I’m participating in Susanna Leonard Hill’s Valentiny Writing Contest. The story must be 214 words or less in which someone feels guilty. Thanks for reading!
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS (210 words)
Meg didn’t care about candy hearts or lacy cards. Tomorrow was the Valentine’s play!
All she wanted was to be the Queen of Hearts.
All she wanted was to wear the golden crown with the red sequins.
All she wanted was to win the role from Leah and Carly.
“I can’t decide,” said Mrs. Clark. “You would all make exquisite queens.” Then she wrote each girl’s name on a strip of paper and placed them in a basket. “I’ll pick one of you tomorrow.”
The bell rang. Meg lingered.
No one will know.
I want it more than they do.
Just this once.
Meg wrote her name on two more paper strips. Carefully, she replaced the names of her friends with her own in Mrs. Clark’s basket. She could almost feel the crown on her head as she skipped home.
At dinner, Meg couldn’t eat.
She tried rehearsing, but couldn’t remember her lines.
She went to bed early, but couldn’t sleep.
Her heart hurt.
When Meg arrived at school the next day, she was surprised to see a lacy, red-sequined Valentine on her desk.
Good luck to all of us today!
Love,
Leah and Carly
Meg’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mrs. Clark,” she said, “I have something to tell you.”
Imagine the Possibilities 
Aww. I gave an out-loud “aww” at the end! Nice work, Rose! Very sweet (and guilty!).
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Thanks, Karen. I was thinking it was kind of a downer.
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Great concept and I also love the end. Way to let the reader draw their conclusion. Way to go!
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Thanks, Jen!
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Oh! Great job on the guilt, Rose! I could feel Meg’s increasing unhappiness at what she’d done! And then to have Leah and Cary be nice! The agony! I’m glad she ‘fessed up! Thanks for joining in the Valentiny fun!
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Nice job putting us in Meg’s shoes, Rose. You could feel her avarice for the role in the first part, which made the guilt she felt following her devious act more palpable. Because I’m a nerd, the ending put me in mind of a 40s noir where the haggard protagonist trudges into the police precinct to fess up to his crimes. But I mean that in a really good way! Nice work!
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