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#152 Miracles and Oracles

We have little control over what happens to us, though there’s nothing more human than trying to micro-manage what will come next. This week, I want us to think about both the expected, and the unexpected; times when life throws positive twists at us — miracles, some might call them — or times when we try to predict those turns, for better or worse.

🥇 Winner

Foretold in Smoke

Winner of Weekly Contest #152 🏆

Content Warning: Mild foul languageMarie S. 5/5 Stars Vivienne is incredible! My life has completely changed since my visit. It’s like a light came on and she’s somehow unlocked all this hidden potential. She’s the best, seriously just go. Call today!Bradley J. 5/5Worth every penny. Highly recommend.Kevin R. 5/5 StarsI never thought I’d come to a place like this, but when I was at an all-time low, I just needed someone to tell me if life was worth sticking around for. I wanted to know if it ever got better. Vivienne made me believe that it w...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

This week's prompts

Write a story in which a miracle happens — or everyone thinks it did.

– 44 stories

Start your story with a character saying “I can see it now.”

– 36 stories

Write about a character whose life changes for the better.

– 47 stories

Set your story in an oracle or a fortune teller’s parlor.

– 65 stories

Write a story about someone whose job is to make miracles happen, literally or figuratively.

– 41 stories

Stories

Meant for each other

Weekly Contest #152

Magic was dying. That one idea haunted Yashmar, no matter what he did.  Sitting in the half-empty hall, he tried to focus on the lecture, as the professor skipped through the presentation slides. His mind was elsewhere, though.  Spring had just started. The one time in a year when the looming death of everything he knew seemed less threatening. With nature coming back to life, his heart saw a spark of hope, as the power inside him blossomed together with the flowers.  But even spring couldn’t save his people. Magical races...

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Hinges of Destiny

Weekly Contest #152

“Choices are the hinges of destiny.” PythagorasThis is a story of two women, one my mother, Cathy, and one whose name is unknown, so I will call her Mary. Dr. Rosner played a significant role in both of these women’s lives. Cathy’s story is true; however, Mary’s story is mostly speculation.1975 - Not long after she and Bill decided they were ready to become parents, Cathy felt the changes in her body. Cathy wrote in her journal, “Today is the first confirmed day. About two hours ago the doctor informed me that I’m pregnant.”1971 - A wom...

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The Symptom They Never Told You About

Weekly Contest #152

“You’re absolutely glowing!” “Have you felt him kick yet?” “Lookin’ good momma!” I shudder as I look into the mirror. I try to put the words others have said on top of the image I see in the mirror, but they just won’t fit. I think of the more intimate words of my husband. “I love your body.” “You’re beautiful.” “I love you. All of you.” I try those phrases out, but they all fall short as well. I then land on the two statements I have heard the most and hate the most. “You don’t look pregnant!” “Look at that beautiful baby belly!” ...

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The Sleeper

Weekly Contest #152

Some people are particularly smart, or handsome, or witty. Harold Anders wasn’t particularly anything except particularly bored. He loathed silly parties where everyone talked about themselves and nobody ever really listened, unless there was some titillating nasty news about the deviant behavior of so and so, and who would have ever believed Sharon was such a whore. No, he preferred to stay at home and fall asleep watching reruns of the Andy Griffith show or Bass Masters. I guess you could say that Harold was particularly good at sleeping,...

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The Light In the End of the Tunnel

Weekly Contest #152

Miranda groped her way along the cold wall of the cave, ignoring the fresh nicks and scrapes gifted her by the sharp gravel beneath her feet. They were, after all, nothing compared to the hunger. The sun didn’t shine down here in the bowels of the earth, but she knew, she knew days had passed. Days and days and days. Enough days that she’d begun thinking it might’ve even been weeks, months, years. How long could a person last without food, anyway? She knew so many other things—things that had qualified her to join up as a “valued team memb...

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The Great Madame Espy Der

Weekly Contest #152

The fortune teller’s parlor hadn’t looked this creepy from the outside. Sure, the light on the tacky, pink—The Great Madame Espy Der—neon sign had been sputtering and shooting out some dangerous looking sparks and the layer of dust on the windows had been so thick that I could have created 3-D drawings with it, but the inside was worse.  The attendant who’d greeted me wore a mold-colored hooded cloak that completely covered her body and shrouded her face. She’d led me down a dimly lit corridor and plopped me onto a rickety chair in fro...

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THE ORACLE’S PARLOR, Or The Time When a Bunch of Characters From Other Stories Met By Accident

Weekly Contest #152

Oisyphrix the Outlasting - not to be confused with Oisyphrus the Decaying, or Isyphrix the Temptress - sat in her parlor in a hidden location accessible only through three carefully hidden entries - a magical doorway, a magical tapestry, and a stairway from the cellar of The Blinking Corpse Tavern down the street from the old Money Changer’s Guild in the city of Ithrasca. That last thing is the way that most people find her. But not this time. Across from Oisyphrix stood a small, mysterious figure in plain brown robes. Sethoralas was an elf ...

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The Fatal Hand Reading by Madame Desiree

Weekly Contest #152

The skin of my palm tickled as the elderly lady sitting across from me gently stroked my hand with her callused fingers. “Let me see.”, she said. Her voice sounded as rough as her hands felt. I looked at her looking at my palms. My left one. Because it’s closer to the heart she had told me earlier. I sat at the edge of my seat, waiting for her to say something. Part of me felt sceptical about the whole thing. Letting some random woman read my hand? The old me would have laughed. Ridiculous. Nothing but a scam. Did I really turn into one ...

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The Lost Art of Listening

Weekly Contest #152

“Are you sure you want to go out on this trail? We’ve had trouble with bears in the past.” The girl behind the desk peered at me behind her curtain of hair. I patted my overflowing pack. “I’m all set. I hear this peak is the one to climb; the most spectacular views of the valley.” The girl paused, then leaned forward. “It is nice, but a bear attack is no joke. I can point you towards some others trails, with equally nice views. This one passes through a wildflower meadow …” I waved a hand to interrupt her as she brought out trail brochures. ...

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Too Much TV Is Bad For Your Health

Weekly Contest #152

Agatha's fingers hesitated, her hand hovering like it was trying to sense some unseen force, a vibration, maybe a temperature difference, slightly warmer, slightly cooler than it should be? She held her breath and closed her eyes allowing her senses to close ranks and focus solely on touch. Nothing.She opened her eyes and let her breath escape. There was no astral message coming through the technology in her hand, no great sign from the universe to tell her this was the right course of action. She sighed and stabbed the numbers from the...

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A Modest Fortune Told

Weekly Contest #152

The Committee To Save The World(CTOSTW- pronounced sea toast W) met on the ship furthest from any landed area. A computer had been used to find the perfect spot. Every ounce of science and every ounce of intuition needed to be used. There must be a revolution now or there would be no more nows. The governments and their peoples were desperate. Only guesses had been made about how to do it, how to save the world.Each member of the committee had been chosen for their expertise. Klaus’s expertise in Climate change, Renke in languages, Stompf in...

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Ensuing Fortune

Weekly Contest #152

Ensuing Fortune Here we were at PPF (past, present, future) revelations. Okay, it was basically just another fortune teller’s parlor. Why and how did we end up here, you ask? Well... It was our night out. There are four of us. We’re all nurses, working at the same hospital. Once a month we enjoy one evening of freedom from our husbands, kids, responsibilities. We meet at a designated restaurant or diner, have a meal prepared by someone other than us, then whatever stirs our interest will be next on the agenda. I’m Freida. I’m middle-age...

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The Drawing of a Miracle

Weekly Contest #152

"You know what is this, dad?" Amnious looked at me, putting her drawing on my desk. I left my book aside and moved my focus on her drawing. For a moment, I could only see bright colors, blue, yellow, orange, green, and white but in the middle, there were darker colors that made you think that they were all dark black but which were lighter in the sun's light. There was also an unrecognizable figure in the middle which left me wandering what it was.   "I have no idea what this is, sweetheart" She looked at me and then began ex...

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Call Me Raven

Weekly Contest #152

King Toliver Nesbitt flashes his million-dollar caps and wiggles his bushy eyebrows at Chancellor Manville Dubois, a sure sign the monarch will try to coerce Manville into doing the impossible. “I’m looking forward to seeing Queen Esther,” King Toliver says. “How is the queen feeling these days?” Manville asks. Distinguished, yet unassuming, Chancellor Dubois’s lanky build, fluffy brown hair, and glasses make him look more like a college professor than Andorra’s most accomplished diplomat. “She’s fragile. I can’t thank you enough for co...

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A Patient Miracle

Weekly Contest #152

The first time Nick saw the sign he was cycling, on his way to a job. Only a minor miracle – bringing a pet goldfish back to life, a failing grade converted to a pass, an ill-judged text unsent – he couldn’t remember the details. Just another £10 gig, scarcely worth the time it took to ride there, once the GOD app took its cut. He used to think it sounded cool: Miracle Worker, employed by Global Optate Deliveries, GOD for short. Then, of course, it turned out he wasn’t really employed by GOD, only subcontracted to them; and as well as taking...

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