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Write a story that includes the question “Have we met before?”, “Who are you?”, or “Are you real?”

Posted in Dialogue on Dec 26, 2025

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✍️ 11 stories

The Archangel

Submitted to Contest #335

“Who are you?” Taken aback by the stranger in my shared office, I was a bit brusque.“I’m Lily Smith; you must be John Smith. I started last week while you were still in Bali. I guess we’re office mates. I’m looking forward to working with you; I’m sure you’ll like my ways. I heard about you before I even came here.”“Cool! Funny, no relation, I’m sure. I didn’t mean to sound rude; I was just surprised. I’ve been in this office by myself for a few months and didn’t expect anyone. And thanks.“So, how are you? How’s the job so far? And...

10 likes

Canary

Ki Stone

Submitted to Contest #335

Snap. Alex awoke with a jolt and a deep groan as pain nicked at the twisted knot in his neck; the result of sleeping, curled awkwardly in the front seat of his Audi hatchback. He soothed a hand over the stiff muscle, listening enviously to the effortless giggle that sounded as sweet as sugar, and melted just as easily into the spring air. Without having to open his eyes, Alex could tell it wasn’t quite dawn; sighing, he ran his hand through the mess of sandy coloured hair and wondered absent mindedly over who had been messing with his winds...

7 likes

MEETING BEETHOVEN

BRUCE MARTIN

Submitted to Contest #335

The Silence Between Seconds Dr. Helena Arendt had always believed that time was less a river and more a lattice. She envisioned threads stretching in every direction, waiting for the right resonance to pry them open. After thirty years of theoretical physics, collaboration with the most brilliant minds, many sleepless nights, and one miraculous breakthrough involving quantum-entangled chronons, she finally had a machine that could do it. The device was quite large but its appearance was misleadingly simple. It consisted of a dark, vault-like...

7 likes

SNOW-GLOBES and MOONBOWS

Elizabeth Hoban

Submitted to Contest #335

SNOW-GLOBES and MOONBOWS The day after Christmas, snow fell in the Northeast like it had a purpose. It came thick and fast, nearly erasing Bethlehem’s grimy steel mill’s lofty smokestacks, and blanketing the surrounding row houses into something gentler, quieter. Inside the Miller home, 6-year-old Noah stood on a chair staring through the ice-sequined kitchen window. Snow was stacked against doors, burying parked cars to their side-mirrors. The early morning glow of streetlamps blurred into soft, trembling halos. Noah watched his father make...

7 likes

Where I Went When I Looked Too Long

Rah Sol

Submitted to Contest #335

Raven sat in front of the vanity like it was an altar she’d forgotten how to use. Dim light pooled in the corners of her room, turning familiar objects into silhouettes: a glass of water, a hair tie, a chipped mug holding pens that never wrote when it mattered. The mirror was clean, too clean. so clean it didn’t feel like it belonged to her. It reflected her face with an honesty that had no warmth in it. She leaned closer. Her eyes looked back like they were waiting for instructions. For a long time she only watched herself breathe, as if br...

5 likes

First Love

Jay Madison

Submitted to Contest #335

There isn’t snow anymore, not in the small town I grew up in. A small town that used to be piled so high with snow that the cows could walk over the fences and it was called an automatic snow day. I missed the snow, how bright it made the world with its reflective qualities, and I missed the feeling of holidays. Now the world was dark and muddy, reminding me that I just wasn’t a little kid anymore. I mean, I haven’t been a little kid in a long time considering that I’m settling into my first year of college, feeling too mature among the oth...

5 likes

Flight 257

Submitted to Contest #335

Flight 257 It wasn’t unusual for dense fog to linger at this airstrip. The location provided the right seasonal atmosphere for such a haze. What was strange, it was positioned above Lindsay’s flight without moving. Lindsay Monarch, an aspiring author, landed a major book deal with Vanning Publishing in New York City, promising a five-figure advance. Her eight years of hard work were a flight away from stardom. The thick fog might cause a delay. As she walked to the plane for boarding, a hoodie covered her sandy-colored hair, hiding her ponyt...

4 likes

A Mark

Submitted to Contest #335

She loved herself first. Not always in a loud way. And not in an extreme way, but in the quiet way you love a place you finally know how to live comfortably inside. She woke around seven each morning. She made decaffeinated coffee with a spoonful of cacao, and it was strong enough to hold her steady. She unlocked the door to her shop and let the gold-lettered open sign greet people before she did. People thought she sold sweets, but really she kept watch over moments that unfolded over sweets. And her heart would not have it any other way. L...

4 likes

Misthrown

Submitted to Contest #335

Through unfocused eyes, Sophia stared at the blurry face of her target. Slowly pushing the held breath out of her lungs, she allowed her vision to sharpen, the small red dot becoming the sole purpose of her vision. Her next steps were ritualistic: drawing back her arm, catapulting it forward, releasing. Yet, she stumbled forward, oddly off balance, as the dart flew through the air, its trajectory anything but straight. With a too loud clang, it hit the thin metal frame and ricocheted off the board and into the vast array of potted plants wa...

3 likes

Long lost

Ly'Ric Braud

Submitted to Contest #335

Samantha was a forty‑one‑year‑old career woman, a loving wife, and the mother of six children. Her two oldest daughters, Sarah and Caitlyn, were born while she and her husband, Jeremiah, were still in college. But almost sixteen years ago, their lives shattered when the girls were kidnapped during a carjacking. Sarah was eight. Caitlyn was five.The trauma nearly destroyed them.For five years, Samantha and Jeremiah searched relentlessly, chasing leads, clinging to hope, and reliving the pain every single day—until they made the heartbreaking ...

2 likes

Lipstick Girl

Shannon Lea

Submitted to Contest #335

Lipstick Girl It is funny what cancer does to those it leaves behind. Mom and I spent two years so worried about how and when dad would die we forgot how to live. When it kills, cancer takes more than just one body, just one soul. So as I stood, trying to run out for routine team warmups, for a perfectly meaningless exhibition game, on a perfectly meaningless Friday afternoon, it was like I had forgotten how to breathe. For the first time ever, my Dad wasn’t in the stands. I would not be able to ground myself in his familiar gaze. And so not...

1 like

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