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Start or end your story with a character asking a question.

Posted in Dialogue on Dec 6, 2024

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✍️ 72 stories

Without Question

Submitted to Contest #280

14 December 2024My Sweet Princess Beatrice,Firstly, Daddy must apologise if I can’t answer your question about Moana speaking in Tahitian. You know that even if I’m all grown up, have navigated the sometimes-murky crests and troughs of life for longer than you have, there are little mind-bending queries I can’t respond to. As you will know, the more we shoot up towards a clear, cerulean sky, the more we reach our arms only to snag on even more curiosities, more puzzles, more uncertainties. I hope you could forgive me.All of that’s a long way...

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The Winged Serpent of the Pyramids - Voyages of the Destiny's Dreams

Submitted to Contest #280

“Yaretzi, what is the green winged serpent carving that you wear on the string around your neck?”The child called Citlali, meaning “Star,” looked at Yaretzi, whose name meant “You will always be loved.”Citlali’s face was lit with curiosity.Their group of family and friends were a peaceful community, wandering the ocean shores, mountains, and forests.The nomadic group still told the story of the rebel from the pyramid. Quauhtli the Eagle, led them away from the pyramid and its warlike people.They lived on the tropical west coast of the long b...

39 likes 18 comments 18
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The Goose

Submitted to Contest #280

“Do I look nice?”She pulls down the front of her dress. When she purchased it, it fit like a dream. Those changing rooms seemed to exist in another universe. Everything was perfect, and then, once home, defects appeared. Love wasn’t trying to show too much cleavage, but she also didn’t want to look like a cloistered nun. Carter was laying on the bed, not dressed yet, on his phone like always. She walked over and pulled the dress down again hoping to catch his attention.“Carter?”“Mmm?”“Your girlfriend is asking you if she looks nice.”He peere...

38 likes 22 comments 22
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The Christmas Wish

Submitted to Contest #280

The Christmas Wish“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.”-Francis Pharcellus Church; The New York Sun.December 24th. Last-minute shoppers were scurrying everywhere in search of the perfect gift or, for many, any gift that would fulfill their obligation to bestow a sufficient number of presents on their spouses, children, nieces, nephews, and neighbors. One little girl stood out in the crowd.“Virginia, what are you going to tell Santa you want for Christmas?”There was a look of sadness in the little girl’s dark brown eyes, a marked contrast...

26 likes 7 comments 7
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Social Media: Vapidity Solved

Submitted to Contest #280

“What was that, Dad?” I asked as we were led to our table.“I said that it wasn’t like this in my day,” Dad grumbled as he removed his coat. “They’re everywhere you bloody look. People see the world through a screen nowadays, and I don’t care what anyone says. It’s not right.” Dad nodded his thanks to the waitress who had pulled out his chair.I glanced around but found I couldn’t disagree. The homey restaurant was full of people staring down at their laps. “I guess you're right.”I slid into my seat and relaxed, glad of the restaurant’s warmth...

20 likes 10 comments 10
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Last Christmas Forever

Submitted to Contest #280

*** A follow-up to Talk of The Devil. Some mild language and sexual references ***What’s that?What’s what?There, in the window. That big, narrow banner thing with those weird looking symbols all lit up. Didn’t think Starbucks had gone all Chinese.Oh, Evelyn, what are you like? It’s the sign on the side of the Drive Thru reflected.Oh – what? Ord…r… he…? Well, you’d think they’d at least include all the letters and turn them the right way around.Yeah, look funny like that, don’t they? More Korean, I’d say.Well – Chinese, Korean, Greek, who kno...

18 likes 4 comments 4
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The Chat

Submitted to Contest #280

“At the end of the day,” I look out over the vibrant, green valley and I take it all in. I read the landscape and I listen to it. I feel it within me, and not for the first time I wonder whether it is real, or just something my unconscious projects before me in order to make this life bearable, “it’s a beautiful world.” I sit in the noisy silence of the hilltop and allow myself just to be. The rest of the words spill out of me with my next exhalation, “at the beginning of the day, it’s also a beautiful world. Trouble is, we busy ourselves to...

16 likes 11 comments 11
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What I Did Before My Summer Vacation

Submitted to Contest #280

Was it all my fault? I saw her arm rise, bent and coming up fast, with the fingers tight in what looked like a claw more than a fist and her face was beyond tense. Like she knew what she had to do. I was happy about that because I thought that I deserved whatever she had to dish out, since I had been a dumbass for most of the year. She was only responding with anger to my mistakes, doing what I may have done (shoe and the other foot). At least we dated.          &nbsp...

15 likes 9 comments 9
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"Turning Back Time for Christmas"

Submitted to Contest #280

The golden light of a late Christmas Eve afternoon spilled through the frosted windows of Santa’s workshop. Inside, the air buzzed with the hum of machinery and the bustling movements of elves. Tiny hands-wrapped gifts, tested toys, and added the final magical touches. The scents of peppermint, freshly cut wood, and cinnamon mingled in the air, creating a symphony of holiday cheer. Santa Claus entered, his boots clicking softly on the polished wooden floor. His crimson coat sparkled faintly as his sharp blue eyes scanned the room. Everything...

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A Tale to Tell

Submitted to Contest #280

”Is anyone sitting here?” Harriet looked up at the older woman standing at the other end of the bench. “No, not that I can see,” she responded, thinking to herself ‘does it look like anyone’s sitting there?’  Her day had been hectic and she desperately wanted to get home. The woman sat down, fussing her fur coat around her, and shifting her ample bosom into place.  “I hear the train to Foschester is delayed, how bothersome.” “Yes, it is, I’m not sure what’s happening,” Harriet glanced at the woman and then resumed her gaze on the d...

13 likes 3 comments 3
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Greedy Pig

Submitted to Contest #280

Greedy PigBy Nicole Ney**Warning this story contains strong graphic language and strong violence, discretion is advised* This story is a work of fiction** 8 minutes. That’s all it took. He was almost 200 lbs, maybe 5’10”, 5’11” and 8 mins was all it took for the pigs to devour him. Bones, teeth, every last bit was gone. He only exists in pig shit now. I couldn’t believe it. I’m half his size, I thought, as a shiver went down my spine. Tom was a gambler, a gambler who owed Jerry money, but gambled it away, as greedy little pigs do. This is ho...

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The Goblin Lives In Their House

Submitted to Contest #280

 “Did you boys hear that?” Papaw asked. It was only the four of us that Friday night: My grandparents, my brother, and me. I was ten years old and my brother Davey was seven. We sat on a rug in front of the fireplace. My parents had went out of town for the weekend and left us with our paternal grandparents at their rambling old farmhouse out on Possum Ridge. It was mid October and a great night to sit by the fireplace. Papaw had built a fire and the record player was playing in the living room. The record was the Happy Goodman Family. ...

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Skull Smashers

Submitted to Contest #280

“What big mysteries will pop out of the woods in this sleepy burg this morning into my adventure-filled life? Police Chief Arley Socket asked sarcastically, as he slowly sipped his second cup of black coffee in Joe’s Cafe, ready for another eventless day in the tiny backwater of Jericho, Arkansas.             “Will gas cans mysteriously disappear from Harley Johnsonian’s garage or can I expect a call from that crotchety Mrs. Mumford in a panic because her cat Paulie has climbed...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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"There Was Something in the Wash." #ReedsyTalk

Submitted to Contest #280

Trigger Warning: This short story contains some Mild Language, and Suspense.There Was Something in the Wash      Today, something went wrong. Horribly wrong, and butterflies filled Gracie’s stomach as she approached her boss. Gracie was pale skinned, and red-headed. Absolutely beautiful from every angle. One would think she was rich from her appearance, but she wasn’t.           “What is it?” said her boss.        &nbs...

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Obits

Submitted to Contest #280

(CONTENT WARNING: Death and Language)Obits“Nary a one?”           My editor didn’t rise from his battered, faux-leather seat. He didn’t even bother taking his feet off his desk. Hell, he didn’t even raise his voice. Didn’t yell or scream the way my old Army sergeants would.           He sat there, leaning back in his baby-shit green chair, his feet clad in a pair of knock-off penny loafers he’d obviously picked up at Wally World or T...

10 likes 9 comments 9
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