Start your story with an unexpected betrayal.

Posted in Adventure on Mar 8, 2024

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✍️ 81 stories

“When I Read Beckett” by Liz Grosul

🏆 Winner of Contest #241

…in…in this room…cursed room…loved?... cursed…. where she slept…half-grown in her hometown t-shirt…shorts…no shorts…t-shirt worn with holes…on the floor…he having thrown it…under the bed…dust collected and swept and settled again…. and again…who?... he… not she?...gracious!...there for the first time…assuredly last time…no boys in the room, father said…keep out!...nodded her head… but in the room…blue light hugging the window…scotch tape…peeling off the paint whether chipped or freshly laid or…exhumed…he found her in the— no, not found…held…...

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“The Kiss of Judas” by Harry Stuart

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #241

The betrayal needled me at a 45-degree angle. It was caustic and driven, sinking its teeth into my flesh, razor-sharp in its edge and piercing. I sat there, staring at the Skype screen, wondering if I had heard my sister correctly, an out-of-body experience that had me floating between a time when I was complete and this moment when the wind was sucked out of my lungs. I couldn't breathe; I couldn't exhale. I was suspended in a repetition of a phrase, "We are flying into St. Louis first. We won't be arriving in Memphis until the fourth of Oc...

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“Dead Man’s Hand” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #241

We took drags off Marlboro Lights out on the basketball court before the next round of Texas Hold ‘Em started. Ken looked at me blankly and said, “So what would you do if I fucked Alli?”“I would fucking kill you. That’s what I would do,” I said.“Okay, but if she was the one that was interested in me and you are such a courtly love motherfucker, wouldn’t it be hypocritical for you to deny her happiness?”“Go fuck yourself, Ken,” I said, and we went inside to play poker. One thing I knew for sure is that Ken would never break code and make a mo...

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“Declined” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #241

“Declined.”“What? That’s not possible.”The young cashier stared at me with blank eyes through the window. “Can you try again, please?” I watched as she swiped the card and then flicked her wrist to hand it back to me. “Declined.”Shoving the card into my bag, I drove off without my much anticipated caramel Frappuccino but instead a knot in my stomach.***“So, what did you do?” The voice came from the darkened backseat.“I thought it had to be a technical error, a glitch. I pulled over to check my app. Sure eno...

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“Treachery” by Corey Melin

Submitted to Contest #241

I looked upon my brother in shock because the one I loved and cared for had just betrayed me. “How can you do such a thing?” I asked Nikom. “Do you not have the love for me as I do for you?” Nikom looked upon me with a stern look, but there was a flicker of regret. “This needs to be, Grason,” he muttered. &nbs...

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“The Long Way Home” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #241

Depictions of sex, violence, drug use, and mental health“I was a freshman at St. John’s Academy, a catholic school for girls, just fourteen years old, when I met Bobby at the mall. He was so cute with his big blue eyes, that curly mop of hair, and those dimples when he smiled. He was sixteen, could drive, and said he was a junior at a prestigious private school in the city, St. Louis University High School. He had a way about him that was very different from other boys. He seemed more focused on having fun with me rather than doing stupid th...

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“Paradise” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #241

I'm floating naked in an infinity pool overlooking the Indian Ocean. Having just admired the sunset, I'm mesmerized by billions of stars blinking on overhead. A soft sea breeze moves the warm humid air. The wine is cold and crisp."What a lovely view." His voice is rich, soft and has a hint of a smile.I'm busted!But let me start at the beginning.Eight months ago, Alex took me out for lunch at a coffee shop near his office. We both had to be back at work, so lunch was going to be quick. He said since it was my birthday, he didn't want to wait ...

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“The Brazilian Carnival Celebrities ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #241

My Mystical Creature, Coos Bay Bear, the hybrid dog-bear-mystery, looked sideways at me, dark eyes twinkling.He loved time traveling to the past. "Good boy," I said, petting his dark fur."Could we use our creativity and time travel to knit together the wounded threads of the past and find our way to a sense of wonder, peace and joy?" "Could visiting the past help transform the painful things into something else?""Could the outer journeys of time travel heal inner wounds that still stung? Betrayals, rejections, a loss of wonder and joy?"The w...

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“Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #241

Milo waited all morning for his baby brother to take a nap. He had something big planned for when Mama was busy rocking him to sleep. “Mama, I think baby Andrew is tired. Take him to bed,” Milo said after breakfast. “Not quite yet,” Mama told him. Milo eyed the cookie jar on top of the counter. Mama noticed, and pushed the jar as far back as it could go. “Okay. I’m just going to go play in the playroom,” Milo announced. He zoomed down the hallway, and jumped through the second doorway on the left. Milo pulled an empty backpack off the ...

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“Stall Secrets” by Isobel Cunningham

Submitted to Contest #241

I can’t believe I just heard that. I guess love, loyalty, stability can all be flushed away in a toilet stall. I always use the end cubicle for a bit more privacy and normally a tinkle is all I do at work. Dr. Baker just prescribed me a new laxative, though. I’m not used to it and I still can’t tell when Nature is gonna call. I thought I had chosen a quiet moment but just as I was starting to meditate I heard those two, Louise and Sylvia come clattering in on their crazy high heels. How they manage in those shoes all day is beyond me. Sylvia...

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“No Path to Forgiveness” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #241

“Who is that?”, said Lorraine. She was looking over her boyfriend’s shoulder at his iPhone. It was a pretty girl with shoulder-length red hair and bright blue eyes, a sparing touch of lip gloss, standing, devil-may-care, on a rocky waterfront, pine trees in the background, somewhere along the coast, somewhere local. She was pretty and thin, had good skin too. Conrad swiped upwards and the girl disappeared.“Who is that girl”, said Lorraine, “She’s very pretty”. Too pretty, like she existed for the purpose of being loo...

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“Home” by LeeAnn Hively

Submitted to Contest #241

Six years, five months, seventeen days, nine hours, and twenty minutes since the Trippers, as they called themselves, came through the portals. They claimed to be from another universe nestled in between ours and one more that was pretty much just like the cosmic wonderland we called home, and theirs was experiencing a year we wouldn’t see here for another millennia. Their scientists had long since discovered time travel was perfectly possible…with one specific hitch. It turns ...

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“If the Spirit of Trungen Ain't Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #241

Oakaford, the captain of the stumper guard, frantically searched throughout the village of Jorton for Lady Nimmo. He was uncharacteristically nervous for a magical tree stump. Several times, he knocked over a cart or bucket, muttering his apologies, and absent-mindedly continued without helping clean up, which was unthinkable for a stumper—they love to clean."My goodness. My goodness," Oakaford uttered under his breath. "Have you seen Lady Nimmo?" He asked a young man sitting outside his cottage, who nodded no."Not good. No, not good at all....

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“A Revolting Date” by Brian Haddad

Submitted to Contest #241

"What did you say?" Megan demanded, her steely gaze laser focused under a furrowed brow.Brad knew he'd messed up, but he had no idea how. This woman was too complicated. He couldn't even compliment her without it somehow becoming an insult. "I said you're beautiful," he choked, his mind racing to find a way out. They sat across from each other at a little outdoor table where they were waiting for dinner to be served. The cool evening air did nothing to help the cold sweat that was collecting on his forehead."That's not what you said.""Well, ...

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“Abby and the Fugitives” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #241

Abagail sought solace in her sitting room and worried over the latest servant foible. Likely, her husband, Nabal, would hear about it, overreact, and explode. She sighed and thought about the many dramas she had averted by intervening in the nick of time. Her husband behaved like a wild bull in a field of wheat, for the most part. He had never suspected any betrayal on her part to date.She asked one of her maids to give the servant a signed letter, which provided an out. Permission for him to immediately ‘visit a sick mother’ in his hometown...

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Ended on 23:59 - Mar 15, 2024 EST

Won by Liz Grosul 🏆

Title: When I Read Beckett

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Start your story with an unexpected betrayal.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 81 stories

“When I Read Beckett” by Liz Grosul

“The Kiss of Judas” by Harry Stuart

“Dead Man’s Hand” by Jonathan Page

“Declined” by Hannah Lynn

“Treachery” by Corey Melin

“The Long Way Home” by Ty Warmbrodt

“Paradise” by Trudy Jas

“The Brazilian Carnival Celebrities ” by Kristi Gott

“Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?” by Chelsey B

“Stall Secrets” by Isobel Cunningham

“No Path to Forgiveness” by Luca King Greek

“Home” by LeeAnn Hively

“If the Spirit of Trungen Ain't Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy” by Daniel Rogers

“A Revolting Date” by Brian Haddad

“Abby and the Fugitives” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who is convinced they’re going to be betrayed.

Write about someone who is stuck between two opposing sides and can’t decide which one to choose.

Set your story at a tense event where everyone is unsure whose side they’re on.

Write about a backstabbing (literal or metaphorical) gone wrong.

Contest #241

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

255

Contest entries

116

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: