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Write a story framed by a single scene: something happens, a flashback or inner monologue intervenes, and then the story ends with the rest of the original scene.

Posted in Narrative on Dec 22, 2023

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✍️ 89 stories

The Fork

Shortlisted for Contest #230 ⭐️

When faced with a fork, look for the twig.We had missed the twig and were staring down a deep chasm. It didn’t help that we were not talking to each other. After the boisterous cultural evening put up by fellow campers, we had fought over which bottle to drink water from, back in our tent. Our sabre-rattling was loud enough for other campers to give me extra sweet smiles at breakfast. Trekking was not something we had done before in our twenty years of marriage. It was supposed to be an exercise in bonding after our only child left for ...

41 likes 34 comments 34
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Stolen Belonging

Submitted to Contest #230

The sheriff arrived with the locksmith before nine to change the locks and enforce the eviction order. Eve Weider was chain-smoking Marlboro 100 cigarettes in her kitchen and pacing. She had found an ashtray in the cabinet from the ‘90s, which was the last time Roy had let her smoke in the house. It was ironic that they had paid off the mortgage on the house, but got so far behind on property taxes in the process that they lost a lifetime’s investment anyway.Roy got the door and was affable as always. “Is it really that time, sheriff?”“Afrai...

40 likes 20 comments 20
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She Lives in Michigan

Submitted to Contest #230

I hate packing. It doesn’t matter if it’s loading up a whole house for a move, or filling a small suitcase for a fun trip, I always leave it for the last minute. I’m not a very organized person, and packing requires me to admit to the chaos of my life. This time, I was going to travel over the holidays. That adds a whole new level of stress to an already messy existence. Needless to say, I, as usual, had nothing prepared. I was booked on a plane that was scheduled to take off in just over three hours, and I had nothing packed. I needed to ...

28 likes 12 comments 12
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Scarlet Guilt

Submitted to Contest #230

“I should have read the warning label,” he said with a grimaced smile, bringing two fingers to his mouth as if inhaling a cigarette. With a heart rate monitor calling down the time, the man lay in a hospital bed. Both wrists were taking in fluids from a drip hanging in suspension, and his wife Martha was across from him in a chair. The room was institutional green.Martha stood and walked to the window. A drizzling gray rain. “Please don’t joke. Not now.”Yes, a joke, he thought to himself. On both myself and this woman. This woman with flawle...

26 likes 13 comments 13
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Sarcasm and Sorrow

Shortlisted for Contest #230 ⭐️

"You signed the divorce papers last week. Tell me about that."Anne rolled her head back to look at this ceiling, knowing this question would arise in therapy. "There's not much to tell. We went, we signed, it's finished.""That seems very business-like,” Dr. Flynn mentioned, setting down her tea from the table between the two women."Well, that's me, Doc. All business, no fluff.”"Oh, I know. My self-assured, dare I say, cocky patient. With a chip on her shoulder.""Sounds right.""And an empty life she fills with busy, busy work.""You know for a...

22 likes 19 comments 19
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A Funeral

Submitted to Contest #230

“It’s just you and me again,” I say.I’d waited until the flock of my relatives had dispersed, and finally, I am alone at his casket. His pale face looks at peace, and it makes him almost unrecognizable. I’m used to the anger, the depression, the mask of whatever vice he could find.On his lapel, someone, my mother I assume, has issued him a rose. I scoff at the symbol of love. That word, that feeling, had been foreign to Floyd, absent in every corner of his life. No matter how hard I tried to love him, I was nothing but a worthless, unwanted,...

22 likes 27 comments 27
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Too-Cute Mix-Up

Submitted to Contest #230

Too-Cute Mix-Up Chrissy tucked Carlson under a multi-colored quilt before he said his prayers. “What story do you want me to read to you? 'Frosty, the Snowman' or 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer'.” “'Frosty', please.” Sleepy-eyed Carlson responded. The visiting five-year-old was sound asleep before 'Frosty' melted away to return another year. And it was no wonder. Chrissy reflected on what their day had been like. *** Hard to believe it was only last evening when the two of them had met at the Harbor House Restaurant. Chrissy, having had ...

22 likes 13 comments 13
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8%

Submitted to Contest #230

Targets acquired:One male, 67 years old. One female, 11 years old. One male, 7 years old.No weapons detected.Their heat signatures tell me they’re underground. Below the canopy and beneath the earth, they’ve evaded me for years. But today, as I throw open the hatch to their hovel and look into their desperate eyes, I know I’ve found victory.“To hell with you, you soulless murderer!”The old man throws a brick at me, and it smashes off my arm. I laugh. Thirty-nine percent of human laughter is a response to a surprise, twenty-one perc...

20 likes 22 comments 22
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We Need to Talk

Submitted to Contest #230

Dennis spread the checkered blanket out for their picnic. He scanned the river and the view of distant trees turning vivid fall colors. An arpeggio of birds soared over the water. The breeze was warm, a glorious day. Sandra, his date, his steady, unwrapped the wine from its cloth. She smiled at seeing the label from the same vintage they’d shared for their first dinner together. It had been a glorious summer. Dennis admired how she arranged things on their blanket, just so. She placed the glasses on paper plates for stability. ‘Wouldn’t wan...

16 likes 11 comments 11
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Schooner Racing the Storm

Submitted to Contest #230

The rain rumbled against the glass in the hospital room.The spare, small room smelled of disinfectant and dust. The crisp white sheets shone bright against the yellow curtains and peeling trim. Sara Ann saw the concerned look of an elderly nurse, tilting her head at her as the door closed. She took off her rain soaked jacket, and looking around found a hook behind the door to hang it on, before turning to finally acknowledge the figure on the bed.A pale gaunt man, hair thinning and gray, lay still, only his arms uncovered by the sh...

14 likes 19 comments 19
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Behind the Eight Ball

Submitted to Contest #230

Daniel’s eyes were glued to the clock as he sat restlessly at his desk. Twelve minutes to 6PM. Twelve more minutes and he would be free to leave. He thought about sneaking out earlier, but he was already on his boss’ radar for other minor offenses, so he thought it best not to attract any more attention to himself.  “Excited to go home?” one of his colleagues asked after noticing his fixation on the clock, “Got anything fun planned?” “No, I’m just tired so I’ll go home and relax”, Daniel lied. He knew that it would be impossible to rela...

13 likes 4 comments 4
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Three Days on the Katy Trail

Submitted to Contest #230

I could barely move. Every muscle in my body seized up, screamed at me to hold still. But lying there hurt just as much. And I only had two days to get home.I have never not wrecked riding a bicycle.My first attempts at riding without training wheels are embarrassingly preserved forever on Super 8 film, converted to tape, converted to digital and now uploaded to the internet by my surprisingly technically adept mother. It’s a series of me falling over on our driveway. She set it to the Benny Hill theme. Thanks for sharing that with the world...

13 likes 13 comments 13
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Cheesemergency

Submitted to Contest #230

Mondays are not peak cheese selling times, I thought to myself as I opened my store. I resigned myself to a slow morning when a woman entered that I’d seen once before. I had just flipped the sign mere minutes ago from Closed to Yes, We’re Open! She rushed in with her head down and her cheeks pink, her shoulders slumped, her spirit broken. “Can I help you?” I asked as she approached. I noticed she was carrying a bundle. She didn’t meet my gaze but started straight down, and I could hardly make out her mumble: “I’m so sorry,” she began ...

11 likes 8 comments 8
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Return to Long Lake

Submitted to Contest #230

As Kendall drove past Long Lake, she slowed to take in the view of the cloud-streaked sky and setting sun that cast an orange glow across the water’s placid surface. It had been twenty years since she'd left her hometown, only returning now for her uncle's funeral. Growing up near the lake, she'd loved the sunsets that cast a crimson hue across the sky and the wavering caws of the loons that echoed across the water. As she crossed the bridge that spanned the widest section of the lake, the opening notes of Train's "Drops of Jupiter" hummed...

11 likes 6 comments 6
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Turn Back Time

Submitted to Contest #230

Equipment cart rolling into place. I know this sound. I understand the urgency behind the controlled voices of nurses and doctors working to save a life. I’m part of a team in this emergency room. But tonight I’m the patient and I’m terrified. A co-worker holds my hand for a few precious seconds.  Part of me registers the pain. I know what the team needs to do. But memories are so much more painful, my mind replaying the last year, punishing myself over and over. I want the impossible: I want to turn back time. If I could turn back ...

11 likes 11 comments 11
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