Another Brick In the Wall by Alex Reuhdanz
Alex ReuhdanzMr. SantopadrePhilosophy19 September 1995 “I don't know how to live. Every second that goes by is a minute wasted. My heart pumps for no one. My telephone rings, and…[...]
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Suburban Riot
CW: Brief sexually inappropriate content I am sitting at the classroom table. Chris my friend is next to me.“Check this out,” Chris says. He hands me his phone and I…[...]
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Andromache, O Sunlight Fair
I’ve been musing over the story of my high school crush, Andromache Myrsiades, a girl I never spoke to once. In reality, she wasn’t merely a crush, nor merely “mine”;…[...]
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Wizard Enterprises.
Essentially, the three founding members of Wizard Enterprises had hatched a hopeful plan. It was something different from Rochelle's daily routine. As Spring was approaching, it was time for school…[...]
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The Orange Barrel Polka
Trigger Warning: Drug use When I was 16, the cliques in my high school were the Goodies, Alkies, Druggies, Squirrels, Motorheads, Jocks, and Loners. I considered myself between the Alkies…[...]
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Six Minutes
Six MinutesThe fear that gripped him was almost one of extreme terror, but not quite. Mike wouldn’t allow himself to give in to fear entirely. “Do you see who you…[...]
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Love is the Answer: My Second Chance at Life
My life hasn’t been easy. You see, I should have been dead a long time ago. As Langston Hughes says, “My life has not been a crystal stair.”I was an…[...]
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Saved By The Bell
Billy stared at the digital clock, on the repurposed scoreboard hanging from the wall, at one end of the hall. As if it was the dying seconds of a nail-biting…[...]
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Bad Passenger
Bad Passenger It’s the end of my sophomore semester in high school and I’m at a party in the woods near Minturn with my boyfriend Jim and his buddy, Ed.…[...]
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Eggs in a Basket
Gummy bears used to be my favorite snack. I’d ride in the backseat, staring at the back of my parents’ heads as the car would bounce and jolt as we…[...]
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I am Flying.
After the roaring success of Romance Services, the three members of Wizard Enterprises settled themselves. Jarryd was still keen on studying marketing or advertising one day, while Todd was focused…[...]
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My Evil Knievel impersonation
Since I was 10 and into my early teens, my friends and I explored San Francisco on our bikes. We rode miles in all directions, from Twin Peaks to the…[...]
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Notes In The Margins
Post Patrol ReportDay: 27Filed by: Iarumas Vigilante’s [vigilantes*] out on the street: Iarumas, Compound.Remote backup: Oriceye (she/her).This night’s patrol was rather standard. Nothing out of the ordinary happened on patrol.…[...]
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Witchy Woman.
" 'Twas all a tale of Kismet, her one true love finally met...." Rochelle was trying to write a light romance, with some magical love potions and bewitching spells changing…[...]
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C HANGING CONTINENTS
So the time has arrived. I begin packing my suitcase. This time I won’t be gone for just one or two weeks. I am moving to Europe.What do I need?…[...]
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Dear Eldridge Cleaver
Dear Eldridge Cleaver by Cathy Newman A morning “scroll” through my phone was halted by a headline, “18-year-old male is dead, and three students are in custody, after a fatal,…[...]
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Wishful Thinking
Nora Hargraves desired silence. She required it. Demanded it. The potion’s next step was the most fragile. A single misstep, one careless sound, and three months of work would be…[...]
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The Narcissist
It was four in the morning and blissfully quiet save for the gentle hum of the car engine in the empty parking lot. Hailey pulled out her phone camera to…[...]
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Speaking of Superpowers
Speaking Of SuperpowersFor now, I am going to ignore the fact that I am not great at learning languages. It is exceedingly difficult for me. But I am going to…[...]
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Stupid with love
What did it mean if the boy you were in a situationship with played truth or dare with another girl and made out with her? I wasn't sure how anyone…[...]
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The School Topper
Initially, I’d held my head high in the deep green, silver-bordered saree I was wearing. But walking through the gargantuan crowd of hundreds of students in the school lobby, every…[...]
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The Wallflower’s Mask
This story includes depictions of a school shooting, fear, and an injury; although they are not graphic. I always thought my name was a good fit for me. Charlotte—it means…[...]
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Chapter 1: The Lunchroom
Chapter 1: The Lunchroom It was early Monday morning and an announcement from the intercom interrupted my nap. “Good morning students! This school year has been off to a great…[...]
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I Was Wrong About Everything
I Was Wrong About Everything Lunch was no longer a priority. There was no time to waste on eating. I was running from one club meeting to another. How? I…[...]
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Worth Losing For
~Gwen~ Gwendolyn Sterling did not lose. Gwen walked into school with dark circles under her eyes. A thin layer of concealer pathetically tried to cover it up, but she knew…[...]
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Healing Wounds
Ring… Ring… Ring..The alarm clock on Ziva’s Prescotts’s Purple IPhone went off.After 5th rang, the snooze button was pressed. Dragging herself out of her Pinot bed. She headed over to…[...]
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april and other unfinished things
Jude has known since he was six that he’d never have a future.Sometimes, in the quiet of the night, his parents sit him down at the table like he's a…[...]
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Longing for my Reason
“Good Morning Handsome”… “Good Morning Handsome”. I’m tempted to play the recording one more time, but I’ve been indulging in this for 25 minutes now and if I continue, I…[...]
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What is a human?
My daily session with my therapist. Daily? Yea, daily. It was that or a heavier dose of the mood stabilizer. I didn’t like the fuzzy feeling from the heavier dose.…[...]
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What We Carry
Out the window, you would see kids playing soccer or chatting with friends. They were happy, gossiping away in the breeze.But there was always someone only a few people knew.…[...]
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A Potpourri of Freaks
Potpourri of Freaks was the name I suggested for our band. It’s what kids at school whispered about our trio of misfits as we walked past in the corridors. When…[...]
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A Spark of Hope
Sometimes people aren’t as good at things as others. It is important to be able to accept that you are not as good at something and be willing to improve.…[...]
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Seasons out of time
Goodbye to YouThe words came to Eli Carter as if from another life.He sat alone in the dim hush of his childhood bedroom, with the words, Goodbye to you, my…[...]
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In the kitchen of Madame Noro
In THE KITCHEN OF Mme NORO The house was smelling very good. The delicious odor emanated from the other room. It was apparently the kitchen after a glance at it.…[...]
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Penguins in Aruba
Jamie has never professed to be a writer. He’s not very creative, and honestly, his sister tells enough tall tales for the both of them. He lets his sister handle…[...]
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To the Sea
To the Sea Lifeless. Desolate. Meaningless.That is how my days felt after you left. After you hastily sawed through the thread of your being, leaving me grasping for the frayed…[...]
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Premonitions of Everyone Else
Dear Katherine, I’ve always hated those people who name their diaries. I swore I’d never do it. You’re just a book. But the name Katherine has just been in my…[...]
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Colored Central
May 2001, Central High School Tuscaloosa, Alabama, AP Stats "You should definitely stay put," said Janiyah. "Why would you change and then risk getting the wrong door?" Mr. Nade had…[...]
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The colours in the dark
Whispers swirl, and colours whip past me. These strings and flashes of light are rushing somewhere. They wisp and float into the dark where I can't see. I pull and…[...]
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Bad Rubbish
Trigger Note: Contains themes of grief, death, bullying, and mental health. Well, it’s weird I suppose; not knowing how to feel. Sadness, a welling of empathy from my chest, regrets;…[...]
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Family Dinner
Jared looked at his son, Bobby, subtly in his peripherals. They sat next to each other at the breakfast bar, his son‘s cereal untouched. Oh I know this look, Jared…[...]
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Sloan Dreams
He was white water rafting speeding down a river with intense rapids buffeting him around in a small blow up boat of some kind. He felt like he was about…[...]
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Almost Is Never Enough
I never thought I’d be this close to ever losing him. I could’ve saved him. I was so close. If I’d just had been faster, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt…[...]
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Over the Cliff
The humidity is on us like slime as we bike down the dirt road. It’s 10 am and the sun is an inferno. School officially started this morning, but we…[...]
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The Coraline Factor
As Vikky walked down the paths leading to the school’s quadrangle, other students moved aside or stopped what they were doing to look at her. Her black hair bobbed, her…[...]
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Chasing Juliet
“You should totally go for it,” Artie says, giving my shoulder a squeeze as we stand gazing at the poster on the school’s bulletin board. ‘Romeo and Juliet – auditions this…[...]
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The Sting of Regret
I didn’t fire her because she was failing. Or loud. Or late. Or any of the things they tell you to document with timestamps and bullet points. I fired her…[...]
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Primum Nil Nocere
The big day had finally arrived at the School for Gifted Children, and the dean practically kowtowed from his own office. The staff and a coterie of New York’s most…[...]
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Burn Damage
Beth sauntered toward the sound of crashing water, the twinkling dance of a shoal marker providing promise that she was getting close. She felt the unfamiliar tickle of sand beneath…[...]
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Multiple Choice
Okay class! Pop quiz. If you've been doing the readings, this should be a piece of cake. Remember to fill out both sides of this paper. You have the whole…[...]
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The Heart of Henry Harrison
Henry Harrison lived his life confined to two words. Too much. The words he lived by were, show the whole world who you are. The same words were used against…[...]
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A Passionate Life
Seville 1812 My name is Guillermo Antonio Cortés. And I am a Flamenco Dancer.“Guillermo,” says Mercédès, my wife. “It is almost time, the crowd is waiting. Ándale.”I look up at…[...]
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The First Man to Say It Last
Leonard Morrow fed the rejection letters into the coal grate one at a time. He did not burn them in a bundle. Each one deserved its own small death. The…[...]
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Coffee Break
Tuesday, August 18th, 2001Dear Diary,It feels like 19 is too old to still be writing in a diary, but when I’m a famous Broadway actress it will be fun to…[...]
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The Falling Man
CW: Terrorist attack, mass casualty event, suicide, trauma. Today was like every other dayI headed to work through the crowds of work consumed zombiesOrientation started at 8 AM and I…[...]
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Going the Distance
On August 30, 1904, at 3:03 p.m. David R. Francis, a prized local hero, fired the starting pistol in St. Louis Olympic Stadium. The men were off. Thirty-two of the…[...]
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The Long Ride Home
It’s my second day on this train from Washington D.C. to Springfield Illinois. When we arrive at the depot there, I will serve as a poll bearer for our fallen…[...]
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Jingle Bells
1856 Emily ran with a columbine in her long, dark hair. A boy, the same age as she, followed. Together they spread their arms like hummingbirds over a river of…[...]
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Little Boy
Content note: This story depicts the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, including severe injuries and civilian casualties. Hiroshima, Japan — August 6, 1945 — Late MorningThe girl’s shadow…[...]
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Downhill to Heartbreak Pier
Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland - Spring 1847 My eyes yawn open. The room is dark and still. My back groans as I shift around on the wooden floorboards, they creak…[...]
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A Southbound Journey
Friday 12th June The exam went well. The same warm weather as yesterday has been present today. Fortunately, the sun did not watch us taking the exam, she chose to…[...]
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The Wheat at 6:15
The wheat, oh my god, the golden wheat. Her hands went through it like a mother’s hand through the hair of their child. She was too young at 17, but…[...]
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Still There.
**This story is a work of fiction. It contains descriptions of violence and mental health struggles. However, the themes of feeling isolation and the PTSD our veterans endure are all…[...]
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The Rest Was History
The Rest Was History_Gyro The sun on Rhodes hit the bronze dust differently in the afternoon. Thicker somehow, more deliberate. Gyro had learned to read the light the way other…[...]
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Railway memories
07/03/1995Dear diary,today I would like to talk to you about how precious memories are and how they are never in vain. Edith Arbour has always been a girl who cherished…[...]
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Velouté and Garçon’s Curtain Call
The cigar smoke-filled stage reverberated with applause as the gaslights flickered and the thick burgundy velvet curtain descended Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom in the autumn of 1907. A thunderous ovation erupted…[...]
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Luck of the Irish
(This story contains mental health, physical abuse, and substance abuse in it. Only meant for twelve and up.)How to fit your whole life in one suitcase? Boy, Liam wished there…[...]
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The Things I Couldn’t Pack
That morning Mama and Baba were having another one of their secret conversations after breakfast. I heard it, though. I hear almost all of the conversations they hide from us…[...]
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The Last Entry
(CW: wartime themes) ***Die 25 Martii 1950– Sriboznya, Provincia Orientalis Everything went precisely as planned. Operation Gannet was a success. Thanks to our Avian unit, the eastern province is now…[...]
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Gladys, Briefly
Based on the true story of Gladys Roy, barnstorming wing-walker of the 1920s.The bi-plane made its final turn toward the Hollywood Hills, which meant it was time for Ivan and…[...]
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Five Minutes
Higher and higher. Numbers are climbing up the scale. Almost every minute that goes by, another number increases. One minute, the radio read 36.9℃, the next it read 38.3℃, and…[...]
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He Wasn’t the Same
He Wasn’t the SameUnion County, IowaFriday, June 8, 19459:21 a.m. Eighteen-year-old Jakub Nowak, the youngest son of Polish immigrant farmers, settled into a thinly padded seat for the longest train-trip…[...]
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The Seer and The City
Just the day before as they walked round the city, their guide had pointed out landmarks related to one of the darkest times in human history. A beautiful city, it…[...]
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Fallen Swan
I stand in front of the mirror, hating my reflection. I’m wearing the same thing I do every single day- a modest green sweater overtop a white collared shirt with…[...]
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Birthdays, Bread and Buccaneers
Birthdays, Bread and BuccaneersBy Peter Alexander James “What books are you going to take?” Henri asked before turning his gaze to the scab on his knee. “She won’t have room…[...]
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The White Rose
The queen is dead. They come to break the news as he is breaking his fast. A fever, brought on by childbirth. The child dead, too, not two days past.…[...]
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THE DEAD ROAD
The embankment shouldn't have been there.Aleksei had worked this corridor twice before, checking survey markers for the pipeline company, and he knew the ground. Swamp to the north. Larch forest…[...]
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Trace of Blood, Path of Time
The team of five archaeologists were making their way across the ruins of Dhanushkodi to find clues about the methods of construction of the legendary Ram Setu. Svetlana, the team…[...]
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Swan’s Heist
No one was around to hear the loud pop before Agatha and Jane stepped out of the bathroom stall together. The date was November twenty-eight, nineteen sixty-six, and these two…[...]
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Alone In The Depression
Sensitive Content: death, loss, poverty, illness, and grief Alone. They called it the Great Depression later on, but back then, we didn’t name it anything. It was just… the way…[...]
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Henry The Navigator
LondonSeptember, 1939. The morning skies filled with the wailing cries of the lost, and Henry knew he would never find home again. Henry hated not knowing where he was. In…[...]
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❄️Miss Holiday❄️
Coldness is an incurable sickness. The frozen rule set in my mind that I’m prohibited from standing too close to windows. With a perfect view and perfect shot, I could…[...]
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There is a River in Space Above Earth
Laughter came from a little boy all the way down from faraway Japan. After that, there hadn’t been much left empty cities lie vacant, and the animals that scrape them…[...]
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Teddy and the Tyrannosaur
Good sir, I must warn you that my services are costly, but your adventure will certainly stand the test of time. I will need a deposit and a binding guarantee…[...]
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The Unsatisfied Time Traveller
I tried reasoning with the girl behind the counter, whose hair was the colour of pink sand, but she would not lower the price.“It’s already discounted,” she said, tapping her…[...]
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The Time Traveling Kitchen
“This looks like a kitchen.. like a cooking show kitchen…” I say, surprised when the other tech showed me. “I know, its weird right? An alien, building a kitchen, an…[...]
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The Very Tall Tales of Jim Bagly
Welcome to Milford, Tennessee set in the foothills of the idyllic Smokie Mountains. With a population of around six thousand. Most of the good citizens of Milford have roots that…[...]
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Blossom of Hope
“Here you are, Miss Edwardson,” Mr. Chester’s solicitor declares as he drops the keys of Chester Manor into my outstretched hand. I breathe a sigh of relief. Chester Manor is…[...]
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Garden Knight
Garden KnightNot all heroes carry swords—some carry watering cansThe wagon beneath Arken rattled over the ruts of the old road. But his mind was not on the road; it was…[...]
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