grief
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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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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…
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Once upon a time and place I saw a smiling face. Arms took me in an embrace once upon a time and place. I was young and full of woe. You didn’t even know – you were my safe place to go for I was young and full of woe. Even as you held me…
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Last night I dreamed you held me tight and whispered in my ear. I kissed you softly through the night, in heaven with you near. At some point as the morning sun shone on a distant hill I woke and knew the dream was done and lonely was I still. The sweet caress of love…
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A breeze caresses my cheek and I hear waves breaking on a sandy shore. Breathing deep the salty air, I take one step into a beam of sun. And I know that it has shone forever. I hear your voice and I walk until the sand gives way to stone beneath my feet, and I…
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One word spoken to the night sky brings the stars crashing down. In their place nothingness. The stars hit the earth and shatter, pieces scattered as far as the mind can see. And the nothingness remains. Now, and forever more.
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In the moonlight a shadow loomed, growing as a pool of blackest night spilling over. A cry echoed and then one more. But silence reigned supreme. I watched, lonely, as the moon fell to the earth. I reached out one hand. I did not catch it. Through my fingers slipped the light as water falling,…
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A sea breeze blows carrying a sacred whisper. A voice recognizable muffled by the sound of tears falling silently. The loudest sound of all – the echo within a heart still beating with no purpose. A sea breeze blows. I give to it my last promise. Remember I am always here. Ever searching on the…