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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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✍️ 69 stories

The Ink that Binds Us

Submitted to Contest #335

Annalise searched through her massive walk-in closet, trying to find a presentable outfit to wear. What does one wear to a ‘casual’ dinner with the president? She wondered. Just as Annalise was trying to choose between a red dress or a blue one she noticed something that hadn’t been there before. A small, brown package lay on the floor. Across it read:TO THE DAUGHTER OF PETER ALSTON. How strange, her father had never given her anything other than brain challenges. Annalise often assumed that she and her mother were just there to make her fa...

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Are You Real, Warden?

Submitted to Contest #335

Korax first noticed the man because Apollo refused to step forward.The horse did not rear or shy. He simply stopped on the mountain pass, one forehoof lifted, ears angled toward the Shattered Marches forward and below, where life grew thin and the Orc Realm never quite settled.Korax followed Apollo’s gaze.The man stood between two mountain spruces, hands visible, posture calm in the way of someone who had never been surprised by danger. He wore a coat too light for the cold. No breath showed when he exhaled.Korax did not draw his sword.“Move...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Three Minutes of Freedom

Submitted to Contest #335

Ten minutes to noon, until our precious three minutes of privacy. It's the only time the Protectorate closes their eyes... and I've yet to decide how to spend it.The air in the mailroom is thick and stagnant, only intensified by the suffocating black prison jumpsuits we have to wear. The elastic of the jumpsuit, cinches tight at my wrists and ankles, trapping every ounce of sweat and clings to my damp skin.THUD.A large packet drops in front of me from the mail chute, pulling me from my heat-induced stupor. With a deep breath and my remaining...

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Ornaments of Grace

Submitted to Contest #335

ORNAMENTS OF GRACE Introduction The train slowed as it pulled into the small station, its whistle echoing across frosted fields, its brakes sighing like a weary traveler. Clara pressed her forehead against the cold glass and wondered to herself if she had made the right decision. Should she have gone home? But how could she? She would be a disgrace to her father! However, the consequences of a life with her new husband absolutely terrified her. Clara did not know what she was doing, or why she had chosen Pittsburg, Texas, as her destination,...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Silent Night

Submitted to Contest #335

Silent Night Emma awoke with a start, hot and in the dark. Her mouth is dry, and there’s an ache in her neck. Her heart is racing. She tries to sit up, but something moves with her, blocking her. It feels like plastic and makes a crinkling sound when she stretches her arms out. She tries to find a way to escape whatever has her trapped, but she can’t find an opening. Underneath her, the surface is flat and hard. There’s a gentle hum and swaying, like riding in car. Her brain is foggy. She strains her memory trying to recall what happened. ...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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The Ferryman

Submitted to Contest #335

The Ferryman stood upon his golden-pearl boat, watching the worn, shimmering path that led to his riverbanks.The path wound through tall, whispering willows whose roots stretched down and drank deeply from the river, their glistening silver and emerald green tendrils shimmering with the waters of both forgetting and remembering. It was through the trees and along this path that the memories began shed, returning to the river to be seen by the souls once more before they vanished as if they had never been.The waters of the river itself were m...

9 likes 6 comments 6
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Not Yet

Submitted to Contest #335

The train moves forward, steady and calm.I watch the passengers with distant interest. The woman across from me wears a coat with sharp shoulder pads, the kind from old photographs. Beside her, a man scrolls through a phone that's too thick, too blue. Two seats down, someone reads a newspaper dated three weeks from now.I observe these things the way you might observe clouds. Curious. Unbothered.The routine protects me. I track stops. I read signage. The train moves, and I move with it. There's no effort in that. My attention stays light, nev...

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A Serendipitous Encounter

Submitted to Contest #335

Rain tapped gently on the windows of the small downtown coffee shop, turning the city outside into a blur of shimmering lights and muted colors. Inside, the air was warm and fragrant, full of the comforting scent of roasted beans and the soft hum of quiet conversation. At a corner table, Emma stirred her cappuccino absentmindedly, her thoughts drifting as she traced the rim of her cup, lost in the pages of a well-worn novel. The bell above the door jingled, and a man in a navy coat stepped inside, shaking off his umbrella. His eyes scanned t...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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What Remains

Submitted to Contest #335

The coffee shop still smells like her. Burnt sugar and something underneath that might be rot. You sit at your corner table though the barista won't make eye contact, though the other customers shift away like grief might be contagious.Elena's last text glows on your phone: dont forget we need milk. and also i love you. in that order of importanceTen days ago. Before.You whisper to the empty chair, "They still make your drink too sweet."The chair doesn't answer but something shifts beside you. A displacement. The way space reorganizes itself...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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My Peace...

Submitted to Contest #335

It's been two years since I walked the long path heading towards the one place I knew I could find peace. This week between holidays is nothing short of drudgery at its worst. It reminds me of loss, heartache, and pain, and so, I decided that instead of suffering through the depressing atmosphere, I would just spend a weekend in the cabin on the mountain.The walls of shimmering white snow line the trail, leaving the way treacherous and giving it an unearthly, distinctly alien appearance. The towering evergreens fill the air with their musky ...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Submitted to Contest #335

The call came as Darren was finishing work. He was wondering about what to have for dinner. He wasn’t hungry, but he knew he should eat. The chances were that he’d head to the pub and have a liquid starter. After that, dinner was a boring necessity. Seldom did he muster up the enthusiasm to cook for himself. The food he made was rudimentary at best. Spending time on himself seemed like an indulgence. Yet another thankless task in a life lived alone since Tracy walked out and took the meaning to his life with her. He did not recognise the num...

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You'd better be good for goodness' sake

Submitted to Contest #335

For want of a better idea, Merry trailed miserably after the scruffy, foul mouthed human, and tried to piece together the last half hour. One minute, he’d been riding comfortably in the sleigh on a recon flight. The next, he was lying dazed on the ground complete with tweeting birds circling his head. Fall from height very much implied, then, and he could only hope that the sleigh had still been at sub-magic speeds when he'd parted company from it or it could take the others all night to find him. The human... child? Probably a child. It loo...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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The Wedding

Submitted to Contest #335

‘Sorry, have we met before?’ ‘I’m Ray. We met on a plane from Seattle to New York. We met a few days ago and I happened to help you find a piece of paper you dropped.’ ‘A piece of paper?’ ‘At the airport gate B37.’ ‘Ooooh. Right, right, right. Of course you are! Hello!’ ‘I’m glad you remember now!’ ‘I apologize that I can't remember meeting someone the first time until I meet them for the second time.’ ‘It’s okay. So, what’s the occasion? Do you know any of these couples?’ ‘Well, the bride is my best friend from college. We have known each ...

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Train of Thought

Submitted to Contest #335

On the train/under the trainOn the train/under the trainOn the… “Have we met before?” Sophie pauses her inner train of thought to look round to the speaker of the question. Short, puffer-jacketed, black hair, pale face. More of a penguin than a man, she thinks, unkindly. She can’t help it. Working in the beauty industry, she critiques appearances on autopilot. He is about twenty years her junior, but on a good day Sophie could almost pass for his age. Free makeup and skincare samples. Perks of the job. “No, I don’t think so,” says Sophie, t...

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A Song of Silver

Submitted to Contest #335

“A lovely morning to you, my good lady,” a ruby-haired woman said, bowing deeply to one of her guests, lace-gloved hand extended. “It is an honor to have you visiting our lovely home on this joyous occasion.” The flowers and petals on her dress shimmered and glimmered in the golden light of the evening chandelier.The guest, another woman, midnight dress swaying with her hips, ivory sash draped loosely over her shoulders took the proffered hand in her own. “It is always a pleasure, Lady Leaves,” she said, adjusting the raven’s mask about her ...

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