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Start or end your story with someone saying, “We have all the time in the world.”

Posted in Dialogue on Jan 19, 2024

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✍️ 67 stories

Gift of the Marge-i

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world, Tom. Well, at least forty-five minutes. Anyways, we’ll be in and out before anyone even knows we were here.” “But why are we breaking into a cop shop, Eric?” “Coz, it’s between shift’s, Tom. It’s only been open a couple of weeks on the high street, and still understaffed.” “That don’t answer why we’re breaking into the cop shop.” “Tom, breaking-in infers smashing a window or kicking in a door. We are not breaking in. We are simply entering of our own volition.” “Volition?” “On our own accord, mate.” “But w...

33 likes 15 comments 15
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The Assignment

Submitted to Contest #234

TW: Mention of death, suicide“Diana Sétte, please proceed to the Rose Hall your job interview.”Diana stood up and followed the instructions of the melodious voice coming out of the intercom system. With each step, she noticed how light she was on her feet; it was as if she floated on air. Back out there --- Earth, all she’d known was weight. The heavy sensation of a bullet piercing her heart and taking her to the grandiose hall she was now walking in was but the last in a series of crushing weights she felt throughout her life. Perhaps, the ...

31 likes 31 comments 31
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An Emissary from the Death Café

Submitted to Contest #234

The Methuselah microbes buried in the Russian permafrost broke through the thawing soil like zombies rising from the dead. Only rather than arms reaching from earthen tombs and stretching bony fingers in a horrific gesture, they simply floated up into the dry Eurasian air off the shores of Lake Baikal on the Continental Ridge that divides Russia and Mongolia.And for the first time in a hundred thousand years, these apex predators were carried over the frozen plains to enjoy dominion over their world. The Baikal seals and the Mongolian gulls ...

27 likes 23 comments 23
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My Love Letter to Hiroshima

Submitted to Contest #234

Trigger warning: contains representations of sexual and physical violence Time seems to stand still at Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Dome. Every morning at 8:17, I pass it for just one second on the train, but it feels like a lifetime. The structure is eerily beautiful and tourists flock around it all year, but all I can imagine are the rotting flesh on living people and the gaping mouths of dying children — humanity at its lowest. There are times I feel guilty for caring so much about the people of Hiroshima. “They deserved it” is what ...

22 likes 11 comments 11
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Before tomorrow starts but after today ends.

Submitted to Contest #234

As the noises of the afternoon began to unfold, a diverse collection of humanity converged upon this urban canvas. A multitude of souls that could never be counted for their worth. Several scents wafted through the air: the tantalizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee and delicate fragrance being sold of roadside flowers mingled with underlying bitterness that every city seemed to have. Perhaps it's because of the quiet cafes tucked away in cobblestone where patrons find solace amongst moments of reflection, accompanied by the wisp of smoke cu...

20 likes 0 comments 0
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1864 Arkansas

Submitted to Contest #234

1864 ArkansasEllen was awoken by the sound of her husband John's voice, coming up the stairs in a hushed but angry tone.“It don't mean nothing, Sarah. You'll still stay here with us. Think of us as your keepers more than your owners,” John said.“I've been hearing stories, Mister Addison, that’s all,” said Sarah.“That's just what they are, Sarah, stories. Pay no mind to them. You keep on with your work, and I'll worry about keeping this house over our heads, you hear?” John said in a tone that meant the conversation was over.Ellen got up in a...

12 likes 5 comments 5
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Only a Fragment of Time in the World

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world,” Caleb whispered those sweet words against my neck during our last moments together. I dangle my legs down over the side of the porch swing, my eyes looking down at the rotting boards below me. I give a gentle push on the ball of my foot against the floor and provoke the swing to sway me. I pull my legs to my chest and cradle myself in the rocking, like a frightened child needing safety and comfort. The pressure within my heart releases through the tears that flow down my cheeks and stop upon my neck. My...

12 likes 2 comments 2
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Realization...what a Concept

Submitted to Contest #234

REALIZATION, what a Concept. It is a bit difficult to put an exact time, or even a date, on when it all started, it is not really important anyway. Once I tell you the full story you will have some understanding of why it is suffice to say time matters very little to me now. In actual fact I truly do have all the time in this, or any other world. First let me explain how an unusual medical problem is totally to blame for my current situation. According to my local medico, Dr Crow, if I do not have the blockage, which is stopping blood ge...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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Mirror Image

Submitted to Contest #234

Hope felt good in her sensible blank pumps. Their 2-inch heel gave her a graceful lift without torturing her feet. Her slim-fitting black pants showed off her shapely legs, while her blue flared shirt hid the slight bulge in her middle-aged belly.             She pushed aside the discarded dresses and tops that were strewn across her bed. She had practically emptied her whole closet searching for the perfect outfit. But doesn’t every woman scour their closet before she goes out for ...

11 likes 6 comments 6
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Kokura Luck

Submitted to Contest #234

It was 10:28 am local time, Kokura. Grandfather reached up with ancient, gnarled fingers to brush Yukina’s dark hair out of her eyes, saying, “It will be alright, little flower.” He flashed a loving smile and pulled his handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit coat to wipe her eyes dry. He was crouched, kneeling before her as he offered her the little white square of cloth, “Shall we blow our noses?” Playfully putting the cloth against his own face, he made a great trumpeting noise to get her to giggle as he had done uncountable times...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Something Real

Submitted to Contest #234

CONTENT WARNINGS: Physical and Sexual Violence; Brief Description of Gore; Sexual Content“We have all the time in the world. I don’t care if this takes all night, if that’s what you need,” Lily said slowly from a chair next to the bed.Josh continued to pull at his restraints. “You can keep me here as long as you want, but I’m never going to know what you’re talking about. I don’t know how many more ways I can say you’re making a mistake.”Lily smiled. “Oh, don’t be like that. I promise I’m a good listener. I just want to hear your side of the...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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War Time

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world!” said the salesperson as he glowed, his bald head glistening as his hands expanded.All over the counter, the watches sprawled and jostled in their cases, the cream-colored one tipping so near me that if I caught it, I thought I should be allowed to keep it. If only my father would let me. Which he never did.“This one,” my dad said.Black. With a plastic face and rubber strap. No kid had a watch like that at school. Least of all me, or so I hoped.“I don’t like it,” I said as loud as I dared.“I’m tired,” my m...

11 likes 4 comments 4
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My Dad's Best Friend

Submitted to Contest #234

        It’s been a long drive so far. I was pretty excited when I was told my dad was taking me on a trip to see my Aunt Lindsey; I hadn’t seen her in a few years. My dad was excited too at first, but as we get closer to Aunt Lindsey’s I can see that he’s getting more and more… I don’t know, sad? I don’t think that’s the right word for it, but there’s definitely something there that’s growing with every passing mile.               &...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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The Death of Appearances

Submitted to Contest #234

“We have all the time in the world,” Zelda said, reaching across the space betwixt herself and her fiancé. She lovingly caressed his forearm in an attempt to assure that his despondency was due to nothing more than the gloomy weather that filled the streets of Paris that rainy day.“We have all the time in the world to go all the places and see all the things your heart desires, Jacques. In a month we’ll be married and living together right here in this lovely Parisian apartment. Life is young. We are on the precipice of so many possibilities...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Purple Fringed Purse

Submitted to Contest #234

"Mom! I'm a grown man," I said, strangling my cell phone. "I don't need any help scheduling my life.""I know, son. I'm just trying to suggest maybe you don't have enough time to go fishing today. You're flying out to visit your sister in three hours. She'll be very disappointed if you miss your flight.""I'm not going fishing. I’m just going to go down to the river and test out this new lure I bought to make sure it works like it should. It will only take me fifteen minutes, thirty tops.""Son, you live fifteen minutes from the river. It'll ta...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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