Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about a hero or a villain deathly afraid of doing their job.

Posted in Adventure on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 37 stories

Snail Man

Submitted to Contest #135

Picture it. A shadowy figure moves through an alleyway. Past a tabby cat. Around a dumpster filled with refuse. Dancing over muddy puddles that reflect neon signs advertising coming attractions. A spy movie. Perhaps a prestige picture. The mysterious and nefarious being makes his way up to a couple waiting with their young child for a taxi to whisk them back to suburbia. Back to a pleasant house in a pleasant neighborhood where there are no alleyways or honking horns or men who know nothing but darkness in their hearts. The kind of dar...

45 likes 38 comments 38
Read story

Metropolis Angst

Submitted to Contest #135

Clark took a sip of his coffee as he scrolled through the news stories for the day. “Shit!” he cursed as a dribble of coffee dripped down his chin and spilled onto his notepad. Even though he had been working remotely since the pandemic hit, he couldn’t get used to the cramped workspace and tight living quarters his apartment had turn into. He clicked on the link to the story he submitted yesterday evening for The Daily Planet and read: Burglary on Main Street By: Clark Kent Yesterday evening, there was a burglary at Pop’s Drug Store o...

44 likes 32 comments 32
Read story

Last Valentine's Day Part Two

Submitted to Contest #135

Two weeks have passed, since Jack murdered Kathy, and to drown out this memory, he was drinking himself into oblivion. “Pour me another one, Moe. I’m celebrating.” It was a lie, but Jack was the only one who knew this. Paranoia had a way of eating at you, and Jack was no exception. Though everyone was convinced Kathy drove off with a secret lover, Jack was constantly looking behind his back. What if someone discovered the body? At the time he committed the crime, he felt confident all his bases were covered. No motive, no body, and no witne...

20 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

The Family Business

Submitted to Contest #135

           Young Chester grew up unlike most other boys. His family was…let’s say, unique.            At the age of four, Chester’s father, Frank Nefarious, called Chester into his den. Frank stood near the fireplace staring up at a wall filled with portraits of all the Nefarious men who had come before him.            “Chester, my boy, it is time for you to start learning abou...

19 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Duty of a Queen

Submitted to Contest #135

Breakfast is normally my favorite meal of the day. Eggs, sausages, potatoes, and toast with jam. Breakfast also means a new day where anything is possible. Maybe I’ll get to take a walk down to the seaside. Maybe I can sneak into my father’s court proceedings and learn how to rule one day. Maybe I’ll get to see the blacksmith and get my hands on yet another fine weapon that my parents disapprove of.  But today is different. Today's breakfast means that in less than six hours I’ll be married to someone I’ve never met before. I’ll be sh...

17 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

One Boy and His Gun

Submitted to Contest #135

I knew Dad kept a loaded gun at the back of the coat cupboard in the hallway. He showed it to me once and made me promise never to touch it or show it to anyone. “If a bullet from that gun hits someone, it will blow him into small pieces,” he explained. It was enough for me. Once or twice I swiped the coats aside and took a look; just making sure it was still there. “What’s it for, Dad?” I asked. “Anyone who threatens my family,” he said. “Just knowing it’s there makes me feel safe.” And it made me feel safe too. And nervous. Living here o...

16 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Is Boris Badinov?

Submitted to Contest #135

Boris is a short guy with a mean streak. He likes to talk alot about how bad he is, but he has a secret.He is afraid of his job.Boris comes from Russia and he has thirteen brothers and fifteen sisters and they all have to work collecting rent money from the shopkeepers and drifters. Boris hears Papa's voice inside his head saying, "Don't feel sorry for them. They will cry, plead, get down on their knees. They will beg for more time! Take out your bat and that is their answer. Work! Collect Rent. Being home bacon to Papa!""Yes, Papa", Boris r...

15 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Battle Worn

Submitted to Contest #135

Note: Contains mentions of death and violence. Battle Worn By H. K. Slade The waiting was like an itch. Tim just wanted to scratch it and be done. He’d prepared for this day for eight months in the academy and now that it was here, he was terrified. He couldn’t wait for the following morning when he could sit at home and think back on his first shift as a memory.  No matter what they say or one day come to believe, no cop enjoys their first day on the job. “You lucked out,” people told Tim so often he couldn’t remem...

14 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Ten Seconds of Silence

Submitted to Contest #135

Sweat dripped down his face. 10. His heart banged against his chest in a rapid rhythm. 9. Glancing down, he let out a curse and clenched his shaking hands. 8. Was his mouth dry? Or was he just imagining it? 7. He almost forgot about the countdown that seemed to mock him with every count. 6. The muscles in his neck contracted as he attempted to swallow, the invisible blockage making it near impossible. 5. Eyes flickered from his hand to the blue and red wires. It was so easy. It could be done in a second. 4. The sweat on his palms made the...

12 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

The Reaper Wept

Submitted to Contest #135

“No!” The old woman cried out in a mortified shrill.Standing in the doorway with a grin like a shining crescent moon lurched a tall figure.The head on its thin shoulders nearly touched the ceiling, and when it moved, its feet made an awful noise that sounded like wet socks against a dry floor. The cloak this ancient figure of terror wore was as pitch black as the moonless sky from outside, and the sleeves were so long they touched the ground. It was holding something in its hands, and the woman was even more horrified when she made out ...

11 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

What it Means to be Brave

Submitted to Contest #135

“Why? Why is this the job I chose?” Eric thought to himself as he pulled on his wet suit. Dragged out of bed by a water rescue alarm at one o’clock in the morning. Someone’s fallen into the water from their pleasure yacht. A child. What was a child doing up at that hour? At least, he was told, the kid was required to keep his life vest on at all times, even, he’d been told, at night. Little Jimmy’s mother’s paranoia may have just been the thing that keeps him alive until Eric can get there. And Eric will be there soon. He's gotten th...

11 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Moral Fortitude

Submitted to Contest #135

NOTE: CONTAINS PROFANITY MORAL FORTITUDE BY CYNTHIA FARRELL     Retching sounds emanated from the Men’s Room, echoes of misery bouncing off the marble walls. Anson Beckwith, Birmingham Civic Center’s Religious Programming Coordinator, headed in that direction when he felt a gentle touch on his right arm.       “Don’t. He’ll be fine. He does this before every Revival meetin’.” Said Bobbie Jo Talmadge, a pretty blonde sporting an out-of-date bouffant hairdo (the higher the hair, t...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Enochlaphobic Amnesiac Horse Park Bugler

Submitted to Contest #135

His brain regained function after six months of cognitive rehabilitation, but erratically.Lieutenant Jack Dawkin’s heroic actions saved the lives of his squad. But all Jack got in return was the presidential Medal of Honor, an honorable discharge from the army, intermittent amnesia, and a deathly fear of large, noisy crowds. The army psychologist said Jack’s fear was a result of reliving his traumatic escape from a prisoner-of-war camp, then brawling through a noisy throng of angry townsfolk outside the prison.  Jack was an army bu...

10 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Letters Of A Kamikaze Pilot

Submitted to Contest #135

TW:References to deathJanuary 3rd, 1945Dear Mama,How are you doing lately? I was informed not too long ago about Katō-san's sickness, I and my friends are keeping prayers for her. Sadly I forgot what they said it was, but I hope she recovers swiftly. But again, how are you? Did you make that special soup for Papa's birthday? Were you able to get the ingredients? I know how much I fantasize about your cooking while laying in my barracks. I always go on to my comrades about how great all of your food tastes. One of my friends in specific, Kot...

10 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Thomas

Submitted to Contest #135

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”    - Friedrich Nietzsche I looked down the cave into my own unbecoming. A grown man jumps into a dark cave in the middle of the night, no one saw him, so it didn’t happen. I didn’t see myself in there, I saw my demon. The demon I possess. The flood lights scared the house bats away. I took away their light. I know how to lurk in my darkness, but they don...

10 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone stepping outside their comfort zone.

Middle School – 60 stories

Set your story in a town full of cowards.

Fiction – 31 stories

Write a story where fortune doesn’t favor the brave.

Thriller and Suspense – 38 stories

Write about a casual act of bravery.

Narrative – 46 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel