Write about a character on the road — and on the run.

Posted in Adventure on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 42 stories

“a convincing illusion” by F.O. Morier

a convincing illusion He was 6 months under the age of 21, and he had lived many lives already: different people, different roles, different professions… None of them significant. Now he had 10 worn-out dollar bills in his pocket and he had a choice: stay and be the town queer or run and be free. Become a stray dog or a hippie maybe. Grow his hair and live his life as simple as ...

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“The Fire and the Liar” by Elizabeth Gordon

TRIGGER: Suicidal Thoughts||||| The breeze coming through the vents sent the smoke smell embedded in Miranda’s hair flowing throughout the car. The stench from the fire had seeped into her clothes like a perfume she wore every day and the odor kept rolling up to her face as the heater blew on full blast, making it impossible to escape. Twenty-minutes earlier, she had been standing so close to the fire she felt the ...

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“Running on the Road of the Lost to the Road of the Found” by Elizabeth Fenley

"Are you going to sneak around my garage all night, or were you planning to break in?” Shit. I was being so careful. Now I’m standing in ankle deep snow, freezing. I hold my breath and slowly raise my hands. “I was just looking for a place to get out of the snow. I wasn’t going to steal anything, I swear.” A flashlight beam shines around my shadow. “Turn around slowly.” ...

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“An Idyllic Bike Trip Goes Bad” by Bruce Friedman

Caution: Use of foul language.Clunk! The tires of the airplane touched down on the tarmac at Palermo in the mid-morning. I was feeling groggy after several flights from the U.S. with longish stopovers. Palermo was my final destination and marked the beginning of my planned bike tour in Sicily. Such tours have become my favored getaways for years. I am an attorney specializing in medical malpractice and lead a very stressful life. This trip was intended to help me relax and certainly not to get involved in the me...

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“Justice in Time” by Kevin Marlow

“Something is on the radar. Skip, come look at this.” Dirk toggled from the radar to the thermal imaging camera. The dreadnaught was tearing through the burnt and dusty sky five hundred feet above the scorched earth of the wasteland.“It looks like a buggy on fire. Run a scan and try to identify what type of vehicle.” The fire was a brilliant white blur on the com screen.“Negative, I think the CPU is already toast.” The conflagration had burned up any evidence of the buggy's origins.“Ke...

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“This Is Worse” by Shelby Schwartz

I don't know how long I've been on this road. It seems never ending. One long road with trees on either side. The other end covered in fog. I thought I would be off it by now. I'm not sure how long I've been walking. Ten minutes, an hour. Time is nothing to me now. Especially when you can't see the sun. It's so gloomy and cold. Fog is heavy over me, I can only see a few feet in front of me. I pray a car doesn't come along and hit me. Though, that would probably be a better punishment.I left home in a rush after the accident. Though...

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“THE WRONG SIDE OF NOWHERE” by David D'EttoreUser

THE WRONG SIDE OF NOWHERE It was a lazy afternoon, one of those hot and humid days when people look for a cool place and a cold drink, and dogs seek out the shade to lie down and not move unless they have to. Danny Weston pushed open the tavern door and scanned the premises as he headed to the end of the bar. Not many people he observed. Two...

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“Parachute” by Sam Hollis

We have plenty of time, I tell my car in my head as I leave my house, we'll get there. I approach it with my keys in my hand, I feel my tie a little too tight around my neck - coffee will do that to you. My neighbour, Alan, looks at me from across the road with a far too cheerful smile. I mean, it's not his fault, he has no idea where I'm off to. I won't ruin his mood. ‘Where’re you off to?’ He asks me as he wash...

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“It's all in the bling.” by Ian Barrett

Laura didn’t want to go see Jake’s parents. They were what she would call rich. Rich by her standards because she grew up in the trailer park and his mother always found ways to remind her of that. His father wasn’t so bad. He was quiet and polite but distant. But the mother was relentless in her criticisms. Sometimes it was in the form of underhanded comments or the way she would explain things to her like she was a 5 y...

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“Nelson” by Eric Trules

TW: suicide, homophobiaHis heart was still racing and he had a sick and sour taste at the back of his tongue. He remembered the blood pumping through the bulging veins in his forehead, through the tense, pumped up muscles of his arms. There was a violent, sinking feeling in the cavity of his chest; he felt like vomiting. It had taken all his will power to force his wrists to relax, to mentally instruct his fingers to release their vice-like grip. ...

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“Crimson Hills” by Mackenzie Hebner

Crimson HillsBy: Mackenzie M. HebnerFreshly stained asphalt seeped into the mountain side encompassing me and my ragged apparel. The hills were before me. Everything around me was greater than me. Mountains towered over me, hills rose and fell in more consistency and promise than I’d ever known, the rocks grabbed my attention and told me of their role as protector of the earth, the animals lived along side me as if my existence has never crossed their mind as threatening, and now that I stood before them,...

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“Pretty Face” by Berta Galindo

The pistol under her skirt was rubbing on her thigh, reminding her of the three bodies she had left back home; she would have to forget once she was on the road. She got into the wagon, holding the dry and unwashed hand of her new lover, Billy. Whilst he started the horses, she fixed her golden locks onto a better-suited travelling hair-do. She was dripping in fear of being caught, but she had to remain still while they were not moving. People might recognise her.Named after her great-great-grandmother, Annie,...

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“Goodbye Yesterday. Hello Sweet Tomorrow ” by Julia Townson

The dull flatulent roar of the diesel engine gearing up as it prepared to make its way down the lonely road leading to town, was barely audible against the sound of the steadily increasing wind. The rain pouring down in torrents from the low dark clouds indicated less than favorable driving conditions. Buckling his seatbelt tightly in anticipation of the long trip ahead, Charles Ferguson was vaguely aware of the myriad of feelings stirring deep within him. Feelings long forgotten with the passage of time. Or so he’d thought. Fragments, bi...

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“Deer in Headlights” by Faye Goodwin

The truck stop beacon is a 50-foot tall neon waitress trapped in an endless purgatorial motion of kicking one high-heeled foot back while holding an immortal tray of drinks, her faceless smile, faceless wink beaming out on the interstate for miles around in the falling dusk. The advertisement seems unnecessary considering the only other options are a decaying Exxon that you passed an hour ago and the uncertainty of the l...

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“Travel Log: Gerro” by Lavender Marigold

His name was Gerro. At least that was what the faded ID, hanging from his shirt pocket showed. He was short and bent with age; his large, leather pack, nearly bursting, cast its shadow over his frail body. “Come on in!” I’d told him. He stepped up the stairs and into my bus, then squeezed in behind me. The smells of lacquer, steel, and oil wafted as he passed, the familiar scent bringing memories of Tr...

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Write about a character on the road — and on the run.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“a convincing illusion” by F.O. Morier

“The Fire and the Liar” by Elizabeth Gordon

“Running on the Road of the Lost to the Road of the Found” by Elizabeth Fenley

“An Idyllic Bike Trip Goes Bad” by Bruce Friedman

“Justice in Time” by Kevin Marlow

“This Is Worse” by Shelby Schwartz

“THE WRONG SIDE OF NOWHERE” by David D'EttoreUser

“Parachute” by Sam Hollis

“It's all in the bling.” by Ian Barrett

“Nelson” by Eric Trules

“Crimson Hills” by Mackenzie Hebner

“Pretty Face” by Berta Galindo

“Goodbye Yesterday. Hello Sweet Tomorrow ” by Julia Townson

“Deer in Headlights” by Faye Goodwin

“Travel Log: Gerro” by Lavender Marigold

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a roadside diner.

Write about a couple who fall out on the road.

Start your story with a vehicle pulling over for a hitchhiker.

Start your story with the line “We have plenty of time,” and/or end it with the line “We were never going to make it.”

Contest #110

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

213

Contest entries

151

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Tired of MS Word?

Explore more writing prompt ideas: