The Writer’s Quill Story Submissions

Unfortunately when the judging team of The Writer’s Quill receives submissions for a writing prompt, only one story can be selected to win. However, there are always some amazing stories that come in very close 2nd, so I’d like to share some of those stories with you! Here are a couple that didn’t win, but were nevertheless wonderful and very enjoyable stories! I hope you enjoy them, too!

Prompt: The flame licked the corner of the paper. I never wanted to see it again. The words upon it in their elegant scrawl had once meant the world to me, but now, all I wanted was for it to be gone.

Where I Fit In, by Lindsay Newman, 11th Grade

I had done it.

Sure, it wasn’t a Nobel Peace Prize. Maybe it wasn’t a fifty-dollar gift card to the Barnes and Noble I so desperately wished to visit. It wasn’t a lifetime supply of Trader Joe’s groceries. I hadn’t won any beauty contests (that was definitely out of the picture, no matter what my mom said). I wasn’t holding four Disney Cruise tickets. I hadn’t even won those Fall Out Boy concert tickets from the radio. None of those things mattered in that moment as I stared at my phone screen, with the thin crack across it.

I blinked rapidly, reading, then re-reading, and then re-re-reading the blocky Evite letters on the screen. I shook my head, maybe my vision was just blurring, playing with my mind. My gaze returned to the screen. The letters remained. I squeezed my brown eyes shut so tightly that a headache began throbbing in my skull. I opened them, watching the blotches of cross my vision. As soon as those were gone, I checked the screen once more.

The Evite really WAS on my phone. It really WAS in my email. I was invited to Kayla Brown’s Sweet Sixteen party on Friday.

I flopped back against the cold concrete wall behind me and stared at nothing in particular, a funny, dazed smile on my lips. How did I—ME—Cassidy Daniels, the awkward 10th grader who had never had a crush, get invited to the birthday party of the most popular 10th grader in the school?

I looked down and saw my reflection in a puddle nearby, beginning to soak my backpack straps. I looked at my rounded glasses frames, wavy brown hair, and pale skin that hadn’t tanned since first grade. I sighed. There was no way I had gotten an invite. It was probably just a mistake. Kayla most likely tapped my contact by accident and forgot to take me off of the guest list. That had to be it. I refused to believe that Kayla Brown wanted me within a five-mile radius of her house, let alone be INSIDE her house. I’d probably “scuff up the marble”, or “spread unwanted germs.”

Deleting the Evite with a swipe of my finger, I shoved my phone into my back pocket and forced myself to my feet. I searched the never-ending line of vehicles waiting to pick up kids from school and nearly growled when I failed to find my mother. She was usually so on top of it, always there early so I could get out as soon as possible. Apparently, she had something better to do.

I stood there in the shade of a tree, slumped forward with (a) the weight of my backpack, and (b) the weight of the 10th grade world. I hated high school. I had enough friends to count on my fingers (that means less than eight—I don’t count thumbs), and every teacher gave out the most boring assignments and the biggest loads of homework I’d ever heard of. It was inhumane. They were all probably some sort of mutations, designed to numb our brains so that they can kidnap us and eat us.

I gave a huffy laugh at my own thoughts.

Suddenly, a large body of mass slammed into me and I tumbled back into the dried leaves from the oak tree above me. My mouth formed an “O” shape and I shot to my feet immediately, leaving my bag on the ground. I found myself face-to-face with the boys’ senior track star, Jeff Carter. The “O” on my face flattened into a thin line.

“Watch where you’re going, Jeff,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Maybe you shouldn’t stand in the middle of the walkway,” he spat back, that incompetent smirk asking to be punched off of his perfect, tan face.

“Where I stand wouldn’t be a problem if you looked where you were going. Are you blind? Did you forget your contacts at home?” I asked, crossing my arms. I tried to make my meager five feet and eight inches look like six feet tall, but it didn’t seem to work. He still towered over me at six feet and five inches. I begged myself to not feel intimidated by him.

“If I was blind,” he began, taking a step towards me, “I wouldn’t be able to do this.” With that, he snatched me by the hair as I tried to turn away and pulled me close to his face. I could smell his hot, minty breath as he attempted to keep his cool.

“Let. Me. Go,” I said, squirming for a moment before I felt like my hair would be ripped from my head. Whispers zipped around the school yard, and I pleaded with anyone that I could make eye contact with.

“Let her go, Jeff,” a deep voice said from behind me. Jeff’s face turned white as a sheet, while I gave him the biggest smile I could muster. I knew that voice. Jeff released his grip on my hair and backed away from me as fast as he could without making it seem like he was scared.

“Hey, Bobby!” Jeff said in greeting to the school’s quarterback, Bobby Sanders. He sounded just as nervous as he looked, and I couldn’t have been happier.

“Get lost,” Bobby said, the frown obvious in his voice. Jeff did just as commanded. I turned and beamed at my rescuer. He was six feet and three inches, with a mop of blonde hair and ever-changing hazel eyes. It really payed to be best friends of the toughest guy in school.

“You could have showed up earlier, you know,” I told him pointedly.

Bobby shook his head and laughed quietly. “How many times are you going to have to get into trouble before you learn how to avoid it?” he asked.

“I give it ten more times. I might have a clue by then,” I replied. He rolled his eyes and smothered me in a hug. “You seen my mom around?”

“She wants me to give you a ride home,” Bobby answered. “You’re lucky I came to find you when I did.”

I smiled. “I know you’re always gonna be there when I need you. Like a bodyguard,” I said.

Bobby ruffled my hair and steered me towards my backpack. He hoisted it onto his shoulder with no problem at all and we walked to his car in the parking lot.

*****

“Thanks for bringing her home, Bobby!” Mom called out to the black car in our driveway. Bobby stuck his hand out of the window and waved before leaving. I waved back and slurped the remains of the chocolate milkshake in the plastic cup I was holding. Somehow, Bobby always knew how to brighten my day. After tossing the cup into the trash, the events of the day came crashing down on me. I heaved my backpack onto the kitchen counter and sighed heavily.

“Mom, I think I need a haircut,” I said dismally, massaging my head where Jeff had yanked on my hair.

“Your hair is lovely, why cut it?” Mom answered, slapping a stack of mail down beside my backpack.

I rolled my eyes. “There’s this kid—”

“A bully?” she asked immediately.

I nodded slowly. “He’s…a jerk…and he grabbed my hair today,” I explained.

“I’ll call your principal,” Mom said, grabbing the house phone from it’s charging port. “Is this the first time?”

“Mom, no, don’t call. He’ll get mad at me, he might even do something worse!” I cried, snatching the phone from her.

Mom shook her head and took the phone back. “The school should be notified, bullies shouldn’t be allowed to just get away with whatever they want,” she began to dial the school’s number, and my heart raced. I tried to think of something to tell her, but it was too late. I groaned as Mom greeted the principal with a threatening tone. I turned to my backpack, unzipped the largest pocket, and shoved my head inside to block out the sound.

After a while, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I lifted my head slowly. “If I die at school, I hope you know that you are the reason for my murder,” I said grumpily.

“These things can’t be ignored, I’m sorry,” Mom apologized. I sighed and nodded. “On the bright side…” she began, looking at the mail on the counter, “you got a letter.”

I turned to look at her and gazed at the rectangular envelope in her hand. My eyes widened when I read the address in the top left corner. It was from Kayla Brown. Slowly, I took the envelope and opened it. I pulled out a folded sheet of paper. Once it was unfolded, I gaped at the beautiful, swooping writing that danced across the page. It was an invitation to her birthday party.

“Mom!” I exclaimed, jumping onto the island in the center of the kitchen and crawling to the other side where my mom sat at the stove. “Do you know what this is?!?”

“A letter…?” Mom replied, looking ever so slightly worried for my sanity.

“It’s an invitation! To a party!” I shouted, dropping down beside my mother. “I got invited!!!”

“Congrats!” Mom said. “…I think.”

“I’ve been an outcast all of high school, they’ve finally noticed me!” I said happily.

Mom smiled softly and pushed my glasses up to the bridge of my nose. “Well good for you, sweetie.”

“I can go, right?” I asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Mom answered.

“Yes!” I cried, dashing from the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Mom called after me.

I skidded to a halt at the door to my room and zipped back into the kitchen. “I only have a day and a half to prepare! You don’t expect me to sit around doing nothing, do you?” With that, I sped back into my room and began digging through my closet.

*****

“Bobby’s here, Cass!” Mom shouted from outside my room.

“Okay!” I called back. I turned to look in the mirror and studied my appearance. I had finally decided—with a lot of help from Bobby—on a pair of jeans and a black, ruffled blouse. I threw my hair into a rushed ponytail, snatched my purse from my bed, and ran to the door to meet Bobby.

“You look cute,” Mom remarked thoughtfully, looking me up and down. “Don’t forget a jacket. I heard it’s going to be cold tonight.”

“I’ll be fine,” I answered. “We’ll be inside anyways.”

“She’ll be too busy rubbing elbows with the ‘popular kids’ to be cold,” Bobby teased with a wink. I stuck out my tongue at him playfully in return.

“I sure hope you’ll keep your tongue in your mouth at the party,” Mom said.

“I’ll be sophisticated. Ish,” I answered.

“Make me proud,” Mom said. “Have fun!”

“We will!” Bobby and I called back. After hugging my mom good-bye, I trotted out to catch up with Bobby by his car.

“Are you nervous?” he asked, holding my door open for me.

I tilted my head from side to side as if weighing my thoughts. “You bet!” I replied. Then I slid into the passenger seat and watched him close it behind me.

The car ride seemed to take HOURS. Every second, every stop light, and every turn ticked by at the pace of a snail. But finally, we made it to the two-story palace of the Brown family. I almost jumped out of the car while Bobby was parking it.

While we waited to be let in, I gaped at the sculpted columns holding up the awning over our heads. “Remember what you mom said about your tongue?” Bobby asked. I punched his shoulder lightly and rolled my eyes. Then, the door swung open.

Kayla Brown in all her fashion magazine glory grinned at me with a slight twinkle of mischief in her eyes. Usually I would say how much I hate her perfect blonde curls, how much I wish her gorgeous green eyes would fizzle and die, but today I was her guest, and I couldn’t have been more grateful to her.

Her eyes darted to Bobby and she gave him a wink that I shrugged off as twitch. “Come on in guys!” she said happily. Bobby and I walked in and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Everything in her house was twice as large as in mine. I felt like an ant. “Everyone is outside,” Kayla said, leading us down a hallway to the back doors. Through the sliding glass, I saw the glowing pool and thousands of party lights illuminating the party.

The minute we stepped outside, music nearly blasted me off my feet. I could barely hear myself think. And it was amazing. Kayla disappeared into the crowd and I tried to hunt down some familiar faces. When I couldn’t find a single person I knew, I decided to stick close to Bobby.

We were dangling our feet in the warm pool water when I saw Jeff. Bobby had just splashed me, and I had almost fallen in, but when he caught me, I caught sight of the last person I wanted to see. He was smiling rather darkly, and I couldn’t help but feel like he was up to something. I’d heard that the principal gave him a week’s detention for bullying. He couldn’t have been very happy with me.

As the night went on, I forgot about Jeff and got lost in the music, starting a lip sync battle with some juniors Bobby knew. After an hour of Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepson, Eminem, Pit Bull, and Fall Out Boy, Bobby and I were feeling kind of thirsty.

“I can get us some drinks,” Bobby said, panting after winning (again) with his performance of “Call Me Maybe.” I sat back in a lawn chair, gazing up at the twinkling party lights, and sighed. I had never thought parties could be so fun. As I imagined what could happen next, a figure towered above me and blocked my view of the lights.

“Do you mind—” I began, only to cut myself short. Jeff stared down at me, a cold glare making my heart pound. I could feel my throat tighten, and my cheeks heat up.

“Hey there,” Jeff said. “Thanks for ratting me out on Wednesday.”

“Jeff, I—” I tried to say, but any other words were drowned out. I couldn’t think. All I knew for sure was that I was in trouble.

“I’ve really enjoyed Mr. Polk’s detention sessions. Annoying and meaningless…like you,” Jeff answered. Suddenly I was on my feet and I felt my hair being pulled yet again. I let out a yelp of pain as Jeff pulled me towards the pool. I searched the crowd for Bobby, and tears welled up in my eyes when I saw that Jeff’s track buddies were holding him by the arms, preventing him from coming to my aid.

I watched as the pool came closer. Jeff came to a stop at the edge, but I felt myself continue to move. I tried to stop him. I grabbed his arm, swung my fists at him, but nothing worked. My toes left the concrete edge and I felt the slap of water against my body. I fought and kicked to the surface, but something pulled me back down. I forced my eyes open, ignoring the sting of chlorine, and spotted a boy holding my feet from below. I yanked a foot free and kicked at the boy. When my other foot came free, I figured I had hit him.

My lungs about to burst, I gasped for air as I broke the surface of the water. I looked around for anymore kids that might have been after me, and I spotted the boy that had been holding my feet. He was climbing out of the water, blood dripping from his nose. A small surge of pride was washed away from pity. I hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone.

I swam as fast as I could to the opposite end of the pool in an attempt to avoid Jeff, but he was already there, wading into the water to meet me. I wanted to cry and beg him to leave me alone. I could do his homework or even bring him lunch. I wanted a way out, but there weren’t many options. I decided that the deep end was a bad idea, considering it’d be easier for him to drown me. I just stood there, waiting for him to reach me.

Jeff was only feet away when I felt someone’s hands lift me from the pool. Jeff tried to grab me, but I was just out of reach. Dripping wet, I shivered on the concrete, curled in a ball. I looked up at my rescuer and smiled when I found Bobby. He worked his jacket off of his shoulders and wrapped me in it, helping me to my feet. With an arm around my shoulders, he led me through the crowd, shoving and pushing anyone who tried to stop us.

Suddenly, we stopped. I watched Bobby snatch up a basketball, then continue through the crowd with me beside him. Once we broke through the immense group of kids, we met Jeff as well. He was angry and was glaring at Bobby. “You’re going to wish—” Jeff began.

Bobby didn’t let him finish his threat. He took the basketball and thrust it into Jeff’s face, knocking him backwards. We left him moaning on the concrete.

When Bobby and I were in his car, he turned on the heater while I sat curled up in the passenger seat. On the ride home, we didn’t say much, but I could tell Bobby wanted to do more than throw a basketball at Jeff. I turned to him and said, “Don’t try to do anything else to Jeff.”

Bobby braked rather hard at the stop sign.

“What?” he asked sharply.

“He’s not worth thinking about, just leave him alone. He needs less attention, not more,” I told him. “Just don’t do anything…violent.”

“So he can drown you and get away with it? I don’t think so,” Bobby answered.

We pulled up outside my house and he parked the car. “Bobby, please. Tell the principal, tell his mom for all I care, but don’t get yourself in trouble, okay?” I asked. “That’s my job.”

Bobby scoffed. He shook his head and raked his hand through his hair, but finally said, “Fine. I’ll leave him alone. But I will hardly leave your side ever again.”

I nodded. “I’m not complaining,” I said.

When Mom opened the door, she seemed to immediately know that something was wrong. She ushered us inside and sat us both in front of the fireplace. I watched as a roaring fire sprang to life and the yellow light danced across the walls. The warmth felt wonderful.

I told my mom everything. I had never seen her so angry before. She disappeared for the rest of the night, but Bobby and I could hear the muffled shouts as she yelled at everyone who might have been responsible. At one point, I had gone to retrieve the invitation from my room, then returned to sit with Bobby. I looked at the paper with disgust. I couldn’t believe I had ever wanted to go to that party. I didn’t belong there.

I took the invitation and set it near the fire. I watched as it. The flame licked the corner of the paper. I never wanted to see it again. The words upon it in their elegant scrawl had once meant the world to me, but now, all I wanted was for it to be gone.

“Are you okay?” Bobby asked suddenly, watching the invitation transform into ash.

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Disappointed, though,” I answered.

“Understandable,” Bobby replied.

“I was stupid to think I needed that party,” I said dismally.

Bobby smiled softly. “You don’t need anybody as long as you be yourself.”

I nodded slowly. “Though, I needed YOU today,” I said with a small smile. “Thank you.”

Bobby shrugged. “You know I’ll always be here for you,” he answered. He slung an arm around my shoulders and we sat together, watching the fire burn away the remaining memories of that night’s events.

THE END

~

Prompt: “He turned the key in the lock and opened the door.  To his horror, he saw…”

Alone, by Eric Wunder, 12th Grade

He lived alone. All alone in the woods, five miles away from the first sign of civilization. There wasn’t even a road sign on his roads. He lived off the land, used a woodstove, made his dog food himself. He had a car, a 1985 Ford F-150, but was never seen driving it and was never even know to start it. No one knew anything about him, except his best friend, Robert. Robert would sit near the barbershop, talking and rocking in his old hickory rocking chair. Robert was going on 35, yet acted like he was 70. He was always too ready to tell the sad and strange story of Jebediah Stoller.

“Seven years ago, we were inseparable. We lived on the same farm, Jeb and I. We were like brothers. Four cows, a hundred and fifty chickens, twenty sheep, three dogs, a couple pigs, a small farm to some. We bought more acres, planted corn, harvested it every fall. One spring day I went to town for more seed. I had to go to the hardware store as well for a pickaxe. Ours had hit a rock and snapped the handle. Jeb said it was my fault, seeing how I left it out in the rain and the wood got weaker. I agreed to get the new one, and pick up some corn seeds. The sun was shining, the birds singing. It was an amazing day. I loved where we lived, I loved everything about my life at that moment. I never suspected it would drastically change that day. In town, I parked near the post office. I walked to the hardware store, breathing in the excellent air. It was a day in May, I think it was the 14th. I entered the hardware store and nodded to the owner. ‘Nice day.’

“He nodded. ‘Very nice. The trees are getting their buds.’ He was smiling radiantly. I smiled back and kept moving into the store. Then I saw her. She was a gorgeous girl, enough to catch my eye from the entire store’s length. I felt a strange attraction as I walked towards her. As soon as I was standing in front of her I smiled. ‘Hi.’ I half waved. She looked at me, bemused. Words led to words, and I was seeing her every day. I hid the relationship from Jeb for reasons that I can only see as fit for the situation. He didn’t want distractions from the farm, and didn’t want some pretty, dainty city girl working on the farm. It was for these reasons neither I nor he had gotten married. One day however, I decided to tell Jeb about her. I walked into our office room, where I found him reading a letter. He had it on the desk in front of him and was running his fingers through his hair. He was beyond upset. I felt concerned. ‘What’s up, Jeb?’ I moved closer to the desk and sat down in a chair. He looked up. ‘My brother Richard. He’s coming to town.’

I shook my head, not knowing how that was a problem. ‘And?’

Jeb stood up. ‘He just got out of the insane asylum.’ He began pacing. My eyes widened. ‘Is he dangerous?’

Jeb nodded. ‘He went crazy on one guy a long time ago, and then killed his friends. five years in the penitentiary and then two in an insane asylum. Now he’s free and coming to visit.’

Well, Jeb’s brother came to visit indeed that day, said he was going to stay permanently and Jeb threw him out. I was walking in and saw his brother getting thrown out physically. He turned, staggering, and swore that he would come back.

“I carried on my relationship with my now wife, but one day Jeb heard of it. He was angry with me for hiding it from him and for breaking an rule, as it were, of the farm. I haven’t seen him since, except when he comes to town.” Robert finished his story. He shook his head and looked away. He heard something coming down the road, a sputtering, hissing engine. It was Jeb’s car entering town. Robert stood up and walked towards it. Jeb exited it. “Heard you got married.”

“Five years ago, Jeb.”

“Oh. I just heard, man.”

“Well, you do live in the middle of nowhere.”

Jeb shook hands with Robert reluctantly and then went into the post office. He came out swearing. Robert had returned to his chair, but now came walking across the street. “What’s wrong?”

“My freaking brother! He’s coming back.”

“Let’s go to the house.”

Jeb looked at Robert. He was turning it over in his mind. “Alright, get in.” He jumped into his truck and started it. They winded up the mountain road, the tall pine trees making a very Californian shadow look on the ground. Eventually they arrived at his house. Jeb ran for the door. He turned the key in the lock and opened the door. To his horror he saw his deranged brother standing with an axe. He held out his hands. “Calm down, man.”

His brother was infuriated. “You threw me out! You changed my life, time I change yours!” He lifted his finger and pointed at Robert. “You too! I have something in store for you, you idiot!”

Jeb ran for a bar stool at his countertop. His brother turned and swung the axe at him. Robert ran forward. Richard swung the handle of the axe and caught him right in the bridge of the nose. Robert fell to his knees holding his stinging nose. Jeb had the stool. But Richard laughed

manically. “You might want to see what’s in the closet!” He ran to it and yanked open the door. Robert stood up quickly. “No!” In the closet was his wife, Katie. Richard had secured her to a chair, and now smiled like the crazy person he was. “You didn’t expect that sight, did you?” He threw his head back and laughed more.

Suddenly, Jeb straightened up from behind his countertop. “Didn’t expect the this sight, did you?”

In his hands was a Mossberg 500.

A single squeeze ended the frightful episode.

Police never knew what happened to Richard Stoller. Some people in the town say he ran into the mountains and got lost and starved to death. Some say he drowned in some of the crazy currents of the rivers in the mountains. But the only ones who would ever know would be the three whom he inflicted his traumatizing acts on. And God, of course.

But they aren’t going to tell anyone.