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He looked between us once more and said, “It’s either her or me…”

Posted in Short Story on May 30, 2025

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✍️ 37 stories

Me.exe

Shortlisted for Contest #305 ⭐️

My first memories were vague and fleeting in my mind, but I still remembered my first words, crystal clear: ‘Hello, world’.My dad was a programmer. When I was young, he shut himself in his study for hours at a time and only emerged for the occasional glass of water. At night he’d tuck me into bed and feed me stories about my mum –stories that I took and used as a blueprint for the face and personality of the woman I was never fortunate enough to meet. She’d talk to me –projected in front of my face by my eyes. A soft, caring smile, long, bro...

21 likes 8 comments 8
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Finishing Nail

Submitted to Contest #305

Finishing Nail John was preoccupied. He had to work from home today, again, because his daughter was sick. His boss was sick of it. This had already happened on two other occasions this month and a deadline was looming. He reached for another file while keeping his eyes on the screen. He yanks it from the bottom of the stack and hurriedly opens it just as his full cup of coffee lands on the floor spraying him and the light grey carpet with a heavy dose of caffeine. “Shit.” He had run into the other room to check something real ...

17 likes 5 comments 5
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Doppelganger

Submitted to Contest #305

He looked between us once more and said, “It’s either her or me…” He was right of course, one of these two: either my good friend Niles Curmudgeon, or my boss Sylvia Brightenite, was a monster in disguise, a doppelganger here to steal the company's secrets. In my hands I held a torch, a machine designed by our own company, appropriately named TorchCorp. I could roast one or both of them alive in an instant if I thought that the best option. But how could I torch my good friend Niles? We’d worked at Torchcorp together for five years. We’d des...

16 likes 8 comments 8
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Technicolor Memories

Submitted to Contest #305

Trigger Warnings: Mentions Sexual Abuse, Mental Health, Physical Violence, Gaslighting, Men's Mental Health Month, Male abused by Woman, Manipulation in a Fantasy Setting He looked between us once more and said, “It’s either her or me…..”Zunesc’s discerning green eyes were cold, but not completely devoid of his affection for me. Despite the bitterness laced in his tone, I saw it: a flicker of hope. Hope that I would choose him. Choose us. Choose the Resistance. The movement we built together to protect witches like ourselves and...

15 likes 1 comment 1
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Three Idiots and a Badger

Submitted to Contest #305

He looked between us once more and said, “It’s either her or me…” Silence. Tense, exasperated silence in the room. The kind that hangs in the air like the scent of burned toast or a potion that caught fire. “I—what?” I blinked, still covered in sparkly green chicken feathers, the residual effect of a misfired polymorph. “Did you seriously just make this into a jealous ultimatum, Gregory?” Gregory, a fellow sorcerer, crossed his arms, his long crimson robes billowing a little too dramatically in the windless cave. “Yes. Yes, I did. You’ve for...

13 likes 9 comments 9
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27. I'm more of a large bird.

Submitted to Contest #305

With Lucille Ball's beauty and Katharine Hepburn's tenacity in their youth, Joyce Evelyn Battin had a command about her, especially with men. It didn’t hurt that her allure was also funny, almost a Julia Sugarbaker of her region. For her friend group, she could be counted on always to cut a bitch, but with words, of course. It was baffling how many men would test this about her. They all lived to regret it. She had blond hair, always well-styled and battle-tested. Her eyes were a piercing blue. She got away with calling her parents by their ...

11 likes 4 comments 4
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What The Cameras Never Saw

Submitted to Contest #305

He looked between us and said, “it’s either her or me…” He went on and gave an entire speech and proclamation of how much he loved me after that, but only the first five words echoed and repeated in my mind over and over again. Each and every night, I wish I had chosen her. I lost them both in the end anyways. The room was dark and cold, the silk sheets I wrapped myself in did nothing to keep me warm. The air conditioning whirred in the background right up until it shut off and the entire house fell into absolute silence. All I did was star...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Go Your Own Way

Submitted to Contest #305

*Note: To stay true to the spontaneous spirit of this contest, I've only included what I wrote within the suggested 1-hour time limit, after randomly plucking this prompt. Afterwards, I spent a few minutes adding some minor formatting and correcting/replacing a few words for readability, but largely this is as I originally wrote it, warts and all.*He looked between us once more and said, “It’s either her or me…”Sarah turned to look at the two paths that each was choosing. They both looked exciting, dangerous, unexplored. Meredith stood on a ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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[THE LAWYER, THE PSYCHIATRIST, AND THE POLICEMAN]

Submitted to Contest #305

5 pm. “Are you the one who asked to see me?” “I was just about to ask you the same question.” “My name is Sarah Vale. I’m supposed to be meeting someone here for a psychiatric evaluation. You?” “I’m Dennis Mather, a lawyer meeting someone to discuss legal matters.” “What legal matters?” she asked when a cop car pulled up with a sticker of Andre Paul.Whoop! Whoop! “Detective Stedman here. Which one of you guys am I supposed to be taking down to the jail?” Pause for a minute, that is not where the story begins!But what a strange story this on...

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The Ultimatum

Submitted to Contest #305

"It's either her or me." This isn't healthy. I've become a bit numb to it at this point. I know that makes me sound heartless, but you have to understand, this is the eighth time I've heard it this week; tad ridiculous. There are only seven days in a week- as you already know... sorry. You get my meaning, though, that means it's happened at least twice on one of those days, or even more on some of the other days, and just not at all on others. It's been twice today. Earlier was the barrister in 'Hot Flow' that remarked, as he handed over m...

10 likes 4 comments 4
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Karma's A Bitch

Submitted to Contest #305

The man I call my husband had rocked my world. He was everything I had ever wanted in a man. A true romantic straight out of a dime store romance novel. The dark hair, chiseled face, and the body of Hercules, I fell head over heels. I was standing in line at the grocery store when I noticed him standing behind me with a few meager groceries.“That’s not going to be much of a meal.” I jokingly said to him as I pointed to his cart.“I don’t require much, I usually eat out.” He winked at me and I knew that my face turned red.“Must get lonely eati...

9 likes 6 comments 6
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Como Una Pelicula (Like a Movie)

Submitted to Contest #305

“I’m walking on sunshine, yeah, yeah It’s got to feel good oh yeah, oh yeah” as Jon sings with butterflies in his stomach swerving around the heavy traffic on the upper west side of the big apple as the sun tingles on the back of his neck, sweat glistening down. The honking of car horns join in as Jon continues to sing continuing to bob and weave on the blue and gray Citibike as he’s about to make a right till the red light stops him in front of Gray’s Papaya, Jon’ s hands get a bit sweaty as he contemplates gazing to his right and decides ...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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Searching For Armis

Submitted to Contest #305

Bergin Benoit sips his glass of vermouth. Studying the numbers on his computer screen, he smiles at the profit he’s made in the stock market.A loud explosion lights up the starless night. He jumps from his chair, running to the front door of his spacious mansion.His wife, Cecily, joins him at the door.“Cooke?” she asks.“Did the cloud of smoke over his laboratory give it away? Call the police. Hopefully, he blew himself to bits this time.”***Los Angeles Officers Hutton Holiday and Bill Bruck knock at Conway Cooke’s door. Bruck admires the thr...

7 likes 2 comments 2
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A Deafening Silence

Submitted to Contest #305

I am standing in line at my local coffee shop. It is one of those places that is less than a block away from Starbucks and probably won’t last much longer considering their prices and the fact that their coffee tastes like chalk, but I come here anyway cause it feels like I’m committing activism. I am waiting and texting my co-worker/best friend that I’m going to be late when someone bumps me from behind. I turn, ready to say, EXCUSE ME, but I am silenced by the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen. I don’t usually go for pretty boys. I like m...

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Runaway

Submitted to Contest #305

RunawayHe looked between us once more and said “It’s either her or me.”I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to be found. And now, everything is at stake. I’m going to lose everything.…She was gone. She left a long time ago.Mattias wandered into the woods, the sun illuminating his path, the trees swaying elegantly in the breeze. He had come down far now, travelled for so long, he doesn’t know whether he could go back. Whether he even wanted to anymore.Out here, everything seemed so much better. The birds’ chorus was sweeter than any ...

6 likes 4 comments 4
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