The following are the winning entries from our New Year's Eve contest. Congratulations to the winners!
You can read more about our contest here.
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PROMPT #1
While everyone else is celebrating New Year's Eve, you're investigating the murder of a big time producer's daughter. As you fall asleep at your desk, you have a dream of the victim's ghost. She's the only one who knows what happened, after all. In 100 words, write about what happens in that dream.
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"Who are you?" I asked the ghostly veiled figure walking toward me slowly.
"I am Angelina, the one who was killed."
My mind was racing. I must have fallen asleep while researching the case of Angelina Von Drabble. It was midnight, so I had been very tired. Now that I thought about it, the new year had probably already come. "Why are you here?" I asked.
She stepped forward and lifted thin veil from her face, saying, "Don't you remember? I am Angelina, the one who you killed."
I froze, staring shocked into the face of my last unnamed victim.
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Henri Fraser lifted his head, finding his office shrouded in shadow. Looking around, he noticed the bright colours of the midnight traffic blocked out and replaced with a concrete wall
"There you are."
Henri screamed. Seated on his desk was Diana Laron, Mr. Domani's dead daughter.
"I have a clue for you," she spoke, tapping her needle-like fingernails on the surface of the desk, chipping the wood. Henri remained silent.
Diana traced a circle around her neck where the noose had fastened. "By might hands, Diana has fallen," she whispered, kissing him on the forehead.
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"Help me..." a whisper spoke, her steps grew louder each time she walked.
Trying to step back, he could not move. "What happened?" He asked, as a ghostly figure approached him. "Tell me everything," he says with a calm and quiet voice.
She starts to crumple onto the floor, crying of the horrific last breath that she remembered. "He works with my Father," she answered.
Her eyes start to darken, and her mouth closes up. Something changes her, as if she got possessed by someone. The air starts to get cold, feeling his spine start to shiver as a silent growl emerges.
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PROMPT #2
It's New Year's Eve and you've decided to head home early to spend the night with your significant other. When you arrive home, you find your lover gone. Only the dead body of a child remains, and in the child's hands is a crumpled, bloody note that reads: Find me. In 100 words, write about what happens next.
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She finds him on the bottom step, a scarlet necklace drip-dyeing his pyjamas. The note in his doll-scale fingers reads, 'Find me' — same as the text message stealing her from the party.
You ask so prettily, darling.
Moonlight spills through a skylight above the landing; a waxing crescent, apropos for this occasion. Gideon waits in the bedroom door, smelling of champagne and rust. "Did you kill the girl?" is his greeting.
She sniffs. "Of course."
He crosses the carpet to kiss her shoulder. A firework spits gold at the moon. "To another year bought."
"To our hundredth," she agrees.
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Blonde bowl cut hairstyle, crisp white dress shirt which was now had blotches of red tucked into suspenders. And a red bowtie to complete the outfit. One look into the boy's lifeless eyes was all the confirmation I needed.
Charles? My adult husband?
Stumbling to my feet, I flung open the drawer next to me. Rummaging through the junk my fingers finally grasped around the photo album. Flipping to the first page I frowned. No this was impossible.
6 year old Charles stood in front of an open casket smiling. My name was printed below, 'May she rest in peace'.
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I immediately hurried outside, almost fainting at the sight of the blood everywhere. After I called the cops, I look again at the peculiar letter. What could it possibly mean, and where on earth is my boyfriend?
I tripped on a curb but luckily I didn't injure myself. Then I noticed another note on the ground, stained with blood. It wrote, "First date". I ran towards the park, and there I found something horrifying.
Bodies, everywhere, oozing with fresh blood.
"Hi baby....did you look for me?" I looked up.
And there he was. Holding a gun to his head.