From an incredible fifty yards out, Kyle kicks the soccer ball, and it screams into the net. The crowd goes wild!
The crowd in Kyle’s head, obviously. Just for pretend. Whether he’s tapping the ball with side of his foot, or punting it with his toe, he is Ronaldo at Inter Milan, Michael Ballack at Bayern Munich. And when he attempts to curl a free kick into the waiting net, he is David Beckham at Manchester United.
When he starts high school, Kyle is determined to mak...
2022-04-29 19:08:46 +0000 UTC
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Como Park, St Paul MN
Today Kyle turns 30. He doesn't feel old. He doesn’t look old. But there’s something about the number that makes him thoughtful; or at least, more thoughtful than usual.
He works from home, flicking his eyes across three monitors in the spare room that serves as his office during the day and his mother’s craft room on the weekend. At 4 PM, he pushes away from his desk and joins his mother in the kitchen.
“Ready for your birthday?...
2022-04-27 22:43:43 +0000 UTC
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2022-04-25 20:31:15 +0000 UTC
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TWO
Her roommate is barely a teenager.
Kat pokes her finger at the building evidence. “You’re watching some kids show, you-”
“Dive Club is not a-”
“And you stripped the bed because you...” Kat feels a hot weight in her own bladder as she nods in understanding.” You wet the bed,” she whispers, aghast.
The biggest, most neon symptom of all.
Jane’s face turns red. “I did not!” She jumps to her feet. “You’re a big fat liar!...
2022-04-24 11:00:03 +0000 UTC
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A double-length flash! Part 1 today, part 2 tomorrow 😊
ONE
Kat stops work at 4.30 PM, closes her laptop and stands up. Stretching her arms above her head, she looks out her bedroom window at the community park across the street. There are adults in the most childish of outfits, playing on swings and digging in sandboxes. The Mentally Adjusted, who all seem like they’ve having the most wonderful time, are a daily reminder to twenty-somethin...
2022-04-23 16:29:17 +0000 UTC
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2022-04-19 14:28:17 +0000 UTC
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With April's tales already in the works, I would love to see your AR ideas for May around the theme of:
family
Please comment here with your one-line story ideas (as many as you like, but each idea can only be one line - this Is high-concept time, like "man gets dream job, only to find that..." or "woman wins lottery and decides to show off her wealth but ends up..." - you get the idea.
Ideas deadline: Friday ...
2022-04-17 15:18:08 +0000 UTC
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Miss Egan?
She wasn’t anyone, really. No one high up. Not like a teacher, or one of the doctors. Miss Egan was the facilities manager; basically, she was there to make sure the lights stayed on.
But that didn’t stop her taking advantage.
“Come, let me make sure you haven’t embarrassed yourself.”
On my first day as her assistant, I discovered that she had inf...
2022-04-14 11:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Got a little flooding to content with here in Parkdale (April showers, right?) but that won't stop our first tale, arriving on Thursday! ☂
2022-04-12 22:19:24 +0000 UTC
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For our April tales, special helpers decided we should have physical AR stories and then went on to suggest some great "revenge / justice" ideas!
We have the following ideas for everyone to vote on. Please vote for your favorites, this poll is open to all!
2022-03-30 20:31:24 +0000 UTC
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Lafayette Mobile Home Village
Courtney makes a U-turn ten seconds after passing the sign. Enough time to decide that this is her best bet for finding her way back to civilization. She curses the cellular dead zone she’s found herself in and parks her Toyota Echo at the entrance to the trailer park.
She walks past the first trailers, conscious of her appearance, a lost young woman with a Kate Spade purse and Sumisurra pantsuit. She may as well paint a target o...
2022-03-30 18:10:09 +0000 UTC
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2022-03-28 15:05:53 +0000 UTC
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“Aren’t you gorgeous!”
I was feeling lucky. And then the unluckiest thing happened. Isn’t that always the way?
Annabelle messaged me on Slack, said everyone could see how stressed I was (to the eyeballs) that I needed some self-care (bottle of Bacardi and binge-watching Outlander). Annabelle’s solution was a healthier; a luxury spa getaway, where ...
2022-03-22 23:06:00 +0000 UTC
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2022-03-21 21:57:01 +0000 UTC
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Home
It’s a short walk home, about fifteen minutes. Robert is familiar with the landmarks; the newsagent where Jane sometimes buys a pint of milk, or a KitKat to share; St Peter’s church with the bright red doors.
Fifteen minutes with no conversation, both of them working out what they need to say. Robert steals glances at his wife. Will she be willing to move away? (There’s no way he’s staying here, not with how the locals must see him.) Do they even want to...
2022-03-15 10:00:00 +0000 UTC
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He should have taken Jane's phone. A chance to catch up on ten months of news. He's been offline for forever and a day.
He doesn't feel the tug to use Twitter or Facebook. Funny how going cold turkey can cure him of social media. But how is the world, and how is business? Such a long time to be away, and it is work Robert wonders about; clients, his network of interdependencies. Right now, names, numbers, and subject matter are still muddled, but with time, it will come back. Once the h...
2022-03-12 18:43:37 +0000 UTC
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Hug a Mugs Cafe
Brighton, England
“And what would you like for your pudding, sweetheart?”
Bobby blinks at the red-haired waitress. It’s a good question; Vicky (he knows her name, he knows this café) has cleared away the remains of his shepherd’s pie, and pudding always comes next. Pudding, in all honesty, is the best part of lunc...
2022-03-10 13:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Yeah, we're kicking off this month with the Exclusive tale!
2022-03-09 13:00:06 +0000 UTC
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MARch, my favorite month! 💗
I wanted to let you all know about the next two months here:
March - wow, I asked for "wrong place, wrong time" story ideas from my special helpers, and they delivered! Looking forward to writing some deliciously unlucky/cruel AR tales...
April - I asked special helpers whether April should be a mental or physical AR month, and they voted for physical. (And yes, those stories may well inc...
2022-03-03 15:44:20 +0000 UTC
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Two minutes later, Oliver remembers Ruth. He retrieves his phone and makes the call.
"It's okay, Suzie's got clothes for Jacob. They're gonna be perfect!" It feels good to deliver good news, to show what a good friend he is.
Ruth doesn't sound particularly excited. "Who's Suzie? Are you still at Sweeties?"
Oliver laughs. He's managed to shake off the tiredness from before. If anything, he feels better he has in a long time, and he understands how stressed he's been feeling w...
2022-03-01 00:21:21 +0000 UTC
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Sweeties is quiet but not deserted. There's a woman in her twenties spinning around in a fairy princess dress, much to the apparent delight of her middle-aged parents. Are they just good actors, masking their horror at what has become of their once-independent daughter, or are they openly glad to have their little girl back? There's a man getting measured by a blonde assistant who is talking to him as if he's barely ready for pre-school, and the man is behaving as if all of this is norma...
2022-02-27 18:29:29 +0000 UTC
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[Just to say, there will be some edits to the final version of this tale - right now, having some Internet issues and so posting my progress 'as is'. ]
It’s a series of text messages that escalates into a phone call.
“I thought he had immunity,” Oliver says, knowing that however this conversation goes, he’s lost the rest of his Tuesday.
“No o...
2022-02-26 17:24:46 +0000 UTC
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This tale may not be ready until the weekend, but I believe it will be worth waiting for 😊
2022-02-21 23:44:01 +0000 UTC
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(Ah, let's just read it today!)
It’s Esmeralda’s fault. Looking back, I wonder why she didn’t just get rid of it. But she has always been sentimental. And a control freak. And just a little paranoid. So, I shouldn’t be surprised that she kept it.
This morning, I was three years old. And for months, maybe a year, I was a normal little boy. How did it happen? I had no idea,...
2022-02-15 16:21:18 +0000 UTC
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2022-02-14 12:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Blowing Rock, North Carolina
August
Dressed in a red bikini she bought specially for the trip, Rosalie stands on her tiptoes and peers over the fence. All she and Peter can hear is the noise from next door.
“Jesus.” Rosalie and walks back across the grass, stepping around an over-sized beach ball.
Peter passes her a highball gl...
2022-02-12 13:42:38 +0000 UTC
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2022-02-11 20:51:44 +0000 UTC
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They sit on the couch, Debbie’s blanket across their collective laps, watching a movie and eating chips out of a bowl. Paul sits in the middle, with Debbie on his right and Seren on his left.
Right and left. Left and right. Paul holds out his hands in front of him, stiff arms and fingers together, and considers the idea.
“What are you doing?” Seren asks in a teasing voice. “Are you being Superman? I thought you were my Paw Patrol boy!”
“No,” says Paul shortly...
2022-01-31 22:27:09 +0000 UTC
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It’s only a few minutes later when Seren comes into the bedroom to find Paul curled up in the big cardboard box, Debbie tucking the blanket around him.
“Nap time for puppies,” Debbie says brightly but also authoritatively, in the tone of a little girl putting her doll to bed.
Paul giggles – the box is a tight fit but he’s been able to squeeze inside – and then he looks up to see Seren peering down at them and the laughter dies in his throat.
Seren smiles at both ...
2022-01-30 18:35:25 +0000 UTC
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One
Ngatea
The drink contains Tequila, sherry, grapefruit, Salers aperitif, and black salt.
Paul sips and manages not to cough. “That’s something else. What’s it called?”
Seren arches an eyebrow. “’The devil you know’”.
Paul laughs. “Cool.”
Cool like Seren, with her red dress and promisi...
2022-01-29 22:22:22 +0000 UTC
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