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Write a story about an outsider or social outcast who will do anything to fit in.

Posted in Angst on Nov 15, 2024

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✍️ 38 stories

You Don't Like Me?

Submitted to Contest #277

CW: This story contains graphic violence, including mutilation, abduction, and murder."When you look in your mirror, surely you tell yourself you are beautiful. Oh, I am very sure you often tell yourself that. Do you admire your fit body after the gym and tell yourself you are perfect? Or at least think you are?* * *The feeling of rejection followed him throughout his life. It was there when school children pushed him and laughed at his looks. His face wasn't horrific, but it had imperfections—a slightly crooked nose, uneven skin tone, eyes ...

40 likes 33 comments 33
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Dolphin Girl and Sea Cloud of the Ship Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #277

The rogue wave grasped Marin’s legs, whirled her around, then retreated out to sea, dragging her with it.She fought with her arms and legs, helpless, against the strength of the whole ocean.Then the power of the offshore riptide current caught her and rushed, carrying her farther from shore.She heard distant screams from the people at the beach over the roar of the surf.Water flowed over her head, pressing her downward, and she gasped for air in the darker depths of the sea. Her racing heart pounded.She bobbed to the surface, and saw a glimp...

31 likes 23 comments 23
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Shortcuts Lead To Dead Ends

Submitted to Contest #277

The janitor hit the light switch as he left, leaving the school in darkness before locking the doors. Frank Elliot let out his breath. This bit was always the most anxiety-inducing; would Ol’ Zeph catch him? But Ol’ Zeph had been the caretaker here before God was a student. He performed his duties on autopilot and put in the least effort to not get fired. Ol’ Zeph shuffled about like a zombie, waiting until retirement. Besides, even if he had bothered to do a quick sweep, Frank had hidden himself inside a locker. He discovered it was possibl...

22 likes 9 comments 9
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Someday A Real Rain Will Come

Submitted to Contest #277

CW: Mentions of sexual violence and gun violence“You have to make an effort. You have to try to fit in. You just have to try harder to make some friends.” That, and things like that, are what my parents always told me, and then they would give me my daily dose of Prozac, Xanax and Adderall and whatever else, and then I would just drift off somewhere, trying to make sense of everything. Trying to escape the dark clouds. I was confused and alone. I was always alone. I wanted to get my nose or my eyebrow pierced again. I wanted more black ...

20 likes 18 comments 18
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Fitting In

Submitted to Contest #277

He had walked alone for too long.At the end of his life, it never emerged as a thought that flashed before his eyes as he recalled his existence just before crossing the bar.There were no parents in sight, no bright light to guide the way, and a profound sense of not belonging lingered in the air. Her eyes shut, and darkness enveloped her. At that moment, an intense heat enveloped him, accompanied by an insatiable thirst that he had never experienced before.Unbeknownst to them, the only problem lay in the fact that they had crossed the bar a...

19 likes 10 comments 10
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But I Don't Want Us To Circle Back

Submitted to Contest #277

There is a smile on my face. It’s a good one too; I’ve practiced crinkling the corners of my eyes and making sure it bobs up and down like a wave, following the swell of the conversation. I made myself learn how to turn it off too without letting my eyes show that the strings, tangling all the way down to my heart, have been cut. Severed neatly by their owner. Sometimes it’s best to frown, and nod your head as if to say “‘good point, well made’”. There’s way of doing this – sometimes you must slowly draw down the lips, in direct inverse prop...

18 likes 2 comments 2
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Many a Fool

Submitted to Contest #277

Over the centuries, many mortals and fools, have attempted to reach the remote village of Whalescliffe, nestled far between the rocks, forest and sea, protected from the kingdom beyond. Memories of the small hamlet, only accessible from land through the ancient forests, are now lost to time and few have heard stories of the tiny community perched beneath the cliffs, looking out across the cold Elfin Sea. The hidden trails, once woven across the forest floor, are now gone, free from uninvited visitors for longer than living memory. ...

16 likes 4 comments 4
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Dragons Fly

Submitted to Contest #277

Ursula stood on the precipice, looking toward the distant castle. She pulled her hood close. Tethered nearby, her horse grumbled as it ate from a hay bale.“Why am I here? I should be attending Queen Hannah… not tending livestock.” She looked into the cave at the she dragon. Brooding, Safire rested in her nest. Sunlight from the cave entrance shone off its scales, warming the cave with a rosy glow. Ursula had never seen anything alive so huge. Stepping up to Safire’s eye, she smoothed her hair in the reflection. Safire watched impassively. Ha...

16 likes 10 comments 10
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The Silk Pillow

Submitted to Contest #277

Rosie’s grandma was razor-sharp.She possessed more knowledge than any grown-up Rosie knew, including her science teacher.Rosie waited in vain for Grandma to miss a Jeopardy question, always stirring sauce or peeling potatoes over the sink while she murmured the answers to herself.Grandma spoke to Rosie in English, but she’d hear her mumble to herself in Greek, yell at the newscasters in Italian, and whisper Mandarin while she watered her plants. Her words folded and flowed like she once lived in the countries themselves.Grandma could explain...

13 likes 5 comments 5
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The Space Between

Submitted to Contest #277

Sara learned early that there were lines drawn in the world - visible ones that separated properties and parishes, and invisible ones that cut through communities, marking who belonged and who didn't. In Millbrook, population 2,847, her line was drawn before she even took her first breath."Born in sin," the whispers followed her through Sunday school, where mothers pulled their daughters closer as she passed. Her own mother worked double shifts at the diner, leaving Sara to find her place in the world, to navigate the spaces between belongin...

12 likes 15 comments 15
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Busting Down the Barriers

Submitted to Contest #277

                                 Busting Down the Barriers      Fred Bersentzen refused to allow a roadblock planted in front of him in his youth to stand in the way of his destiny.  In fact, he decided to use the constant fight to reach beyond that which held him back to hit the bullseye on his target to success, happiness and fulfillment. &nbs...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Justice or Injustice? You Decide!

Submitted to Contest #277

Swear words. Sexual abuse.Ben’s dreams were small, to have friends and for children to call round to play. But this never happened. He was, instead, the butt of their jokes and the innocent recipient of their brutal bullying. He was fourteen, with Downs Syndrome.As I stacked the final pieces of washing-up the doorbell rang and, quickly drying my hands, I opened the door to discover a group of seven girls, aged ten or eleven, standing outside. I’d spotted Ben hovering at the top of the stairs, waiting to see who the caller was.“Is Ben ‘ere?” ...

11 likes 6 comments 6
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God Save the Queen.

Submitted to Contest #277

Jess stood at the edge of the group of teenage girls. Only a close observer might have noticed that all the conversations, the jokes,the friendly jostling and hugging was going on around her. She was there ...but not really part of it. She had become expert at this blending in, and her fixed smile, her careful mirroring of the gestures the other girls used, the carefree hair flick, the head tilt, was designed to fool all but the most attentive watchers.Because Jess knew it was a very bad idea indeed to be noticed, or singled out, or not to b...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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Wick in the Rot

Submitted to Contest #277

Wick in the Rot The burn on my wrist isn’t bleeding anymore, but it still secretes a watery, golden fluid, the color of honeysuckle nectar. The color of sunlight on a winter morning. The color of codeine cough syrup before the most exquisite sleep.  No stench. That’s a good sign. I redress the wound, carefully keeping the bandage beneath my gray sweater cuff. I don’t want questions or pity. There’s no story to tell, anyway. I glance at the clock on the nightstand. I have 20 minutes before bus N8 arrives. Just enough time for a coffee ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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The Angry Duckling

Submitted to Contest #277

Once upon a time in the tumultous waters of high school, an ugly duckling longed to swim in a pond full of the most beautiful swans. Though beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, the flock had long ago decided that the duckling was too different to belong to their kind. Only eighteen years of age, her little wings had grown weary from trying to catch up to her peers. Day after day, she paddled twice as hard as the others, yet she always fell behind. This duckling was, of course, a young girl. And high school, with all its jagged e...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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