Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Posted in Angst on Oct 11, 2024

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✍️ 63 stories

“Homecoming” by David Dean

Submitted to Contest #272

Goldeneye had an energy that was hard to describe. I hadn’t been in Barbados long—just a few days since my first published story had earned me this brief, dreamlike vacation—and now I found myself standing on the balcony of Ian Fleming’s legendary home, staring at the vast, sparkling Caribbean Sea. It felt surreal, like I had stepped into a world of fantasy and temptation. This was a place where boundaries blurred, where reality was seduced by possibility. The house itself, with its crisp white walls and colonial architecture, seemed to embo...

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“Seethe” by Sydney Nyberg

Submitted to Contest #272

She’s bent over at the waist, her head half under a high-top, while she scans between the legs of the chairs with the flashlight on her phone. The indignity of it all, how far she’s fallen. If you put in the effort to be better, things are supposed to get better—like cosmic karma or some shit like that. But instead, she’s pandering to rude guests and a child-manager, who put her on blast in the work group chat, like everyone doesn’t know who closed last night. Like everyone doesn’t know who she’s signaling out. Hey, ...

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“The fiddler” by Carissa E

Submitted to Contest #272

Warm rays from the sun fell as if God himself watched, listening intently on his lonely fiddler. The fiddler played a melancholy tune in the center of the grand room. There basking in the heavens light, which fell through the large arched windows. Draped around every window are deep rich red curtains. Red as the blood that coursed through the fiddlers veins. Red as fire, red as the passion which swelled inside him.The boy’s lengthy fingers gripped the bow, dragging it back and forth. He continued to play the sorrowful tune. A tune which only...

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“Fox and Her Warlock” by Samantha Kabiling

Submitted to Contest #272

In the town of Parrow, there is a curious witch going into the dark woods that has plenty of people, tourists or locals disappear there. Seluna deals with the dark magic that not many people know about and the coven is hidden within these dark woods. The odd thing is even the coven can’t figure out why everyone is going missing since their own warlocks and witches are part of the disappearances. Seluna Stone is one of those witches who try to be careful trying to go home back to the coven after dark. During the day she’s a school teach...

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“Laryngitis ” by Lou Jayne

Submitted to Contest #272

Her red shoes stand out like a single bright poppy in an otherwise empty field. Beckoning me towards them, my mouth watering wildly as my fingers itch and throb to grab them from her, they have to be mine no matter what.I need them like a shadow needs darkness to hide itself in, but I can’t just take them from her. Everyone would see. I need to clear my head and figure out a plan to get them from her. I feel the sharpe edges of my filed down fangs rolling my tongue along them, almost slicing it in half. Yes those shoes mean as much to me as ...

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“A Lady's Last Serenade” by Ronald John MacLennan Jr

Submitted to Contest #272

It was a fortnight past when I, at the urging of my mentor Antoine, ventured forth onto the teeming streets of London. The opera house, that grand temple of mortal artistry, was to be the stage for my test of will. As I entered its hallowed halls, the crush of humanity threatened to overwhelm my senses. Each heartbeat a temptation, each breath a torment.Yet it was there, amidst the glittering throng, that I first laid eyes upon her. Lady Amelia Blackwood, a vision of loveliness that surely the angels themselves must envy. Her raven tresses c...

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“THE BROKEN WINDOWS TO MY SOUL” by Carlos Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #272

“One day at a time, just like with any habit that’s got a grip on you.” … I never had much appreciation for advice from the wise. After all, no one, not even my father himself, could be wise about the only desires that made me feel alive, until I fulfilled them and realized they were nothing but absolute shit, like a disappointed child in his first and long-awaited cotton candy… And still, after two long years, that desire was just unbearable after Halloween night. I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist it for long when its pull got that strong...

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“Stephanie's Smile” by Sutton Whitmore

Submitted to Contest #272

Stephanie stares at a picture of a young child. A little girl with bright blonde hair, cropped short just above her shoulders with brown eyes alight with wonder, a wide grin outstretched painting the face of carefree ignorance. Innocence surrounded by a slew of other children, all smiling with equal amounts of blissful unawareness. Mrs. Morrow's first grade class is printed on the bottom of the page. Stephanie brushes away a clump of knotted hair from her eyes. Waves of rage bubble at the bottom of her stomach. A pulsating ...

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“The Weight of Shadows” by Donavyn Haley

Submitted to Contest #272

Trigger Warning:This story contains themes of violence, mental health struggles, and animal harm, which may be distressing to some readers. Discretion is advised. With every passing second, life leaves behind a shadow of someone I despise. Yet I know—I do not hate myself. I cannot hate the self that exists now, for we are bound by the same loathing for who I once was. Is this the way of existence? For the present to scorn the past, while treading warily into the uncertain future? Yet here I am, curled beneath the bed, hiding from my m...

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“Eternity Lies In The Weeds” by Trenton Moody

Submitted to Contest #272

I drive by it every day from work, right before the bridge, on that desolate road pinched by trees. Work allows me to lock it away in my mind, fall into a routine, but on that road I know I’m approaching it. I know where it is and feel it emanating before it's even in sight. My eyes twitch at the thought of it and I desperately reel them back into position, but not before I make note of the decay–lost promise. It still has its eyes… Eventually, I make it back to the gravel driveway to my first floor apartment of a dingy old house, rot fester...

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“The Stranger” by TheLastShepherd Gaming

Submitted to Contest #272

The Stranger The stranger emerged from the cool cavern, hair slicked to his head with two days desert grime. For the briefest of moments he thought he felt a cool breeze on face, just a mirage like the water he saw. Hopefully the town up ahead was more substantial, grimacing against the heat he strode into the sun. “You there, woman. I require shelter from this accursed sun, how you people live here is beyond me.” The young woman stood sentinel on the large rough wooden deck of her simple home shaded from the blistering sun and heat o...

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“Story of D4” by Britania Troutman

Submitted to Contest #272

Professor Desire approached a wooden door and entered his lab, whilst carrying a syringe of blood. He approached his newest invention, a cloning machine. Mad scientist, eh? We'll see who's mad once this works. He walked around it to the syringe insert and put the syringe he was carrying into it. He returned to the front once more and powered on the machine. Instantly, the machine came to life. The blood that was in the syringe began to fill the tank. It swirled around for a moment before taking th...

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“A Kidnappers Twist” by Alicia Lyons

Submitted to Contest #272

] Gen heard a groan coming from somewhere close. It took her a minute to realize that the groan was coming from her. She then noticed that something was wet and dripping from somewhere above her forehead. As she tried to reach up and feel the spot that was dripping, she grunted because she could not move her arms; at first, she could not figure out why. Then she realized that they were tied to the chair on which she was sitting. The realization forced Gen to wake up quickly and come to terms with her surroundings. She tried to open her...

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“The Terror of Angil Yvor” by Altair Griev

Submitted to Contest #272

The grassy plain spanned the horizon in all directions. No trees. No rock formations. Just slight undulations of verdant terrain bathed in the comforting rays of sunshine radiating from the cloudless, azure sky above. A well-manicured horse darted across the plain. Atop the saddled steed rode an equally well manicured young man, pushing his mount towards the horizon with the reckless haste of youth. The pair rode until they reached the edge of a forest. The young man tugged at the reins, bringing the horse to a stop. This uninspiring cluste...

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“Pwidge Perplexable” by Shawn Johnson

Submitted to Contest #272

It’s an eight minute walk to the Metro subway if the crosswalks favored my stride; catching a crosswalk signal to cross is about speed and timing. I had just left the gym and, in a fit of hubris, figured I’d done enough cardio to grab a bowl of orange chicken at a Panda Express oh so conveniently located around the corner. This was a solid strategy on the part of this restaurant chain to get the weak-willed warriors on their way out of the gym. Mentally I’m not strong. I’m their target and a fucking bullseye is what they get.I ate and walked...

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Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 63 stories

“Homecoming” by David Dean

“Seethe” by Sydney Nyberg

“The fiddler” by Carissa E

“Fox and Her Warlock” by Samantha Kabiling

“Laryngitis ” by Lou Jayne

“A Lady's Last Serenade” by Ronald John MacLennan Jr

“THE BROKEN WINDOWS TO MY SOUL” by Carlos Hernandez

“Stephanie's Smile” by Sutton Whitmore

“The Weight of Shadows” by Donavyn Haley

“Eternity Lies In The Weeds” by Trenton Moody

“The Stranger” by TheLastShepherd Gaming

“Story of D4” by Britania Troutman

“A Kidnappers Twist” by Alicia Lyons

“The Terror of Angil Yvor” by Altair Griev

“Pwidge Perplexable” by Shawn Johnson

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Write a story from the point of view of a ghost, vampire, or werewolf.

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

Contest #272

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

488

Contest entries

175

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: