Set your story at a silent retreat.

Posted in Angst on Feb 16, 2024

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✍️ 44 stories

“Chipped ” by M W

Submitted to Contest #238

The steps were chipped. Just like her. Jules swung her crutches up the stairs, two steps at a time. Her father’s lips twitched upwards like a rubber band that had lost it’s spring. There hadn’t been a lot to smile about lately. Jules hadn’t said a word to anyone. His little girl, whose colt like legs had skipped in rhythm to the rope he’d bought her not too long ago. Singing rhymes with words he’d never heard. Cap on backwards. Ponytail swishing. When had she stopped singing? He longed to hear the thud, thud of rubber sneakers on asphalt aga...

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“Let’s Make Some Noise” by Carly Kelly

Submitted to Contest #238

The rounded corner of the clipboard hit the white tile first. It bounced, tilted, and repeated on the opposite corner. The back of the clipboard then slammed into the floor and audibly shook the metal bar as it landed. “I’m so sorry,” Heather blurted out as the dropped item echoed throughout the barren room. She pressed her lips together in immediate regret, but then kept talking. “And now I’ve spoken. I’m sorry for that too. And that I’m still talking.” STOP TALKING. Stop making noise. Heather inhaled through her nose. The recep...

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“SHHH!” by Kajsa Ohman

Submitted to Contest #238

Warning: the F word will probably appear more than once. SHH! The first thing Mark said at the Silent Retreat, to the stacked young blond behind the reception desk, was, “Hey there! Sounds like we’re in the right place, eh?” He said it because the office felt like a tomb, chill with the total absence of TV or background music. The blond raised her eyebrows over her wire-rimmed glasses and gave a little smile, pressing the smile closed with her upraised forefinger. “Oh yeah,” Mark remembered. “Right, silent.” Then he dropped his voice a...

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“Arrows and Flags” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #238

Do a Good turn daily.Yep that’s me, I thought. under a tarp in the pouring rain. And wondering, as the meme says, how I got here.Undoubtedly I’ve made questionable life choices. Haven’t we all?It’s not a universally accepted truth that one should avoid any club or organization that involves an initiation. But it ought to be. Especially when the words ordeal accompanies said initiation. One only has to look at what college frats make their initiates do during rush week to see that. Well, Order of the Arrow doesn’t rush, thankfully. I’d ...

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“True Silence is a Blessing” by Karalee Ratliff

Submitted to Contest #238

Nestled deep in the forest beneath the snowcapped mountains of Montana, lay in ruins the remains of six extremely decayed cabins. It had been fifty years since Monica had visited this land. Fifty years since she met the love of her life. Fifty years of wonderful memories. Her children had begged her to not make this trip, due to her health condition, however, knowing in her heart that she would never get another opportunity, Monica opted to disobey the wishes of her children and return to the place that started her life. The area that she fo...

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“The Silent (Re)Treatment” by Zachary Hanley

Submitted to Contest #238

When Claire dropped the first hint that our relationship wasn't working, it was on a Tuesday night at the local Mexican restaurant. Without any explanation, she threw her napkin down on the table, abruptly stood up, and stormed out just minutes before our dinner was brought to the table. I would've tried to stop her, but I wanted to enjoy my meal, not let her unwarranted anger ruin it for me. When I tried to talk to her and figure out what the problem was, it was on a Wednesday morning at our house. She was angrily scrambling eggs while I ap...

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“Give Me A Sign Lord!” by Andre LeFosse

Submitted to Contest #238

Paul sat with his eyes closed in his retreat center room, all 40 square feet of it, in prayerful solemn silence. And then his phone went off. Hey, I know you got your thing this weekend. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed our impromptu study session the other day Paul smiled at the text. Me too! Although I don’t know how much studying we got done, lol No, he thought. This was not the time for this. This retreat was not to focus on the cute girl he met at the library on Thursday. It was to decide how exactly he was going ...

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“When Silence is Deafening” by Kassandra Vale

Submitted to Contest #238

Mariah couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard her own thoughts. Between the constant din of her four rambunctious children, ranging from a toddler to a ten-year-old, the relentless demands of her job, and the perpetual hum of household entropy, silence had become a mythical concept, as elusive and fantastical as a unicorn. So, when she stumbled across an ad for a silent retreat nestled in the serene mountains, promising a weekend of tranquility and reflection, Mariah was bemused by such a concept, yet yearning for the pos...

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“Silent Connection” by Shannon Ambroson

Submitted to Contest #238

“I can’t believe we have to do this,” Allie huffed, tossing her phone into a bin labeled with her name on it. She grabbed the required headphones–earmuffs really–and moved through the queue. “It’s too far. If I make it through this I might just quit anyway.” Ginny, her coworker and best friend, rolled her eyes and she shuffled along, fidgeting with her headphones, trying to size them correctly. She tossed her phone into a bin as if it was on fire, smiling and sighing like she actually enjoyed keeping it distanced from her. “I think it’s nice...

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“The Silence That Screams” by Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #238

Sanctuary in the StillnessSilence. For renowned author Alexi Kirilenko, it was both a curse and a tantalizing promise. For their dopamine-seeking brain, words—the tools of their craft—had betrayed them, choked by a writer's block borne of exhaustion and a troubled heart; their head was full of concepts, topics, and stories - all dancing around each other like crazed squirrels, sending them off on tangents, but never pouring forth to the paper any longer. Anything that did dribble out was quickly forgotten as another shiny thought caught thei...

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“Litany of Silence” by Jude Ambrose

Submitted to Contest #238

Samsat Hur was far from the first veteran of the Morning War to make the grueling expedition down into the pits of the desert to find the silent monks in their silent temple. He walked in the preserved footsteps of the legion that had marched west to seek victory or death but had received neither the satisfaction of the former nor the peace of the latter. Samsat limped past half-buried helmets and broken guns left behind by broken soldiers. His own helmet, gun, and dripping pocketknife soon joined them. What use were weapons now in this shat...

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“SINISTER RETREAT” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #238

Boy, am I tired. My body needs a break. My neck. My back. Everything hurts. Good thing I have a long week off. Work has been so hard. Lately I've been having a hard time keeping up with my co-workers. I need to get away from the city, from the smell and the noise. That's why I found the perfect place to go. Mountain Oasis is the perfect place to go. I already arrived. I look around and I'm blown away. This place is breath taking. I grab my stuff and walk inside. Wow, it's even more beautiful in here. I walk to the check in desk. "Hi my name ...

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“A Changing Experience” by Joseph Lennon

Submitted to Contest #238

Last night he didn’t sleep. Today is Monday and he opened the door to the large corporate glass building. There was some corporate art sitting on the lawn that he passes every day. This time he thought to himself, “Why can’t we see some real art?” A couple weeks ago he went to a show downtown called the “Rembrandt Experience." The “Rembrandt Experience” was an interactive art gallery. He didn’t know anything about art. His wife wanted to go to this show, and it happened to be the same day as a soup stroll where they sampled soups downtown f...

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“Autumn conversion” by Clare Horwood

Submitted to Contest #238

Charlotte picked up her three year old daughter, Sally, stroking her silky fair hair, saying to her, “I will only be away for two nights and you will have the best fun with Grandma and Grandpa. I think they are going to take you to the zoo”. The child snuggled into Charlotte with tears coming from her large brown eyes, “But I want to come with you Mummy”. “I know you do darling, but this is a weekend for grown ups. You would be very bored and you definitely wouldn't like the food. Grandma's cooking is much better”, she said looking over at h...

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Set your story at a silent retreat.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“Chipped ” by M W

“Let’s Make Some Noise” by Carly Kelly

“SHHH!” by Kajsa Ohman

“Arrows and Flags” by Michele Duess

“True Silence is a Blessing” by Karalee Ratliff

“The Silent (Re)Treatment” by Zachary Hanley

“Give Me A Sign Lord!” by Andre LeFosse

“When Silence is Deafening” by Kassandra Vale

“Silent Connection” by Shannon Ambroson

“The Silence That Screams” by Dr. Stephen A Salaka

“Litany of Silence” by Jude Ambrose

“SINISTER RETREAT” by Melinda Madrigal

“A Changing Experience” by Joseph Lennon

“Autumn conversion” by Clare Horwood

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or finish your story with a speaker unable to finish their sentence, perhaps overcome by emotion.

Write a story in which a conversation takes place where the true subject is only implied.

Write a story including the line “I can’t say it.”

Write a story in which an important message is cut off, leaving characters to wonder or puzzle out what was left unsaid.

Contest #238

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

285

Contest entries

98

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: