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โ€œStart your story with someone looking out at the snow, and end it with them stepping tentatively onto a frozen surface.โ€

Posted in Winter on Oct 25, 2022

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โœ๏ธ 150 stories

Burying David

Winner of Weekly Contest #77 ๐Ÿ†

I see a flock of white sprites falling from the sky. They are small, insignificant beings made of ice with a guaranteed lifespan of nothing more than a few seconds. My face is so close to the glass that I can feel the frigid air slip in through the small wooden openings. I see our parents outside digging up the graves. Dadโ€™s gray overcoat is unnaturally thick, stiffening his movements, while Mom stands beside him, hovering and wearing a long black dress that dangles slightly above the frosty ground.Today resonates a bit differently with me. ...

388 likes 169 comments 169
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Snow Flower

Weekly Contest #77

Grace stared at the snow as it rested upon the world, covering it in perfect white. It was Christmas, the most wonderful time of year, filled with cheer and joy, where you are surrounded by love and cared for by the most wonderful people around. It was supposed to be one of her happiest days, however, tears found their way on her cheeks as she cried in the cold night, alone. Then again, loneliness had become a rather regular company of Grace, especially since the death that left her half and numb. It became another name of her daily life d...

121 likes 53 comments 53
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As Ice Glazes Rocks

Shortlisted for Contest #77 โญ๏ธ

Alanaโ€™s mother had warned her about the rocks covered in ice near the edge of the lake. The Johnson boy had slipped and tumbled headlong into murk. In 40 degree water, he quickly sank in his heavy winter coat, started to hyperventilate, and drowned before anyone knew he was gone.  โ€œHeโ€™d only have lasted fifteen minutes or so before his muscles weakened. Blood moves away from the arms and legs towards the center of the body. Everything to protect the heart,โ€ she said, touching hers. โ€œThe Johnson boy would have lost all coordination and s...

106 likes 63 comments 63
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Icy History

Weekly Contest #77

I go over to the window, and rub the mist off, relishing the cold warmth of it.Looking out of the window, Iโ€™m immediately hit with how white and grey everything looks.The trees have ice falling off their leaves, looking half green and half white like that sweater I wear sometimes.The houses are covered almost completely, and the windows have icicles creeping on the glass like branches of a tree.The cars in the driveways are capped with snow, the windows having obscene words written on them by obscene people.The ground is untouched, smooth by...

78 likes 27 comments 27
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Forget-Me-Not

Weekly Contest #77

Authors note/TW: I don't know if this counts as a trigger warning, but school shooting plays a somewhat big factor in this story, so if you're sensitive to those topics, this is not the story for you:)You nudge my shoulder and point to the window, snow flurrying past.I grin and jump up, running over.More kids follow and we crowd around the smudged glass, ignoring Ms. Wrightsโ€™s lesson completely.She reins us in and we sit down, but I canโ€™t take my eyes off of the snow. Each snowflake looks exactly the same and I can't imagine seeing the ...

78 likes 45 comments 45
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White Memories

Weekly Contest #77

Dread is crawling down my spine as my eyes are glued to the window. The last time I saw snow was when I died, sixteen years ago. Who would have thought, that such a mesmerising day would turn into the most agonising one of my life? Not meโ€ฆ I still, to this day remember how it felt; taking that cold and crisp breath for the last time. As the seconds were passing it was less and less cold, the warmth was taking over my body. It sounds strange I have to admit. Usually, as you are dying you would feel cold because the heart starts beating slower...

64 likes 14 comments 14
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Do you remember?

Weekly Contest #77

I watch the snow come swirling down, and, as I watch, I think and I remember.  I remember you, Bubs. I remember everything we did together. Iโ€™m not ever going to forget. Never. It was snowing the day you died. Do you remember? It was snowing the day we met. Do you remember? I know I do. Right now, Iโ€™m replaying that day, 23 years ago, 7th January. I remember you walking, you slipping, you smiling.  Me, smiling back. Me, waving, then walking.  Your cheeks started to redden. At the time, I hoped it was happiness, but ...

64 likes 4 comments 4
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Realistic Fiction

Shortlisted for Contest #77 โญ๏ธ

The window was drafty. It needed to be replaced, and I could feel the cold chill of December seeping into the apartment. As if on cue, I heard the heat click on, roiling through the baseboards.           I pulled my husbandโ€™s old gray hoodie tighter around my body. On me, the sweatshirt was hugely oversized, more like wearing a blankety dress than a zip up hoodie. But it was warm and thick and it reminded me that he was still here, if not literally here right at this moment, but that heโ€™...

63 likes 22 comments 22
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Testing the Limits

Weekly Contest #77

I looked out over the sparkling snowy valley and watched as two deer bounded across it. It was as if they said Hey, want to go bound in the snow today? I took a deep breath of fresh mountain air and turned to go do what I came to do. Ice skate. It was a sport that I loved and nearly thrived on. The forest was all around me, a new layer of snow tested the branchesโ€™ weight limit. I sat on a worn log that many before me also used as a seat. I took off my brown hiking boots with white lining and pulled on my skates before my feet froze in my hol...

61 likes 3 comments 3
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Lights

Weekly Contest #77

โ… . Picture Alaskan snow and meteors that drop like baseless promises and dissolve away like morning kisses.๏ปฟ The sky is indigo and crooked, leaning right into tomorrow, and Raphaela is tracing cold hearts of ice into the windowpane with her nails. Not the romantic ones shaped like clovers that rip into tissue paper halves, but the human hearts that quiver and bleed and only last a fragile lifetime.The stars are falling, but Raphaela isnโ€™t wishing. Sheโ€™s praying. While looking past the white expanse, her arms snake across her chest, biting in...

60 likes 36 comments 36
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Sole

Weekly Contest #77

I took a Red Eye to San Francisco. The plane balanced on a navy sky and for a second I thought I was above the stars. The flickers of arrowhead lights were below me and as the clouds licked the sunrise, I saw the city. No stars, just twinkling city lights.  Half of the buildings were already drenched in gold and smudged gray. It was breathtaking to see an entire city half-asleep, rubbing the flocks of aging seagulls under its eyes. The streetlights blinked out like Morse code messages into the shadows and the plane directed its nose tow...

59 likes 36 comments 36
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The Shocking Arrival

Weekly Contest #77

I see the world go by without me. I see each ball of snow drop from the roof of my house. I tilt my head to see the icicles form on my roof. I shiver again. The dripping of the wet snow is one of the most relaxing sounds I have ever heard in my life.Drip! Drop! Drip! Drop!It's the same old people going around and about for the same errands. Mr. Charles is hanging on to his coat for dear life as he is shoveling the snow from his backyard. I continue to stare again from plain sight. I sneak on them like it's nobody's business.I note ...

57 likes 47 comments 47
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Heart of Ice, Soul of Fire

Weekly Contest #77

Two specks traveled across a sea of white. Two, one dark and one light, together they moved through a horizon of snow. Two girls ran for their lives. Before, a wall of red blocked their way. Behind, a wave of scarlet swiftly closed in. Around, the jaws of crimson slowly tightened. Nearing the barrier, the two girls skidded to a stop. The first was a girl of dark black hair and seemingly similar colored eyes. Raven her name, demon by fame. Slightly cowering behind was Alynthi, hair the color of pale gold and icy blue eyes. Together they gaspe...

55 likes 71 comments 71
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SARAH'S MAGNIFICENT SUMMER IN THE UNITED STATES

Weekly Contest #77

"It's summer!" I quipped rather rousingly. "What do you mean summer is here?" "It's March" don't you remember what grandma said happens in the United States during summer? It snows! Oh no. Sarah took off hastily towards the door, leaving me awe and surreptitiously vilified but not surprised at all. Tom was grinding his maize harvest the season in most African countries by December, and that's his name, my Father. "She spoiled this brat" "Who disturbs Uncle Jameson that remotely?" Kate asked provokingly of the bosom friendship he shared with ...

52 likes 34 comments 34
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Reclaimed

Weekly Contest #77

I stood at the window, looking out onto the snow. My breath fogged the glass, but it didn't match the pristine opaqueness of the snow. I rubbed it off, entranced by the sight of these sparkling mountains. So gentle and pure, no human could resist this. It was simplicity compared to our boiling turmoil. I leaned my head against the cool glass, closing my eyes and soothing my headache. My parents were still arguing inside, and I heard the clatter of plates smashing into the floor. No matter, this was just as seasonal as the snow. Every few m...

49 likes 10 comments 10
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