Center your story around someone who’s boiling over with anger, frustration, or jealousy.

Posted in Angst on Jan 24, 2025

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✍️ 56 stories

“The girl across the street” by Amber Jack

Submitted to Contest #287

I wake up groggy. I look at the clock it's 7am. It's funny to think of it as waking up with 3 sick kids I don't feel like I've shut my eyes all night. You have to love it when the flu runs rapid through your house! With 3 kids under 10 it makes for a long night. When one would settle the other would need me. As I dealt with more vomit than I thought was humanly possible and laundry that will take days to get caught up I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Thankfully though all the kids are sleeping now and the house is quiet. I roll out...

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“A Dark Horse - Part 4” by Keila Aartila

Submitted to Contest #287

Jenny couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she did see Mr. Thompson gesture toward her. Soon after, they were gone. Jenny continued her session with Trey. When they were finished, she passed Kip in the barn aisle looking a bit miffed. “Happy now? It’s all your fault!” He scowled at her as he hissed out the words. She had no clue what he was talking about, but she was soon to find out. Kip stomped after her ... ***A Dark Horse – Part 4 Jenny led Trey into the stall and took his halter off. She patted him on the neck and spoke, “I’ll put y...

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“Alienation” by Michelle Kenerly

Submitted to Contest #287

I pause at the door, uncertain whether to knock or turn to leave. A wolf howls in the distance. I startle at the sound, and the wind's icy fingers clasp around me, a cold vice, making the decision for me. I’ll stay and see this through. I wait for an answer, glancing at my watch. I have exactly three hours left. Finally, the door opens, and I’m shocked by the shell of a woman I see before me.“Hello, David.”“Marianna.”“Come in, I'll make us some tea.”I say nothing and don’t move an inch, but then I follow her to the small table. I hate this w...

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“The Invitation” by MK Tonelli

Submitted to Contest #287

Lily could feel the numbness that seemed to cascade down her body, starting from the space at the top of her head, where her brown curls began, and crawling down to the tips of her toes. The only sensation she could really feel was the cut of her fingernails into the palms of her hands, but instead of the sharp sting it should have been, she could barely feel the ache. It was a taunt, she knew it in her bones, and she shuddered, making her eyes cast down again to the piece of paper that sat harmlessly on the table in her foyer. She did...

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“Take it From the Top” by Sonya Wendy

Submitted to Contest #287

The call came late at night. Cass sat on the edge of the bathroom sink, tracing her fingers along the rim, trying to focus on the script before her. Lines she knew so well they’d already started to fade, mixing. She wasn’t even sure anymore if it was the character speaking or her own thoughts. “Hello?” A pause. Then a voice, smooth and deliberate. Congratulations. You got the part. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe. Her mind went blank for a moment, the words sinking in. The casting call had been weeks ago—just another audition among d...

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“Bound” by Lady Senie

Submitted to Contest #287

I reached for her as I’d been dreaming of doing for almost a decade, swinging her up in the air as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I couldn’t help my laughter at her startled cry. Here in my arms was perfection. Her long, ebony tresses came out of her carefully coiffed style from the force of my revolutions, and I couldn’t have cared less. Finally, finally, I was free of the Emperor’s campaign. Finally, I could come home to my love, the only woman for me. My father’s war with the Samarians...

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“Boiling Over” by Andrew Hixson

Submitted to Contest #287

Boiling Over.“I just can't take it anymore,” Sarah sighed heavily. “Everything feels like it's falling apart.”“Is something bothering you?” I asked, curious“More than just something. My life feels like a never-ending string of disappointments and setbacks.”“That sounds really tough,” I said. “Can you tell me what's been happening?”“It's just... work, relationships, everything. I had such high hopes, you know? But it's all slipping away.”“What happened?”“I worked so hard to climb the corporate ladder, and for what? Constant rejection and bein...

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“Finding Clarity ” by R. Marie

Submitted to Contest #287

That is not mine, Vanessa thought, seething. She stood, looking down at the hot pink thong that lay crumbled on the floor, partially hidden by the ugly brown couch. A flurry of emotions rumbled within her as she stared at the underwear, an admission of infidelity. She didn’t want to deal with it; she wanted to forget she saw it, lock the sight of it away to the back of her brain and throw away the key. There had been other signs of him hooking up with other people, sure. But she never acknowledged it — because then she’d have to admit it was...

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“In My Sister's Shoes” by Annabelle B-Baumann

Submitted to Contest #287

Edie bit her bottom lip, her eyes darting over the metal keyboard panel beside the door, fingers trembling as she punched in the seven-digit code. She'd already called the police twice since starting at Pilgrim's Loan Bureau, and each time, the pregnant office manager, Michaela, had been summoned. Another call would mean blowing up her temp spot, and Edie couldn’t afford that—she wanted a permanent position. When the door finally clicked and the lock released, a shudder of relief rippled through her, though the tension still coiled in her ch...

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“It's always been out of my hands” by Nava Zieliński

Submitted to Contest #287

Marianne had died on a warm summer night, I would learn. Her favorite time of year. My aunt Tilly had found her lying in a hammock outside of her trailer in who knows where after she disappeared. Figures, I thought. Tilly flipped out and called my dad, as if she'd never been around an overdose before. I never got to see my mom's body, but I kind of had a sense of what it had looked like. She had died the day before my twenty-second birthday. Showstopper. Marianne liked to sit in my dad’s car and smoke for at least thirty minutes a day. He ca...

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“To See Me Through Your Eyes” by Charly Rivard

Submitted to Contest #287

She didn’t know what Jenny Kellen’s problem was with her. It was an honor to be graced with her presence–even if she was only around to torment Alora. Still, her hands throbbed where Jenny had shoved her into the campus’s ongoing construction zone, making Alora spring out her hands at the last second so they could cushion her fall into the bed of nails. Even seeing that evil soul, pure malice swimming in a pretty blonde body, Alora felt her breathing stop when she walked by, falling into human instinct to stop and stare. Jenny’s eyes w...

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“Bitter Brew” by LifeCycles Creative Media

Submitted to Contest #287

Content Warning:This story contains themes of emotional abuse, control, surveillance, and implied domestic coercion. It explores psychological manipulation, power imbalances, and themes of entrapment in a relationship. Readers who may be sensitive to topics involving intimate partner control, gaslighting, and psychological distress should proceed with caution. The tea had been brewing for a week. So had her resentment.~~~~~Nadine first met Tea—as he introduced himself—at a small tobacco shop in late 2020. The scent of flavored shisha curle...

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“The Day I Stopped Worrying and Started Living” by Leonid Grinshpan

Submitted to Contest #287

I had inadvertently become a master of survival in the dystopian atmosphere of employee performance reviews. Not the inspirational, LinkedIn-worthy kind of survival. More like the "how not to completely lose my mind while surrounded by professional piranhas" variety. Here is the story.My office was a psychological Thunderdome where career aspirations died spectacular bureaucratic deaths. It was about to happen to me that day, but it did not. The PowerPoint presentation I was working on wasn't just a collection of slides. It was my masterpie...

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“T(ea) is for Temper” by Rodd N Chase

Submitted to Contest #287

I feel hot. Politics, war, lies, those selling themselves to gain some kind of fake power. The fire heats up. Leaders sit in comfort carelessly sacrificing their charges for their own gain of wealth or status. Sickness purging through the country because those in power don’t care about anyone or anything but themselves and their money. Change is impossible because of billionaires’ greed. I can scarcely contain the heat as it begins to boil. When it begins to squeal, I take a deep breath but oxygen only adds fuel to the flame. When will it en...

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“DAWN OF NIGHTMARES” by Marla Gentry

Submitted to Contest #287

DAWN OF NIGHTMARES GRIFFIN, GA – 1942 The ghost of infidelity lingered like a spectral presence, haunting Lucille’s thoughts, and planting seeds of doubt in her mind. Holding back a storm of resentment and discontent, Lucille greeted David as he arrived home. Standing at the door, ready to leave the weight of the world behind, David was eager to kiss his wife. He reached for Lucille wrapping his arms around her waste but wasn’t prepared for the stoic frozen hug she offered. Pushing away, Lucille vanished into the kitchen shouting “you did no...

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Center your story around someone who’s boiling over with anger, frustration, or jealousy.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 56 stories

“The girl across the street” by Amber Jack

“A Dark Horse - Part 4” by Keila Aartila

“Alienation” by Michelle Kenerly

“The Invitation” by MK Tonelli

“Take it From the Top” by Sonya Wendy

“Bound” by Lady Senie

“Boiling Over” by Andrew Hixson

“Finding Clarity ” by R. Marie

“In My Sister's Shoes” by Annabelle B-Baumann

“It's always been out of my hands” by Nava Zieliński

“To See Me Through Your Eyes” by Charly Rivard

“Bitter Brew” by LifeCycles Creative Media

“The Day I Stopped Worrying and Started Living” by Leonid Grinshpan

“T(ea) is for Temper” by Rodd N Chase

“DAWN OF NIGHTMARES” by Marla Gentry

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with a character making a cup of tea for themself or someone else.

Set your story in a café, garden, or restaurant.

Write a story with a character pouring out their emotions.

Start or end your story with someone being soothed by a hug or words of comfort.

Contest #287

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

408

Contest entries

173

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: