Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?

Posted in Adventure on May 17, 2024

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✍️ 97 stories

“The Adventures of Taylor Chelsea and Manny” by S B

Submitted to Contest #251

THE ADVENTURES OF TAYLOR, CHELSEA AND MANNY Written by Stephanie Butler 3679 Washington Blvd 317-403-5520 FADE IN THE ADVENTURES OF TAYLOR, CHELSEA AND MANNY EXT: CENTRAL LIBRARY - DAY TAYLOR and CHELSEA walk into the library and find their way to the children’s section. CHELSEA - C’mon Taylor let’s look at some books over here. Taylor looks up at Chelsea CHELSEA (CONT'D) - These are more like the ones you like to read TAYLOR - Okay (Cheerfully) INT: CHILDREN’S SECTION - DAY Taylor and Chelsea move to another book shelf MANNY is sitting at a...

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“Adventures of A True Reader” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #251

Kathina loved books. At three years of age, she read her first book aloud to her mother. It was The Little Engine That Could. By five, she was reading chapter books. When she was seven years old, her mother walked with her to the local library in the little town where they had finally settled down: Mother, Papa, Baby Sister, and herself. That memorable day as they walked, Mother explained that a library was a house of books, a special place for readers.Kathina nodded her understanding and asked, “What’s going to happen there?”Mother replied,...

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“Do you care?” by Sandra Arce

Submitted to Contest #251

Since he could recall, adventure tugged at his soul. When he was little, he would often feel as an outsider as he had always chosen nature over technological mini machines parents gave to other kids. It was as if there were secrets out there waiting for him to discover. This last treasure was so forgotten that he had to talk to the eldest in his city only to find a handful of details... whispers, myths, and names of this lost place. He had lost everything and everyone because of this drive, this new adventure to embark on. The origin of the...

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“The Scrolls” by Ross Wylie

Submitted to Contest #251

13.8 billion years ago, life was not as we know it. The universe was waiting for the Big Bang to get things started. At least – this is what we are led to believe in ‘Theory’. Contrary to belief, life was abundant before the Big Bang. Our galaxy hadn’t been created yet, but there were many other galaxies, some with superior life and some without. The less advanced were about the level of where the human race was mid-1500 but most galaxies were vastly superior. Our current human life form would have seemed a very primitive form of life c...

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“Lunch at The Ogeessa Cafe” by Michael Mabrito

Submitted to Contest #251

Henry was beyond exhausted. Shuffling along with his cane, occasionally resting against a fence, he had reached the front door of The Ogeessa Café. He had never been to the café but he had managed to find it. The walk there had not seemed long so, it must not have been far. That morning, Henry had been thinking of the goat rice dish his neighbor, Cherenet, had brought him last week from the café. Or maybe it had been two weeks ago or yesterday. He had a hard time remembering dates and things, but he could clearly recall the juicy fried...

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“The Noise Upstairs” by Jae Po

Submitted to Contest #251

Teri looked in the bathroom mirror, realizing this would likely be her last time ever doing so. She poured as much of the nearly full bottle of her mother’s Ambien in her hand and then into her mouth and washed it all down with a four-ounce glass of Pinot Grigio.She been plagued by a certain darkness for most of her 35 years. Like a smokey thunder cloud hovering over her life and in her mind most days. It was often hard to see the positive in things. Her glasses weren’t rose-colored—they were more of a dingy, cracked rust. That was what the ...

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“The Order of the Rose” by Gladiez Tapia

Submitted to Contest #251

Avery was not sure she had ever seen such a building in her life. The style of architecture she was only familiar with in pictures; a large old looking gothic building with dozens of windows. Some of them, broken and shattered. From the outside it appeared the corner of the windows were scorched as if a fire had blown out the windows. She looked to Vesna on her left and Fitz to her right. “This church wasn’t here yesterday, was it?” Fitz asked. The town of Ginsval didn't have much, especially not a giant cathedral. “Buildings tend...

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“The Secrets Beyond The Door:” by Matthew Robinson

Submitted to Contest #251

Silence spread like smoke from a dampened fire, as the crowd hushed its chatter. After all, this was the reason why they had all gathered. A slender man creaked up the steps and onto the podium, his presence reminiscent of a statue. “Well I won’t keep you all waiting” the Mayor’s voice boomed over the pressure pot of people pressed up against each-other infront of the otherwise barron cement wall with its single wooden door. A paradoxical symbol of dreams and fears as to what the brutalist structure could possibly hold with in it. Their...

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“Love Knows No Bounds” by Quinn Wolfe

Submitted to Contest #251

Olive stood in front of a set of dark oak double doors. She looked around herself. All of her previous surroundings had faded to black and she stood suspended in a void, save for the doors. She was no longer sitting on the floor of that foul witch’s house but she could still smell the faint wisp of smoke from the witch’s fire. “My gods, it worked,” she whispered to herself. Olive pushed open the doors and walked through them. She stood in the foyer of a massive library. Bookshelves lined the walls and stood in lines stretching as far she cou...

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“When Books Became Legend” by Sophie Goldstein

Submitted to Contest #251

Alejandro looked up at the stone building and shivered. He hated the bars against the windows, the bars in front of the doors, the electric barbed wire- all tools to keep people caged. He hated it. But he needed a job, and the prison was hiring and after months and months of rejections, he had no choice.There was very little opportunity these days. Businesses everywhere were suffering and closing and there didn’t seem to be much of anything around. Restaurants were few and far between except for the occasional fast-food joint and those jobs ...

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“The Library” by Miriam Rhodes

Submitted to Contest #251

There is more than salt and sand in the sea. More than any mortal man dares to imagine. An entire vast world of blue and green filled with creatures from heavenly dreams and horrific nightmares. There are coral mountain ranges that surround cavernous valleys, forests of seaweed and kelp atop beds of shell and sand, populated by those that are both frightful and kind. It is not a place for man to linger. Yet linger Mr. Robertson did. Mr. Robertson had always had a fondness for the ocean. The glittering aquamari...

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“Guardian of the universe’s knowledge” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #251

Jack Manning sits after the sad and somber funeral of his precious grandmother Ellen. She was a quirky eccentric woman who lived in a home straight out of the year 1900. It had only been five years ago when they finally convinced her to remodel and put in indoor plumbing and a bathroom. She always wore tailored suit dresses with a slight bell shape to the skirts and always in drab colors. Her hats were where she expressed herself, they were always bold and colorful, with feathers and puffs of lace and bows, lots of bows. The only jewelry she...

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“Hidden Past, Guarded Future” by Mahtan Runya

Submitted to Contest #251

The discovery was an accident, honestly. The Library of Al-Keta was hailed to be the greatest source of knowledge on the continent of Caltoura, if not the world. The building itself was nearly a mile long and half that wide, six stories of nothing but scrolls, tomes, even the smallest scraps of parchment recovered from the ashes of towns that had been razed. The uncounted shelves were set in an orderly fashion like so many soldiers, a neat labyrinth that one could simultaneously easily navigate through yet get lost in for hours, if not...

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“Orpheo ” by Sara Cardoza-Orellana

Submitted to Contest #251

It was Desi, the doorman, that found Zaida Perez dead in the apartment. It was also Desi who called Javier, Zaida’s nephew, to tell him that his Tia Zaida was gone. Desi might have only been a doorman, but in many ways, he was more like Zaida’s son. Desi was Cuban, like Zaida and the rest of the Perez family. Except unlike most of the Perez family, Desi had to escape. He’d left everything behind to come to the states. Sure, Zaida lived in a penthouse apartment, and he was on the ground floor, but there was always something else bet...

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“The Library of Life” by Paula Mulroy

Submitted to Contest #251

This is not what I expected at all. I had expected it to be special, sure. A full moon setting at the exact time of the summer solstice was one of those things that only happens once in a thousand years. And it was even more exceptional that no one grasped how special it was: I’d had Carrowkeel to myself this night. I felt extraordinarily lucky.I’d prepared for the trip for months. Bought all the right clothing, sturdy shoes, camping gear and so on. I was as prepared as I could be, or so I thought. The only thing I couldn’t control was ...

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Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 97 stories

“The Adventures of Taylor Chelsea and Manny” by S B

“Adventures of A True Reader” by Julia Corliss

“Do you care?” by Sandra Arce

“The Scrolls” by Ross Wylie

“Lunch at The Ogeessa Cafe” by Michael Mabrito

“The Noise Upstairs” by Jae Po

“The Order of the Rose” by Gladiez Tapia

“The Secrets Beyond The Door:” by Matthew Robinson

“Love Knows No Bounds” by Quinn Wolfe

“When Books Became Legend” by Sophie Goldstein

“The Library” by Miriam Rhodes

“Guardian of the universe’s knowledge” by Jeffrey McDonald

“Hidden Past, Guarded Future” by Mahtan Runya

“Orpheo ” by Sara Cardoza-Orellana

“The Library of Life” by Paula Mulroy

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about discovering a lost manuscript. It can be from a famous (or infamous) author, or an unknown one.

Your protagonist is a writer who discovers a new favorite author. How does their writing, or even their own personality, change as the protagonist falls under the writer’s influence?

Write a story about a future academic (or another influential person) “rediscovering” a book that, in its time, was dismissed. The book can be fictitious or real.

Your protagonist is a voracious reader. Lately, they’ve been noticing odd synchronicities in the books he or she is reading. What does the protagonist discover is happening?

Contest #251

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

234

Contest entries

76

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: