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Weekly Contest #372
When I pushed the gate, it opened with a creak. Not at all the way it used to. The three of us hurried beneath the shade of the grapevines, escaping the blazing sun. Days like this simply did not happen here in early September. The heat was unbearable. “Grandpa made it all himself!” little Viorica said, pointing at the arches of slender poles, thickly covered in grapevines, ripe bunches hanging overhead. Ever since she had become more talkative at kindergarten, Vio had spent months solemnly telling us everything as though she had just made a...
Weekly Contest #371
Something had changed a while ago. For a long time, everything around me had been pitch black. Now the world seemed divided into two horizontal halves: twinkling stars above, darkness below, with the gray road cutting through it in my headlights. My foot eased off the gas almost on its own when I noticed a faint glow far off to the left. I knew I was close. Soon a blue rest-area sign came into view. Did I need a break? Not sure. Yet, I turned left and pulled in. The map on my phone said, “Sweetwater Station.” The place felt eerie — totally...
Weekly Contest #369
I don’t belong here. Not anymore. It started a week ago. When… you know what happened. The Government gave it names, but deep inside we know, we feel, we admit. Surprising, really, how we keep finding nicer names for ugly things. Well… Who am I kidding? We do exactly the same thing ourselves. Masks, nicknames, excuses. It is in our nature, of course. But the story isn’t about the Government. It would be too boring. It is about me. More boring, you think? Yeah, ’cause you don’t know me. Yet. Or, perhaps you are right. Yesterday my resignatio...
Naomi rushed into the room. Everyone was already there. “Ms. Freeman, you’re late again.” The director’s words sounded more like teasing than reproach. “Only ten seconds,” she protested. “Fifteen, actually,” Mr. Foster said with a smile. “But since you’re a genius, we’ll allow it.” She flushed, but quickly recovered. “Mrs. Newell, please begin.” Alan Foster gave her a small nod. “We live in a world where personalized cancer vaccines have become routine and HIV is finally curable. Yet, ironically, anxiety rates are rising faster than ever.” R...
Weekly Contest #368
Charlie pushed the door. It opened silently. A small wind chime tinkled overhead. With no one behind the counter, the little shop felt empty. What had drawn him inside was a quirky sign above the entrance: Secondhand Things That Are More Than They Seem. Charlie had moved here several years ago with his family. Well, not exactly here. His family lived in West Windsor. Now a student at Princeton University, he wandered around the familiar neighborhood after classes on that warm autumn day. After stopping at a café near Spring Street, Charlie...
Weekly Contest #367
That afternoon I enjoyed the short drive home along the Tyrrhenian coast. Our family’s Fiat Topolino was a creaky, rusty little luxury - the best we could afford. The rough steering wheel under my hands and the smell of oil and old upholstery didn’t quite go with my suit and fashionable hat. Even though I’d bought them on sale, I thought I looked quite stylish. The window was open, the waves flashed between the rocks, and the warm air smelled of an adventurous life and new hopes. “Bring me some new clients, Bruno,” my boss had said before th...
Weekly Contest #360
When Olivia stepped out through the school’s main doors and onto the front steps… Oh! For the last time that school year! That felt fantastic. At that moment, the sun was shining through a gap in the clouds, as if inviting her into an adventure. Birds were singing somewhere nearby, as if cheering her on. Five years of elementary school were over, and soon she would be turning thirteen. It meant SOMETHING to her. Thirteen was the age Gabe had never reached… And now… entering middle school meant more freedom, more choices, more control over he...
Weekly Contest #342
For three weeks, the dream had been coming back. It kept resurfacing at the worst possible moments. Like today — when her boss asked for advice. A single word — “unclear” — was enough to pull it back. She missed his question entirely and stood there, frozen, aware of how foolish she must have looked. Julia didn’t know whether it was a premonition, a warning, or just a sign of burnout. She came home after her shift, exhausted. The tension at work had been worse than usual today, but still bearable. Yet one question had refused to let her mind...
Weekly Contest #341
On that summer day along the coast of France, the sea breeze took the edge off the noon sun. Bernières-sur-Mer was a cozy town with cafés and tourist shops lining its streets. It lay behind them. The fresh air and the steady rhythm of the surf were almost hypnotic, as if the place itself insisted on calm. It might have brought peace even to his weary soul — if he had been willing to accept it. They had reached the shore — side by side, an older man and a young woman, their closeness softened by the quiet sea. Decades had passed since he had ...
Weekly Contest #340
You don’t know me, I don’t know you, but this is serious. I don’t want to exaggerate. I just hope this description helps prevent anything worse. Well… please read it carefully. It was a depressing day. The sun kept hiding behind the clouds every half hour. Was it really necessary? Hardly. What for? Just to come back ten minutes later, as if nothing had happened. Why not stay bright all day long for once? It even rained. I didn’t quite notice until I saw a rainbow. A rainbow! That’s when it hit me: the rain had simply been added to everything...
Isabelle inserted the flash drive labeled “NEVER” into the computer and, after a moment’s hesitation, pressed Enter. The image broke through the hiss and blur — a street-cam feed, unstable but real. From the very first seconds of the video, Bella realized she had always been looking the wrong way. She had built her life around tomorrow — blind to what lingered behind, never daring to uncover the buried pieces of her past. The smart sensor on her desk blinked red and chimed, registering her rising pulse and cortical activity. There — on the c...
Weekly Contest #338
The door opened slightly and then closed again. “Sh-h-h. He’s asleep,” his mum whispered. “Nothing left in his bed this time, huh?” his dad said, half-questioning. “Nothing,” she confirmed. “Are you sure? Let me see.” “I’m sure. I told you! Let’s go.” “Good. That’s not what a real boy should be interested in. I’m tired of it, honestly. I mean, if he reads about sports, that’s fine, I guess.” “Okay. You’re right,” she said, as the sound of their footsteps faded away. This small fragment of his childhood had followed Leo for years. And now, ri...
Weekly Contest #336
That morning, on his way from the bus stop to work, he didn’t know she was moving toward him from the train station, unhurried. They crossed paths in the crowd, only a few meters apart, unaware of how close they had been. She was his only hope after everything that had happened. Work helped him stop thinking — about her, about his son, about things he couldn’t change. People say you can watch water flow and fire burn forever. But any woodworker knows it doesn’t compare to watching the shavings curl from the wood — warm and golden — as the c...
Weekly Contest #335
Today was the happiest day. Her middle school team, the Wildcats, had finally won the city volleyball championship. The last game was brutal, stretching to 26–24, but they made it. Yes. "Oh, we-e-e a-a-re the cha-a-ampions!" Tess was on cloud nine. After the congratulations, the team celebration, and a quiet family dinner with Grandpa, who had deliberately driven hundreds of miles to watch her game, she went to bed early—tired, full, and happy. She smiled at herself, remembering how upset she had been just a few days earlier, when a teacher ...
Weekly Contest #334
The road had outlived its purpose. Yet he had never left. Under the scorching sun and the pouring rain. He was on duty. A keeper. How many were there, really? Being a keeper was supposed to be an honour. It sounded right. He had seen a lot in his life, but he had never seen another keeper. He had only heard of them. How? He kept to himself. For centuries, he had watched these places — the fields, the forests, the hills, and the rivers. He remembered the times when this road was full of carts, carrying goods from the village in the valley. No...
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