Dreams of the Sunset City
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I hope you enjoy my entry to the August Whimsy microfiction contest. My whim was Game Show Gaiety. My object was caviar. Jeffrey stared glumly at screens flickering in a repair shop window. A kindly announcer spoke before giant letters spelling Lottery. “…of value. Everyone can play, so the Jackpot could be yours! Remember – your…
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At the first house, Little Cat meows forlornly at the door. I am delighted to announce that my submission to the August Whimsy microfiction contest, The Last House, has been chosen for publication in the first annual Whimsy Anthology! The collection will be published after the conclusion of the December Whimsy contest. Keep an eye on…
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This was my entry in the Whimsy microfiction contest for July. Whimsy invites writers to create a story exploring a whim and including an object. For this one, my whim was The Cryptid Conundrum. My object was a pepper grinder. Enjoy! *** “Fresh ground pepper?” X1’s tentacles clapped in delight. “Yes, please!” X2 chimed in…
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There is something in my hand. I wait among gray shapes, wisps on a shrouded shore. What have I forgotten? A ferryman lowers a time-weathered gangplank under glowing lamplight. “No fare, no passage.” Some figures ascend. Others drop back. I fall into the fog. The lamplight dims, the salt smell fading from the air. Dread…
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You could have saved her. I squint into darkness. Not darkness – shadow. A twisted canopy, tendrils obscuring a glowing door. Flapping echoes above. You could have. I lunge forward. Roots snake, grabbing my wrists and ankles. I rip and tear wildly. Why didn’t you? Vines encircle my throat. The flapping. A voice thunders. “Remember.”…
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This was my first round entry in the NYC Midnight Scary Story Contest 2026. It placed second in Round 1. My prompts were a wedding, a flutist, and floating. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! *** A plea spoken into the void becomes a refuge in the darkness. A…
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Laura sighed as children shouted on the street, laughing and exclaiming as pirates, witches, fairies, and ghosts emerged from biodomes decorated with grinning pumpkins and dancing skeletons. “Billy, I know it’s you!” “Lookit, Patty is a princess again!” “Did you see Charlie’s robot head? The eyes really light up!” “Don’t bother with ol’ Mrs. Adams…
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There was something different in the air as two hands met in the darkness. One soul, divided, finally made whole after infinite lifetimes of waiting. Only then did the voices on the breeze die down, leaving no choice but for two hearts to beat as one. And only in the realization of a fading star…
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A wave breaks on a distant shore and all sound stops forever. No voice is carried on the breeze. No one tells me, “I’ll be home soon.” Somewhere on the horizon a bird flies toward the sun. But it drops lower, and darkness is all that’s left to meet its tired wings. My feet drag…