always have and always will. I am not ungracious, nor do I revel in pain. Tragedy does not feed me, like those forgotten books on the last librar...

15 likes 10 comments 10
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The Lowest Rung

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. I went door to door down Main Street with my résumé, stopping in, asking whoever was at the counter if they might have a summer job for me. When I got to Elegance Salon, I felt shy. What kind of hair salon has such big, overstuffed chairs? How can the hairstylist step around those chairs? Along another wall were a lot of small desks, where I saw some ladies sitting across from other ladies, holding their fingers. I did not know which way to look… certainly not right at them.“Hello,” I said...

12 likes 5 comments 5
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Kate Is Worse Than Olives

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. But I don’t blame them, at first I didn’t believe in myself either. Twenty-eight, single, no pets, and I worked at the same dentist office since high school. Now I am the office manager. That was a fancy way of saying I did all the administrative work. I was so unremarkable and underachieving if you asked my friends for my best quality they’d probably say I was easy going which is code for not requiring anything from anyone. I don’t start fights or express strong opinions. No one would re...

12 likes 3 comments 3
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Dirty Shirley

Weekly Contest #358

“Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake.” “What was their second mistake?” The journalist had a semi-seductive way of talking that was unsettling, as if he worked part-time for a phone sex line. A little too soft, so Daphne had to lean forward. A little too personal, even though this had been billed to her as a profile piece. He was one of the least-appealing men she’d ever met, which was saying something. He had on a too-tight black t-shirt and jeans that were bejeweled. She’d missed him when she’d first entered the restaurant,...

9 likes 6 comments 6
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The Woods Devil

Weekly Contest #358

(Depictions of gore and horror. Strong language is used.)Nobody believed in me... that was their first mistake.It was camping season. I know, I know, very stereotypical for a story like this. My friends didn't believe me either, thought I was pulling a prank on them. To be fair, I wouldn't believe me either if I heard the story. So here it is.May 29th, it was a Thursday. My friends and I had all planned this camping trip. I have Fridays off so I went to the spot the night before to set up. Everything went smoothly, got all the gear set up, c...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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The Oleander Surprise

Weekly Contest #358

The Oleander Surprise Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. Their second mistake was not to believe my words, to take my threat as a joke. I couldn’t be serious, right? No way would I murder my husband. Not Becky Graham, goody two-shoes, daughter of a Church of the Nazarene preacher. Baptized at ten, sanctified at sixteen, safely married at eighteen, mother of twin girls at twenty-two. What they didn’t know, what they couldn’t see, was the fear I lived through daily. Living with Jim was like walking a t...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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Success at Last

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. I was a nobody, so who could blame them. My parents raised me to be nobody. They didn’t like attention, and never wanted attention cast on their child. In fact, if they had not been careless in their love making, I wouldn’t exist.This was what I was told by my father, on rare occasions when I dared to be somebody, anybody, but me. Little did they know. Their very crass attitude about children, me in particular, gave me the tools to be more than a nobody.I bided my time, waiting until I was...

9 likes 7 comments 7
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The Strong Ones Come Back

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake.By the time the boom sounded, it was too late. A flash of blinding light erupted, and a distinct ringing filled the air. The damage was done, but I was already gone.Alone, but gone.My hands ached as I ground two sticks together beneath a sagging tarp. Rain hammered overhead, and cold seeped into my bones.Despite the frigid chill, sweat dripped from my brow as I worked tirelessly to start a fire.A face haunted my thoughts as I worked.Long, chestnut brown hair. Whiskey-colored eyes, brimming ...

9 likes 6 comments 6
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The Girl With The Loudest Silence

Weekly Contest #358

Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. I was always considered the weird one in the family. The one who didn’t understand. Who didn’t do anything right. Everyone would give me pitying glances as I did what was asked of me-the minimum, of course-and inevitably messed it up. I always did, I would clumsily drop something heavy and watch as it fell to the ground with a loud bang. Everyone would wince at the sound, but I wouldn’t, I trained myself not to. You see, everyone thought I was deaf.The story began when I was just three yea...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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God does not make junk!

Weekly Contest #358

Xander flung himself from the confrontation with his father, Sterling Collins. Being young and hotheaded, he disregarded all the warnings and advice. Xander was soon roaring down the roads leading away from his exclusive, secluded neighbourhood. He had been steadily drinking the afternoon away, fuming over his father's control freak mechanisms. He was young, he was free, he was going to own the town tonight. He pushed the engine of his impressive Kawasike motorcycle to its limits."Forget about him, he's a tyrant. Delete my old man to trash. ...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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The Red Books

Weekly Contest #358

Note: This story contains physical violence and a reference to self harm (off the page). The Red Booksby Jessica Fisher Riches Nobody believed in me. That was their first mistake. * Gwen stood in front of the locked door, empty handed but for the key. No tool, no potion, no rune stones. Just a key, and a word.Two weeks of blowing off her homework to read mind-crushing non-school related textbooks, endless botanical potion trials, and sneaking around the house in the dead of night to test each magical utterance, ...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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