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Shortlisted for Contest #108 ⭐️
At 1:06 PM, I realize two things. First: I haven’t spoken a single word out loud today. I’ve sent some messages that say things like I laughed out loud and I’m screaming and maybe I did smile or inhale sharply, but I did not laugh out loud, and I did not scream, and I have not said a word to anyone, not even myself. Second: the wall is empty. Two days ago, I went to a new friend’s house, and he had art on the walls. Art and framed photos. We’re the same age and we both just moved here. But he has art on the walls and my wall is blank, and...
Weekly Contest #90
There are only two types of people on campus that Javier can’t stand: a cappella singers and environmental studies majors.Unfortunately for me, I’m both. Is that a form of irony? I wouldn’t know; I’m not an English major.Javier and I met on a train last spring. It was packed, and I dragged my way-too-full suitcase down the aisles, bumping into wayward elbows and ankles. Not my fault people can’t keep their limbs in their seats, but the way they glared at me, you’d think it was. Imagine my relief when there was a single open seat, next to a g...
Weekly Contest #89
“You know, Ells, I don’t think I’m coming next time,” I said, adjusting my duffel bag on my shoulder. “If there is a next time.” If I’m invited.Ellis moved his mouth, but no words came out, and I wondered briefly if I’d been dropped into a silent film. He tugged on the hem of his faded t-shirt. I remembered standing in line with him, our shoulders bumping, when he bought it at a concert. “Yeah, I know,” he finally said.“It’s just, they aren’t—”“I get it.” He ran a hand through his hair, as if that would tame his unbrushed, sleep-tangled curl...
Weekly Contest #86
I woke up early today. I woke up early, with my usual sense of dread, in my dark room. Another grey day. Caught in winter’s clutches. But then I glanced at my window, and I saw a sliver of yellow piercing through the grey. I always forget that the blinds keep out the light. I turned the rod and sure enough, the sun streamed in. The sun! Imagine that! I don’t bother to go outside in the winter, except for errands I simply can’t avoid. Some people love the winter. They go skiing, or snowshoeing, or whatever else. Every time I hear about a sk...
Weekly Contest #85
That’s the thing about this city, I thought, as I examined the business card between my thumb and forefinger. Just when you think it’s time to pack up and leave, it sends you someone offering to change your life. Cady returned from the bar, balancing a quizzical expression and two drinks – mojito for me, something bright orange for her. She carefully set the mojito on a coaster and slid it towards me. “Who was that?” she asked, inclining her head toward the man I’d just spoken to, now leaning against the far wall. She dropped her voice to ...
Weekly Contest #74
10 The scraps of conversation fade away as the countdown begins. All eyes stay glued to the seconds ticking down on the TV screen, as if we aren’t capable of remembering which number comes next. I glance around at the empty champagne flutes and limbs tangled on couches and against walls. Perhaps some of them can’t remember the numbers. But we can, because I am only drinking sparkling cider, and so are you. 9 I’ve always thought it was silly, counting down to the new year. Unless you live on the tiny islands that get there first, the new ye...
Weekly Contest #73
It was, allegedly, the most wonderful time of the year. Halloween had been quietly escorted out, Thanksgiving had barely been given a chance, and whether you celebrated it or not, everywhere screamed Christmas: the big department stores with empty cardboard boxes wrapped in silvery paper, the little cafes with preciously named cinnamon spiced drinks, the quaint towns with wire snowflakes glittering on the street lamps. People scurried about all of these places, pretending to admire them, but really, they were all buying last-minute gifts or ...
Weekly Contest #68
“Have you ever pulled an all-nighter?” Riley asked, turning over her shoulder to look at Emma. It was a strange question, Emma thought, considering they were sitting on a rocky outcrop watching the sun come up on the horizon. Riley sat on a precarious ledge, legs dangling into empty air, face tipped up to the rising sun, the sun Emma had woken up for at 5:30 AM, and she was already thinking about night?A few feet behind Riley, Emma sat with her legs safely tucked underneath her. The view was just as good from her vantage, if not better, beca...
Weekly Contest #65
I read the text from Marcia for the third time, just to be sure I’ve read it correctly.Can I ask you a huge favor?Sure, what’s up?Are you free on Halloween? Can you take Harrison trick-or-treating? I sprained my ankle and I’m still in a boot, and Phil just found out he has to work.I roll my eyes. Phil always finds some way to avoid holidays. When we were kids, he'd often fake a stomachache as soon as his Christmas presents were opened so that he could ditch church and family brunch. And last Thanksgiving, he claimed that he and Marcia needed...
Weekly Contest #62
Dorian has always been insufferable, but never more so than since he decided to live forever. We all saw the announcement on the news last month, when one of the tech-mogul trillionaires announced a trial run of his new cryogenic chamber. We all saw it, that is, all of us except for Dorian. He was a day shy of completing his forty-day, technology-free, woodland retreat. And I, being a remarkably good friend despite his aforementioned tendency to be insufferable, called him up two days later and told him the news. As expected, Dorian didn’t l...
Weekly Contest #61
I forgot to buy my niece a birthday present. It’s unforgivable, really. There’s absolutely no excuse. Forgetting my nephew’s birthday? Understandable. I see him twice a year at most, and his birthday is in September, the same month as at least four of my closest friends, and I can’t keep track of the days. Go on, ask me when his birthday is. See? I have no idea. My niece, though. I see her all the time. I pick her up from school, because I’m the only one who isn’t at work when school ends, and I can’t let my sister enroll her in an after...
Weekly Contest #60
There are dead lanternflies everywhere, and the kids are on high alert, ready to squash more. Sophie stamps on the ground and lifts her foot to scrape a severed wing from her sole. “Was that the last one?” she asks. “No,” Kieran says, pointing to another tree. “Look.” Sophie looks at the dark streaks on its trunk and chewed-through leaves, and recoils when she sees them—a dense cluster of wings and red eyes, huddled near the roots. “It doesn’t matter,” an older voice says, and the kids’ heads turn to look at Hattie, with her knotty brai...
Weekly Contest #59
We decided to flip a coin. But we didn’t have a coin, so we dug around in our pockets and bags and couch cushions and finally came up with a penny that she deemed worthy. She placed it on her thumb and forefinger and said, “Did you know there’s a national coin shortage?”And I said, “You’re stalling.”And she said, “This penny is dated 1942. Do you think it’s worth anything?”So I took the penny from her hand and I flipped it myself. It came up tails. She smirked; I stared at the penny in disbelief. I had lost, and although I knew the chances w...
Weekly Contest #58
A month shy of my twenty-fourth birthday, I bought a candle. Having decided to buy myself a birthday gift, I was wandering the aisles in my favorite home goods store when I found myself in the candle aisle. I spotted a label that read “Black Coffee” and I had to know if it really smelled like coffee. I pried the lid off, lifted the jar to my nose, and recoiled. The smell was right—so strong and bitter that I could nearly taste it. I placed the candle back on the shelf, ready to move on, but my hand brushed against another candle, this one in...
Weekly Contest #57
Today is a damp day. The August heat broke a few days ago; we turned the air conditioner off and opened the windows. We reveled in the breeze that fluttered our curtains and the fresh air that filled our lungs. But last night, it rained, and the damp air creeped through the windows, leaving our furniture and clothes and skin feeling sticky. I’m reminded of the summers I spent at camp, sleeping in a cabin and waking to find myself wrapped tightly in a sleeping bag that had dampened overnight. Those thick and dewy mornings always burned into h...
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