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Write about a character who discovers something while raking leaves in their neighborhood.

Posted in Mystery on Dec 2, 2022

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✍️ 39 stories

A Thing of Value

Shortlisted for Contest #175 ⭐️

“You should not be doing that.”I looked down at the frail bird of a woman leaning on her cane in front of me. Her eyes were the kind of faded blue you can only get by leaving denim out in the sun too long. They nested in a mass of wrinkles, a face like a dried apple doll. Still, there was a sharpness in her glare that drilled into me from a good foot and a half below my chin. I’d hit 6’ this summer, so this lady was short, but she also looked like she wasn’t going to take any lip from anyone.I had been warned to be polite to Mrs. Grunwa...

40 likes 28 comments 28
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Bigfoot in the Leaves

Submitted to Contest #175

Bigfoot begged me not to say anything.“I’ll just stay right here,” he said, tugging the leaves back over himself, “You can carry on raking the rest of the yard. This never happened, ma’am. Nothing to see here.”Before Henry left, I never raked leaves. Henry took care of the yard and I took care of the house and the cars. Henry couldn’t change the oil or unclog a sink, but I wouldn’t know what to do with a lawnmower if you gave me a six-week course in cutting grass. When the leaves fell in the Fall, it was Henry’s job to go out and rake the le...

35 likes 24 comments 24
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Found You

Shortlisted for Contest #175 ⭐️

Grandma is dying but she has lived a long and good life. At the age of ninety-seven, she was in remarkably good shape until a cancer diagnosis three months ago. She made it clear from the start that she didn’t want to fight it. No chemo, no radiation, no surgeries. “Just keep me comfortable and let me die in my own home,” was all she asked. My sister, Laurie, and I were supposed to be taking turns staying with her in her house, but Laurie works a lot. I am basically staying here full-time. Fortunately, my job is a remote research positi...

22 likes 15 comments 15
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Airborne All The Way

Submitted to Contest #175

It had been a blustery day of Autumnal Kentucky weather, wildly shaking the last leafy hangers-on from their Red Maple tree perches. Winter was fast approaching the back roads of Henderson County and leaf raking was a natural rite of seasonal passage in Dan Grayson’s part of the world. It also provided a calming respite from the lingering combat memories of his military service to his country, years prior. Living on the corn and tobacco farm inherited from his late parents, Dan worked tirelessly to maintain a tradition passed down over six g...

20 likes 4 comments 4
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A Pile of Lies

Submitted to Contest #175

The botched Bloody Bat Recovery Mission ended with me getting caught, and I instinctively raised both arms toward the evening sky when I knew the gig was up. Dammit, I thought, I’m as good as dead.  Unadjusted pupils somehow noticed the Timex’s hands stretched in opposite directions—it was 9:15.   Although the LED floodlight was blinding, it was no accident. A lazy shirtless thug with a viper tattoo and a sinister glare intentionally flipped the switch. There was no time to think or react because I was cornered, forced to e...

16 likes 1 comment 1
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The cursed CD.

Submitted to Contest #175

My life has gone down-hill. It was like all my luck disappeared, and it was all because of that box. It was actually a strange day, when I found it. It was raining, I was late to school, got scolded by Mrs. Briggs, a dog stole my lunch and I embarrassed myself in front of the whole school. That day I felt defeated. Especially when my mom told me to rake Ms. Imogien's lawn. After all that embarrassment I really didn't want to rake leaves, however Ms. Imogien is my favorite neighbor. As I was raking her lawn I hit something. It was strange, it...

15 likes 7 comments 7
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A Marvelous Discovery

Submitted to Contest #175

It was a crisp Saturday, which meant that it was time for Dad to make his weekly rounds clearing leaves from elderly neighbors' yards. The plan was for me to be his helper, but that was the plan every week. Still, in the last week of October, the only "help" I was good for was to knock on the front door and check in with the people whose yards "we" tidied."Come over here, kiddo," my dad called from the edge of Mr. Kelly's yard. I ran toward him as fast as my little legs could go even though it made my cheeks prickle in the cold air.He smiled...

14 likes 6 comments 6
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The Lawn Goodbye

Submitted to Contest #175

It turned up like a wooly mammoth in the last snowdrift of spring. Had I not been a teen biology geek, I would have raked it into a 39-gallon bag, dumped it at the gutter in front of Shih Tzu’s Mom’s house, and thought no more off it until the city “sucker” crew rumbled along on its seemingly random schedule.This was the last “harvest” of 2022, brought on by a half-week of high winds which according to Channel 25’s buzzkill meteorologist would become a far more frequent phenomenon because petrochemicals, deforestation, and ice caps. Sarah ha...

14 likes 15 comments 15
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She Killed

Submitted to Contest #175

The iron bars were cold, the mattress thin, and the smell putrid. How I ended up in the confines of this jail cell is a long, exhausting story that begins with Kate Myers. I hate Kate Myers, she killed my big brother, so in return, I killed her. The mystery of his death lasted over a decade long, reports were made and suspects were interviewed, still the long investigation ended inconclusively. No one paid for this crime. The trail went cold and my big brother was nowhere to be found, but I know what happened, I was there. A tall, tan, brown...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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The Mysterious Dufflebag

Submitted to Contest #175

The crisp fall breeze ruffled my hair as I trudged through the thick leaf coating of my backyard. When I closed on the house this spring I hadn’t even considered the price I would pay for the glorious collection of trees that filled the lawn. Of course my father had predicted it and kindly bought me a rake for my birthday three weeks ago. He is much more practical than sentimental. Lucky for me it wasn’t cold enough for a jacket and gloves; my Hudson Valley Renegades hoodie was enough. In typical Rosalind fashion, I surve...

13 likes 0 comments 0
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A Necklace in the Leaves

Submitted to Contest #175

It was a beautiful day. Honestly, Amelia would’ve preferred being anywhere but here right now raking leaves. Her family could have decided to go to an amusement park or to go hiking, but instead here they were. She understood that the community clean up was important but it was dreadfully boring. At least afterward there would be a fun picnic and bonfire. All these leaves and any fallen or dead trees would be placed in a massive pile and burned. The bonus of these being a community thing was that all of her friends were here. Amelia took a ...

12 likes 0 comments 0
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A Criminal's Trait

Submitted to Contest #175

This just in: "Criminal Porker Butch has been caught red-handed after trying to escape through Mr. Simon Salary's backyard," said the news reporter, speaking with certainty of these events. "His crimes for butchering 5 people have now been stopped and will be met with extreme punishment. Stay tuned to Scarlet's News. Now back to you, Charles." Cutting the TV off, Simon sighs deeply. Last night, a criminal had wandered into his backyard and cops who were already in the area were looking for him. Simon had heard noises outside and went t...

11 likes 0 comments 0
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Fallen Leaves

Submitted to Contest #175

The fall air was crisp and cold, but the sun on Leon’s back was warm, making him sweat as he worked his way steadily across the grass, the tines of his rake singing as he gathered the leaves into piles. This square of grass was his little slice of heaven, he sat on one of the benches most days reading his paper, eating a sandwich from the corner deli, watching the world go by. The poplar trees cast cool shade in the stifling heat of summer, but now as fall drew to a close and winter approached, they shed, their leaves settling thickly, pilin...

11 likes 9 comments 9
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The Forge

Submitted to Contest #175

“Ugh!” I grumbled as I sat in the half-filled courtroom. My mom leaned past my public defender to shoot daggers with her eyes. I just rolled mine and turned away to whisper, “This sucks!” quiet enough that she couldn’t hear.  “There’s only four more cases before yours.” My public defender tried to reassure me that we were almost done. I knew my case would go quick, I was guilty and everyone knew it. Even without Jack Brown’s black eye and bloody nose, there were cameras at the school that saw the whole thing. So, we decided to pl...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Under the Stars

Submitted to Contest #175

When I raked over the embers of the fire after the barbeque we had the previous night, I had to look again when I saw the chard finger bone and the titanium wedding band intact. I had a strange lurching feeling in my stomach. One part of me wanted to touch it and the other part of me told me we needed to call the police. The thing was I recognised the ring. It was my husband’s work partners with his distinctive name ‘Andre’ scrawled across the front. The thing was there had been a bust up between them later in the night. Too much beer had b...

10 likes 1 comment 1
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