Chills & Thrills Anthology

One | Winners

The following are the top entries from our One flash-fiction contest.

The full list of entries can be found here.

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PROMPT #1

One afternoon, while relaxing at home, you hear a cell phone ringing. It's not yours. You do not recognize the ringtone, so you ignore at first, but the ringing only gets louder. You investigate the source of the sound, which leads you to the storeroom. There, you find a phone on a pile of clothes. In 100 words, write about what happens when you pick up the call.

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Shreya_VA

"Come out of the house right now!" a raspy voice sounds at the other end.

"Tanish?" I ask bewildered, "It's been so long —"

"Please come out and then we can talk."

"You're here?"

"On the other side of the road."

"But —" I fly down the stairs and cross the road, excited for the reunion. Violent tremors seize the ground underneath me. My building comes crashing down like a house of cards. An earthquake. "Tanish?"

My own phone rings suddenly. "Abhay, you remember our friend Tanish?" Rohit's voice floats.

"Yes —"

"He died in a car accident this morning."

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SophiaMills9

Looking at the jacket, I recognize it, but not the phone. Answering it, I hear a familiar voice, but it can't be.

"Don't hang up! This is not a joke. Don't go into work tonight. Make something up when he calls, but don't go into that lab, no matter what Vic tells you." The voice says.

I reply, "Who is this?"

"You know it's me. I cheated on the science project in 8th grade. We're in love with Victor, but he's lying. The science is bad, Cassandra!" She exclaims and the phone goes dead.

Well, I'd better listen to myself.

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TheWickedDonut