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Begin or end your story with “Well, that was dramatic.”

Posted in Christmas on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 37 stories

While Dressed As An Owl

Submitted to Contest #123

“Well, that was dramatic,” his father said. Tuesday’s meant something from the Katherine Hepburn canon, and this time, it was On Golden Pond. When Walter was done with his performance, his father could only muster that one bit of feedback and then he went back to his copy of The Atlantic. His mother sighed and asked him to go get ready for bed. It was past eleven, after all, and he had school the next day. If there was one thing Walter could do, it was memorize things other people had said. Not quotes so much, but dialogue. Movies. Tel...

36 likes 29 comments 29
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The Season of Grace

Submitted to Contest #123

(Content Warning: Violence, Gore, Language, Crude humor.)Amongst the perils of evil, Grace Johnson stood defiantly with clenched fists ready to strike. The three-headed beast bellowed a deafening roar as it charged toward the twelve-year-old girl. A monstrosity of terror, the monster had the body of a lion, with the heads of a bear, dragon, wolf, and a serpent’s tail whipping back and forth like an animal tamer’s whip. Riding on top of this foul creature was Mrs. Claus, dressed in a black stitched battle-worn dress. Her white hair was n...

28 likes 24 comments 24
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Sky At Night

Shortlisted for Contest #123 ⭐️

SKY AT NIGHT by Chris Fallon * “Well that was dramatic,” she said when she finally opened her eyes. Then she rolled over and threw up half the contents of the river.   I flopped alongside her, trembling, my arms and wrists burning from the struggle to drag her from the water and the reeds. “What’s your name again?” she asked when she’d finally stopped coughing. “Toby,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Toby,” she said. “I need you to promise me something.” I nodded that I would promise her anything. “Don’t mention ...

28 likes 29 comments 29
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Execution Day Jitters

Submitted to Contest #123

TW*** Language and Violence On the evening before the execution, I drank eight cups of coffee, paced the house for a total of eighteen-hundred steps, tried on three press conference outfits, bought new makeup on Amazon, ate two tubs of double fudge, rearranged the living room furniture, and re-watched my recommendation for execution. The murder case was straight forward and easy to prosecute. Yes, I was confident—more confident than I had been on my other capital cases—of the defendant’s guilt. Hell at sentencing, I pushed Judge Marvis for ...

23 likes 9 comments 9
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Just a Random Rant

Submitted to Contest #123

Dear Surgeon General Admiral Murthy, Reflecting upon recent events I feel the need to react to an article that was posted this morning in the Los Angeles Times. Or is it Las Angeles? I can never remember. Whatever. That’s not the point. The point is WTF. When is enough enough. The surgeon general is now warning of an “emerging” mental health crisis in our youth? You are seriously, just today, warning that there is a crisis that may or may not be starting in our young children. Are you joking? Do you think you are calling attention to this ...

22 likes 37 comments 37
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Assemble

Submitted to Contest #123

“Well, that was dramatic,” he thought. Here he was, in the middle of a winter wonderland with very little understanding of the language of this country in a car that just failed him as the day turned to night. Michael had been in the country for just under a week and had met all of his contacts except one, and he had been on his way to speak to the last one that very afternoon. He had noted how quickly the darkness settled after 4 pm, but he thought that he would have made it. Michael also thought that the car borrowed from the rental agency...

21 likes 2 comments 2
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Well, that was dramatic

Submitted to Contest #123

Well, that was dramatic!!! It all started a few years ago. One rainy bleak night I was waiting for some guests to arrive from Melbourne. They kept getting lost. I was getting anxious, so I went onto facebook to distract myself while I waited. I saw quite a funny but misogynistic joke and left some sharp comment. Immediately, some man answered. He answered quite kindly but I was irritated remember so I replied sharply.  He was still quite kind in his reply. So, I calmed down and started to chat to him. We found we were quite compatible...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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Greek Philosophers Help Launch New Venture

Submitted to Contest #123

A discussion at a dinner table ten years ago with my then girlfriend Charlotte and her father Jack changed my life. My ability to think on my feet was being tested that night. Luckily, I had ample support from the Greek philosophers in this contest and passed with flying colors. You need to know that I was an assistant professor of ancient philosophy at that time and teaching a course on this topic for undergraduates. I had met Charlotte when she signed up for my course during her senior year, perhaps on a whim. She seated herself in the fro...

17 likes 10 comments 10
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Along Came Sally

Submitted to Contest #123

As was usual on a Tuesday night, William had stayed behind in the cafe after closing time to sort through the leftover croissants and tarts. He yawned as he took one of the last trays out of the display cabinet, carrying it around the register and placing it on one of the last free tables.Every week, an hour after closing, Will opened the doors of his cafe to the homeless.He glanced up at the clock and saw that he had only a few minutes until the first of these needy people would turn up at the door. Once the door was propped open with the s...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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Chase The Aurora

Submitted to Contest #123

“Well, that was dramatic, Jesus!” Simon remarks.As he watches my dog Parker, trip and tumble down the stairs like an out of control avalanche, in excitement to see him, walk through the front door. “Oh fantastic your here! Are the others ready?? I ask.Let’s go!“Yes there all outside, Jennifer don’t forget your camera!” Simon shouts to me.“Okay, I’m just looking for my old lenses!” God dam it! The mess of which I call my bedroom, has now come back to haunt me!How do I manage to lose everything, in five minutes?!?“Ah I found them!” I shou...

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Burn the Truth

Submitted to Contest #123

Trigger Warning: Fire, under-aged alcohol use, car accident “Well, that was dramatic,” Charlotte said to herself, staring at the burning cabin in front of her. The cabin was engorged by flames, the heat radiating off of it. You could only see the structure of what used to be the biggest cabin in Devinsville.  2 day earlier  Charlotte, Chloe, and Avery are all waiting for Paisley to get out of volleyball. There in the school parking lot in Avery’s brand new cherry red 2010 BMW. Charlotte brought up that she had a party tonight tha...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Shade of Red

Submitted to Contest #123

There were many things that ran through her mind as she and her mother moved back into Kyoto. ‘Would her friends be alright without her? What would happen if another gang war happened? What what if-’ She was then knocked from her quickly panicky thoughts to her mother. “Tsu-chan~ What do you think about the house?” Her mother asked.  ‘Tsu-chan’ was the nickname Yamada Kyoko called her daughter. Kyoko wore her hair in a loose ponytail that was tied a few inches before the tips. Making her Waist long hair have an elegance to her. She ...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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Sugar Plums and Ruptured Eardrums

Submitted to Contest #123

Riley's heart was pounding, and she could feel the blood rushing to her ears. This was her moment. She knew the second she stepped onto that stage, the trajectory of her life would change forever. It was her who was the Snow Queen, not Michelle, not Veronica, no one else but her. Tonight, the twenty-eight-year-old would show the whole world her worth at the Ballet Center for Wayward Teens.  In the audience, a man sat, waiting for the show to begin. His name isn’t important, but for the sake of storytelling, it was Manuel. Manuel, despi...

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Okay, okay, okay.

Submitted to Contest #123

“Okay, okay, okay. How do I put this, how do I – this world, am I right? I am right, I am. Though you must think me far from sane, pacing like this right in front of you, of that I’m certain as well, but I can’t very well help it, because there’s so much I need to – okay, okay, okay, so. I should probably start again, shouldn’t I? I should. I will.             You know how sometimes the light hits a tiniest bit different than usual, maybe it’s just rained, and the grass has sud...

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Earnest

Submitted to Contest #123

Earnest There was a loud knock on the door. It was not the postman, as it was night, and he always used the bell. The footman was out, so I opened the door myself and saw no one. I looked right and left to check whether some urchins were playing 'knock down Ginger' and almost tripped down the five stairs to the pavement, over a black leather handbag. I recognised it immediately and didn't need to go to Victoria Station to find it. It had been delivered. I daren't open it for fear what might be inside. But I already had an awful inkling and...

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