Set your story in a world devoid of logic, where feelings govern all decision-making.

Posted in Angst on Nov 11, 2022

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✍️ 22 stories

“Civic Duty” by Michał Przywara

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #172

Moira put on her apron, signed in to her register, and prepared for the least busy day of the year. Her heart thrilled because she was finally old enough to participate in this most sacred of secular events. A moment later the doors opened and the customers started trickling in. The first one up at her counter was an old man in a parka, perpetually rubbing his hands.“Welcome to McDemocracy’s. Can I take your order?” Moira asked, beaming at him.“Yes, hello,” he said with an earnest grin. “I’m really hankering something, but I’m not sure what....

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“She Gave Birth To And Killed An Eternity!” by Snya Aryf

Submitted to Contest #172

She looked like serenity. Laying on the bed, her eyes locked in a breath, with a smile, she cuddled in her own sorrows, fear, and mostly love. Love that she used to and still feel for the love she did, the love she held closer and dear to her, the love she never wanted to go, the love she wanted to live, the love that left her crippling, struggling for a single breath that could liberate her. I felt like burning the world around me, escaping this body that suffocates me to my core, leaving me gasping on the floor, which felt like breaking ...

15 comments 15

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“2046” by Marilyn Filewood

Submitted to Contest #172

I was so lucky when the world ended. I had the good fortune, you see, to have been born into a Doomsday cult, and we had prepared for it every day of our lives. It was almost a relief when it came. Why, we all wanted to shout, why didn't you listen to us? Two generations ago, our community had bought an abandoned mining town at the very end of the world, the tip of New Zealand's southern isle. Conveniently, it came with a schoolhouse, medical centre, and small police station with gaol. The stroke of serendipity was that it had miles of dee...

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“All He Ever Wanted” by Kiyomi Appleton Gaines

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #172

He had no emotional modulation. He just accepted and believed any thought that came into his mind, and his heart would react as if it were true. The thoughts weren’t intentional, weren’t chosen, weren’t thoughtful, but subconscious little blips that popped up and ran along animal neural circuitry long-established that said – you are under threat. He was afraid all the time, but men like him weren’t given room to be afraid, so he got angry, and tried to control and manipulate every variable to predict outcomes, to keep himself safe. Yet of co...

3 comments 3

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“King Hunch” by Melony Beard

Submitted to Contest #172

A short, jolly fellow named King Hunch ruled Aurora Island. The citizens of the island trusted King Hunch even though he often had changing perceptions of how to rule the land. He often had dreams which led him to make important decisions or sometimes, he just had a hunch of how things should be done. King Hunch was from a lengthy line of family members gifted with a believed discernment and insight, so no one questioned him. Well, not until the day, a little boy was born, named Philomath, better known as Phil.Phil was born on March 2nd, oth...

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“Before You Act, Remember Samson” by Philip Ebuluofor

Submitted to Contest #172

Deaths due to cult activities are on the increase a lot not only in schools but in the streets and marketplaces in Ukpoi autonomous community these days. Various cult groups run after recruits as the military runs after recruits to beef up their depleting ranks during the war. They seem to have made that town their headquarters. They had thought it was a fashion that will soon wear off with young males but they were wrong and when they realized it, it was too late. Young females and older peo...

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“Mean Machine” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #172

“Whereas the acts pertaining to the previous clause hereto form this part of the agreement, there is no representation, direct or implied, on behalf of the licensor…” Jeremy looked around him at the people who surrounded him in this place of worship and he wondered how it was that he was surrounded by beatific faces. Not for the first time, he wondered whether there was something in the water supply, or even in the air itself. Why was it that he was immune to all this nonsense? This was all gobbledegook, but somehow it struck a chord with ...

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“Green is Green” by Tamarin Butcher

Submitted to Contest #172

The bag was pulled suddenly from her head, the hours of being jostled and dragged apparently at an end. She looked around quickly, her blinking eyes straining against the sudden light. Bright light. The sort of light one found in a televised trial scenario. "Anxiously, you stand accused of blatantly disregarding your birth name and fomenting rebellion in your peers. How do you plead?" The girl who was once named Anxiously smiled. This is what Curiously had prepared her for. ******************************* The day had started...

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“Heavens gate” by Mary Lehnert

Submitted to Contest #172

Trembling at Heaven’s Gate, where earthly time ceases and a man’s fate is decided, I’m about to be immersed in my Final Test. Feeling strangely exhilarated in a state of wonder, confusion and dread, Heaven's Gate, like a gothic tower rising in the clouds has, inside, a cozy English pub.. Cordially invited by blissfully charming angels who’ve brought me to meet Peter the Great for my initial interview. He approaches with arms outstretched to embrace me, double kissed me on the cheeks, his stubby mustache felt rough. ...

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“god of azon” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #172

I have never been this high in the Temple, climbing to the most sacred floor to bring an answer to the greatest issue facing our Church in years. I fear it is the wrong answer. I do not want to go. I pray to the gods they do not take their rage out on the bearer of the message. My red robes, thick and heavy, slide down my shoulders as I take step after step. All I hear is the shushing sound of it scraping along the stone steps. Sweat runs down my forehead and prickles along my back as I walk through the pools of flickering can...

9 comments 9

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“Ethotopia and Pathostan” by Jessica Amaya-Jimenez

Submitted to Contest #172

Don't tell anyone here in Pathostan, but I don't make decisions the same way they do. As a secret archaeologist and a council member to the prime minister, I'm qualified to tell you. 75 years after my country's independence and on the eve of an agreement for diplomatic relations, my mother, the original archaeologist of our family, met my father after traveling to Pathostan to dig at the Buddhist ruins site. As soon as she and numerous, countless others were let in for the celebration, the leader of Pathostan initiated a lockdown. All airpor...

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“PLANET OF INFANTS” by R. J. Garron

Submitted to Contest #172

The sound of drumming fingernails rattled through the assembly room. “This could spell trouble,” the Prime Administrator said under his breath. He stared out the window toward the planet in question and shook his head in distress.“Fellow praxeologists,” he continued, facing back toward the panoply of committee researchers from cultures spanning the galaxy, “I’m afraid we’ve come across a potential impasse. If said inhabitants,” he gestured toward the window, “barring their fickle behavior, find a way to escape their planet and...

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“Birds Eye View ” by Kevin Alphatooni

Submitted to Contest #172

“You’re finally going to take me there?” Peter asked. “Yup,” Dennis said with a nod. The two sat high up in the branches of an old redwood tree. Out toward the horizon, the silhouette of a city loomed, the tall skyscrapers veiled by a thick morning haze. Peter eyed it, curiously. He had always been told the city was a dangerous place, however, he was now of the age where he was expected to make the journey to its heart. To do so was a rite of passage. There, the Elder Dove would reveal to him the secrets of the past. “...

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“Big Business Feelings” by Trent Thomas

Submitted to Contest #172

I slowly wheeled my cart out of the small closet that sat all of my equipment for the day and trudged along down the shiny tile floor hallway. As I reached the first conglomerate of desks and workers, I noticed some yelling getting louder. Coming towards me was a loud and angry person holding loads of papers and pencils falling out of their arms. I watched as our longest lasting designer walked out the door in a huff after punching her boss in the face. She was some big wig designer who was working on a piece for this falls fashion show whe...

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“Dreams of a Life Without Guilt” by Fernie Moore

Submitted to Contest #172

TW: Physical Violence, Mental Health, Thoughts of Suicide Before she knew what was happening, it was too late. She stood over the body and contemplated the life she had taken. The anger coursed through her like a tsunami, despite the small voice in her brain that thought practically begging her to stop. This wasn’t the first time she’d killed, but she was determined to make it the last. – Two days later, she stood in front of the elected members and recounted the situation. Both times she had done this pre...

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Set your story in a world devoid of logic, where feelings govern all decision-making.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 22 stories

“Civic Duty” by Michał Przywara

“She Gave Birth To And Killed An Eternity!” by Snya Aryf

“2046” by Marilyn Filewood

“All He Ever Wanted” by Kiyomi Appleton Gaines

“King Hunch” by Melony Beard

“Before You Act, Remember Samson” by Philip Ebuluofor

“Mean Machine” by Jed Cope

“Green is Green” by Tamarin Butcher

“Heavens gate” by Mary Lehnert

“god of azon” by Marty B

“Ethotopia and Pathostan” by Jessica Amaya-Jimenez

“PLANET OF INFANTS” by R. J. Garron

“Birds Eye View ” by Kevin Alphatooni

“Big Business Feelings” by Trent Thomas

“Dreams of a Life Without Guilt” by Fernie Moore

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who must confess their true feelings by midnight, or risk losing it all.

Write about a character reminiscing over something they should have said, and how their life would be completely different had they said it.

Set your story in an unfiltered world, where people are always honest about how they feel.

Write a story about a character who acts like they ‘don’t have feelings’ — except they’re just putting up a facade.

Contest #172

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

188

Contest entries

90

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: