STACH Short Story Contest #28: 199 words, 5 winners, 15SB prize pool!
Hello Everyone, @kingst here with the announcement for the STACH Short Story Contest #28.
What is a Short Story.
A short story is a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel. It makes use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components to a far greater degree than is typical of an anecdote. You can read it in less than 90 seconds.
Contest Rules:
•Write a Short Story based on the topic that will be given every week.
•Write an Original Short Story (Plagiarism will be flagged and reported).
•The Story must contain no more than 199 words.
•One entry per user.
•Story should be pasted in the comment section below, no links.
•Contestants are permitted to post their stories in an article on their blog, so they also get upvotes from the @stach trail.
Winners Selection.
Winners will be selected based on the topic, story plot, number of words and delivery as determined by the selected Judge. One word above 199, disqualifies the entry.
Contest Topic.
Write a 199 words story based on TALES FROM BEYOND.
Prize.
FIVE winners will be selected for a share of the 15SBD. The story with the most interaction gets a 1SBD prize from @ejemai.
First Prize: ----------------------4SBD
Second Prize: ------------------3.5SBD
Third Prize: ---------------------3SBD
Fourth Prize: -------------------2.5SBD
Fifth Prize: ----------------------2SBD
Good luck guys!
Sharpen your writing skills and throw in some inspiring short stories. XO!
JOIN US ON STACH DISCORD HERE
STACH is a physical Accelerator Hub dedicated to decentralizing the offline by breaking the barriers to accessing the internet like light, internet and conducive working space.
STACH is supported by @Sndbox as a Sndcastle project.
A Letter from Beyond
When Victor's mother died his father took care of his upbringing, he never lacked anything but for his father, a very authoritarian man, his son was a weeping and weak child. Victor did not receive affection and no matter how hard he tried, nothing was good enough for his father.
Victor grew up being a very lonely and sad young man, his studies were the most important thing for him and he always got excellent grades. When he came of age, he left the house and got a job so he could continue studying, got married and started a family but never saw his father ever again.
After many years Victor received a letter from his father, sad memories passed through his mind, he opened the letter and read it aloud "Dear son, when you read this letter I will have already died, I want to apologize because I did not know how to show you how much you mean to me. I never knew how to be a good father, I thought I did the best for you. Do not hold a grudge and never forget that I love you son".
Becca's mind floated through the emptiness of space. She peered through the finite world searching for any points of reference. She found nothing.
Total darkness. Total silence. Total peace.
There was not even the pull of gravity to tell her which way was up.
Her body was gone.
This must be death
Time seemed to be telescoping, stretching and compressing, as if it had no bearing in this place. She had lost track of how much time had passed.
Ten seconds? Ten minutes? Ten hours?
The memories that had billowed through the blackness of Becca's mind had come and gone. In their wake, a trail of red-hot sparks was swirling, along with the same eerie, distant whisper.
Don't think it... Don't say it... Don't think it
The chanting continued like the drone of voices in a medieval canticle.
It told of tales, she dared not say.
Light
The endless void in which Becca hovered was suddenly filled by a blinding sun. Rays of white-hot light streamed across the blackness of space, burning into her mind.
The light was everywhere.
And water, splashed on her face.
She jolted up, brought back to consciousness by the chill water.
Chiamaka was woken up by the kisses of her boyfriend Ebuka. He was to resume college that day and promised her that while he is away, he will keep video-calling and never forget her. The first few months went by and his promise was still standing. When he invited her to his hostel, they had so much to say to each other and had sex all night long. The next morning they were greeted by a group of boys with 'BAD' written all over them. Ebuka went out to attend to them but before she could put on her clothes, she heard a gun shot. She rushed out and saw the love of her life lying in a pool of his blood. With tears in her eyes, she woke from her sleep and realized it was all a dream. She has been so in love with a complete stranger.
Since Elisa had moved to the new house she always had the same dream at night, an old woman took her hand and took her to the garden pointing to a small corner of that huge land, the old woman smiled at her but she did not understand what she wanted to tell her.
One day, while cleaning the basement, Elisa found in a chest of an old piece of furniture what appeared to be a diary. When she opened it, there was a picture of a woman who, although younger, she recognized as the old lady she saw in her dreams.
In the diary the woman wrote how happy she was in that home with her beloved husband and that for their wedding anniversary he had planted a rose in the garden as a gift to her. When the war began her husband enlisted and died in battle, the rose bush was the most precious thing to her and a memory of her love. Elisa understood what the woman in her dreams wanted to say and planted a beautiful rosebush in her garden, never again having that dream.
Juancito.
It was like the sound of an owl or an owl, which made itself felt at nightfall and vanished with the first rays of the sun. Like a kind of song or whistle, which was heard close but at the same time far away. A sound that being so constant at dawn, became sinister and tense. It transmitted an adrenaline, which over time became fear. Nobody ever saw him, they could only hear and feel his presence. Some spoke of an evil spirit, of a soul that could not rest in peace, it was heard that it was a mischievous spirit, that scared people, but it was also said about a soul in pain, who was never baptized and indeed , I wandered without rest to get attention. Many theories, but one solution. My grandmother, the wisest and oldest of the neighborhood, took courage, the last time I heard the sound that issued the spirit, closed his eyes and while throwing holy water, recited this phrase: I baptize you as Juancito, in the name of the Father , of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. From that day, apparently, Juancito rest in peace. He never came back. END.
Yes, like forgetting those days of fear, that we did not want to go to the patio of the house hehe!
Haha that good that you remember it sister
My story is based on our experience
And well try to tell it here.
Friend that sure was a troll :-)
LOL. Hopefully it is not :(
hahahaha we frightened and even having nightmares at night and our grandmother as if nothing was happening.
HAHAHA. Brother @jesuscarrasquero you are right. Those nights I could not sleep well. In those days I was shaking with fear but now it laughs me :D
Something similar happened to me, one day I heard noises around my house and I imagined strange things and when I realized it was a cat that made a sound nothing like theirs. Sometimes happens.
If sometimes happens but I assure you that this time it was not a human, nor to be alive, it was something from another world haha
"Juancito" cooll. Hahaha
Last night i had an amazing experience i would not be in haste to forget.
It was lizzie. She came paddling into the room and i could see her quite clearly in the dim room. I was wowed at her beautiful sculpture frame work. It was my first time of her seeing her after many months of much friendly and heart connecting talks over the phone. This was exactly what i looked forward to, seeing Lizzie.
I stared at her in awe, full of wonder and taking careful mental snap shots (notes) of every moves and every part of her to triggered my interest and passion. I stared at her as she stood there wreathed in smiles, stretching out her hands to me in warmth embrace. The warmth i felt at such moment was beyond feelings. "so that is finally happening, so this is her...this indeed a dream come true".
I had a wonderful sense of comfort and renewal of contact. We stood there holding hands and staring deep into each others eyes in complete silence. I should know earlier that we were living in different realities - this was indeed a tale from beyond. It was just a dream.
The Otis elevator climbing the south pillar of the Eiffel Tower was overflowing with people. Inside the cramped lift, an austere old man in white, gazed down at the boy beside him. "You look pale, you should have stayed on the ground."
"I'm fine..." he replied, making every effort to put his anxiety in check. "I'll get out on the next level." I can't breathe.
The man leaned closer. "I thought by now you would have gotten over this." He brushed the child's cheek affectionately.
The boy felt remorseful to let down his father, he could hardly make out the muttering in his ears. I can't breathe. I've got to get off this box!
Suddenly a staccato crack echoed overhead. The carriage jerked, swaying awkwardly to one side. Frayed cables began whipping around the carriage, thrashing like snakes.
Then the bottom dropped out.
The boy began falling for what seemed like eternity. The muttering in his ear became audible, telling tales of the dead.
You have been chosen. Yes you To liberate us
The whispers became deafening as he kept falling.
He landed on his bed. The mattress was soaked from his perspiration.
It was a dream! The meaning was elusive.
The part where he began falling really scared me
Really cool story, depicts the story;
really weird story.
what role did the old man play in the story?
Eiffel Tower, Hmmmm. The set was in Paris, cool
Nice one @veakypearl
I thought he would fall to his death
Thumbs up @veakypearl
wow
This was really good Veaky, but you didn't stick to the rules. 199 words max.
From a young age, he saw ghosts, who appeared to ask him to give a message to his loved ones. His parents never believed him and took him to a psychologist.
As he grew up Peter stopped seeing a ghost and his life went by normally until, he moved to an old house.
Without Peter knowing his new home had been the scene of one of the most horrendous crimes in the region. A whole family was killed by a satanic cult to invoke the devil.
At first Peter was happy in his new home, but as the days went by he would constantly wake up scared and shivering. The spirits of the dead cried out to find peace for their souls, and Peter was the only one who listened to them. Trapped their souls in the house by a demonic spell, Peter was the only one who could free them and break the spell.
Peter tired of not being able to sleep, he faced against his beliefs and accepted his "gift", he listened to the spirits and they guided him to fight against the demon and break the spell that had their souls trapped ...
The blows of life
Leti was a 19 year old girl, her parents died in an accident when she was 15 years old, since then she lived with her aunt Carmen who mistreated her brutally to the point of leaving her unconscious.
One afternoon Aunt Carmen sent Leti shopping to prepare dinner, while Leti walked down the sidewalk was pursued by a car slowly, Leti realized when she detubo and look at the car asking why you follow me? the car detubo in front of her and a man answered him because you are very beautiful and I see how that mistress mistreats you so I do not want you to suffer more and ask you to come with me away from her. When I saw that you went out alone I could not contain myself anymore and that's why I followed you. My name is Victor. I will not hurt you. You can trust me that you say my Leti. Leti, very surprised, confused and scared, did not think about it and left with Victor, at 15 days she was a very happy lady because she had gotten rid of her aunt Carmen's monster. 6 months later Leti finds out that she is pregnant with Victor and does not know what to do, so she decides to go to a clinic and perform the abortion. At the moment almost to take out the fetus a thousand things happen to him by the mind and he decides not to do it and he regrets. When she arrives from the clinic Victor proposes her marriage, Leti very excited accepts and gives the news to Victor who would be dad within 4 months, the very excited looks at her with a big smile and tears in his eyes, he hugs her strongly from the emotion He has a heart attack and dies in his arms.My Post
Visitors