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Write about a person or community that mistakes cruelty for care (or the other way around).

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 24, 2025

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✍️ 36 stories

The Factory

Submitted to Contest #326

Steel My Pa always had a saying . . . “Andrew Carnegie took a fragile world and reinforced it with steel. That steel also helped clean up this town of garbage.” He always told me that when I was a young boy. I never quite knew what he meant at the time, but it seems I was unfortunately destined to find out the night I went to the factory . . . Now, I’ll be the first to say that steel sure helped my Pa increase production on his farm. He wasn’t the only one, either. More folks in town benefited just like him. This was a good thing because wh...

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An Attempt to be Normal

Submitted to Contest #326

My parents sat across from me, my mother glaring into my eyes, my father looking at the floor. They sat there waiting for me to respond. But what could I say? It wasn’t like I had any choice in the matter. It wasn’t like I could defend myself, say that I’d be better, that I’d work on it. I knew I couldn’t work on it. I knew I couldn’t “be better.” This was the third time it had happened. Well. The third time I had been caught at least.“Well?” my mother asked, “What do you have to say for yourself?”“I’ll do whatever it is you want me to do,” ...

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Good Grief

Submitted to Contest #326

The inside of Susan Griffin’s suburban cottage was cozy, warm, and bright.Her living room, which was painted a soft shade of pearlesque pink, was set aglow by the many drape-clothed lamps. The carpet, which was as thick and padded as a sandbank, cushioned with care. Small porcelain forest figurines dotted the desks, fireplace mantel, and bookshelves, and to Laura Leach, the newest member of Good Grief, it appeared that rabbits were Susan Griffin’s favorite animal.And perhaps what was even more prominent in Susan Griffin’s living room, were t...

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The Fountain's Last Drop

Submitted to Contest #326

Long, long ago, the mayor of a small town was gifted a large fountain by an old couple.“Take care of this fountain,” they said. “For it can provide water to your townsfolk any time they need it. When it rains, the fountain will replenish. But if the fountain runs dry – it will never work again.”The fountain sparkled in the sunlight. The water poured from it with such a forceful flow, the mayor had no idea how much could possibly be stored in it. He graciously accepted the gift and placed it upon the center square of town. The townsfolk came ...

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I Want to See My Mercy

Submitted to Contest #326

At the edge of his village, where tilled soil met dense forest, Garrod drove his spade into the ground. The work was done. The earth was already ploughed by oxen, but Garrod had tilled it again. He worked for two reasons: he wanted his Martha to sleep easy. Always plagued by superstition, he had assured her the evils of the forest couldn’t cross into worked land. The woods were their domain. If we labour, keep civilized, the wilds of the forest would know they were not welcome. The second reason why he had spent more time in the field rather...

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A Moment of Clarity

Submitted to Contest #326

“Multiple reports of gunfire coming from the 9200 block of Hancock Avenue.” The dispatcher’s voice almost screamed. Detective Hal Knibbs picked up his handset. “Unit three responding.” He set the red light on the top of his unmarked car, turned on the sirens, and raced toward the scene. When he arrived, patrol cars had the whole block cordoned off. He stepped out of his car and pulled out his gun. Trotting over to the sergeant while keeping his head down, he asked. “What’s the situation?”“Gunfire has stopped. It’s this building.” Knibbs gaze...

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Baby Be Mine

Submitted to Contest #326

Our first child was well past Beverly’s due date. My paternal instincts had been on high alert for so long, I could run through “the plan” we had to get to the hospital in my sleep. Did I say sleep? I meant when I’m up at all hours warming milk and grilling cheese and pickle sandwiches.Not to brag, but I even learned I had a gift for massage. At one point, mid-Shiatsu, I swear I heard my wife sigh that she forgave me for everything, whatever that might mean. At another, I’m convinced she forgave me for anything I may ever do. I thought this ...

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The Faster I Go, The Farther Behind I Become

Submitted to Contest #326

He chased success as if speed alone would bring him closer to it. He filled his days with tasks, his nights with deadlines, and his heart with pressure. Yet, with every hurried step, he realized something painful: the faster he went, the more disconnected he felt from himself, his friends, and even the meaning of his journey. Nations' yearnings and community sorrows of deceit keep him awake. Life racing made him efficient but not fulfilled. It made him present in places but absent in spirit. It took slowing down, listening, breathing, and re...

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The Mercy Man

Submitted to Contest #326

Town calls me the Mercy Man.That's a damned lie—or depending on the night, perhaps it ain't.Mercy ain't found in this work. God hands out mercies, and He never steers this trail.I hang men.That's the size of it.I build the gallows, pine planed so smooth it feels like I’m shaving the rough edges off my own sins. I anoint the hinges with tallow, keepin' the trapdoor from shriekin'. Squeaks panic men. Panic messes up the fall, meaning no clean drop, no neck snapped the way it should—quick, exact, merciful as a man's hands can make it. Anything ...

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Man in the Mirror

Submitted to Contest #326

The mirror reflects a body I do not recognize. Minor details in the eyes that only the self could be familiar with, entirely alternative. My elderly folks say I chose to be this way, fighting my identity with the constants of time. A mental disorder, some suggest; others, too stunned to speak. I wish to be normal by the hour. A consistent voice circulating in my mind, screaming out the imperfect aspects of my outline. I’ve always defined this feeling with the stroke of a paintbrush. A black, horizontal glare articulating every monstrosity ...

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You'll Be Fine

Submitted to Contest #326

If you knew the campus, you knew Circle Coffeehouse. It was right in the middle of everything-- part coffee shop, part student museum. Reyna was seated in the corner, where barely anyone could see her. The circular mosaic on the floor and student art combined with the creepy Halloween decorations all became a big blur in her vision as she stared into nothing. She absentmindedly stirred the metal spoon in her coffee as she readied her nerves for tonight. It was all she wanted. It was all she ever thought about.Two girls entered the shop, scan...

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Burn

Submitted to Contest #326

“Do you still believe magic?” my daughter asked. “Yes, I do,” I replied. “This world is full of wonders.” I pulled the blanket up to her chin. After she drifted into sleep, I quietly left her room. This was our nightly ritual--- a story each night. I fumbled through a large box where I kept things that mattered most to me – old photos, seashells, and dairy books. I picked up one of the dairies and flipped through its pages. The ink had faded, but my feelings hadn’t. The date was 18 April 2008. Today was the final test day for graduating ...

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Not One Of Us

Submitted to Contest #326

October 2, 2025 NOT ONE OF USWell now here’s the set up. I am a newcomer, a stranger in this small Israeli town and it’s Erev Yom Kippur. For those of you Goyem (non Jews) that are in the dark as to what that means, it is literally the evening that starts the holiest of holy days in the Jewish calendar, “The Day Of Atonement”. For the following 24 hours Jews, throughout the world— that is most of them anyway, and I’m talking about both religious and secular players —participate in some way s...

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Hey, Boo.

Submitted to Contest #326

Initially, I gave the front door a quick rattle. You could have mistaken it for the wind. A classic scare tactic, though I wasn’t trying to frighten him. Not then. I simply hoped it might prompt him to get up and open it – take a peek outside. And that was all I needed. An opportunity. It didn’t work, though I wasn’t too concerned. I’m known for my patience. Floating through eternity will do that to you. So, I continued to push against the door panel, daily, fluctuating my weight on and off, on and off, each time increasing the pressure unti...

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Intolerance

Submitted to Contest #326

The seminary rector Morales was just about to finish his evening prayer when someone knocked on the door of his chambers.“Enter,” he said in a somber tone, as if in continuation of the prayer.The old doorknob turned with a squeak, and into the room stepped a bald man, so short that the tail of his cassock touched the floor as he moved. As he approached the Rector’s desk, his blue irises shimmered in the candlelight.“Good evening, Very Reverend Father,” he curtsied, absorbing the gospel images on the marble floor before him and ancient books ...

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