Start your story with someone having a run of bad luck.

Posted in Angst on Jan 6, 2023

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 42 stories

“Fortunately, They Suck at Quick Service” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #180

Detective Jordan (GQ) Williams gazed at the body on the floor. Two shots to the chest. Quick, clean, efficient. He turned to his partner and asked, “Wanna help me out here?” Detective Harry Barnes did not want to help him out. He was sitting in a chair with a drooping frame and seemingly in pain. His strong and rugged physique looked frail, bent over with bowed head. “You hung over?” “It’s the eggs,” Barnes groaned out. A strident voice rose from the first floor and hit the eardrums of the two detectives on the second floor. Barnes muttered...

30 comments 30

Read story

“Our Lot in War” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #180

[TW: pg-13 WW2 battle scene]In 1942 my father was lucky. He studied anthropology in university—even published a paper on the Minahasan people of Indonesia—and when the draft came he was enlisted into US Army Intelligence rather than being called up for combat.During the war he shuttled around the Pacific collecting information on local populations, providing weapons to resistance movements, and helping negotiate problems locals had with US military bases.On one such journey, on a troop ship bound for the Philippines, he saw something unusual...

20 comments 20

Read story

“The Turning of the Wheel” by Laurel Hanson

Submitted to Contest #180

Dance stood there, mouth hanging open. He stared at the grey-faced old man who had delivered the verdict, attempting to form words out of the maelstrom of confusion, hurt, and disbelief in his head.“But, I am…” he faltered, not sure how to proceed. If he was to claim he had been the best in the trials, he would sound arrogant on the one hand while insulting to the other applicants on the other. Even though it was true.The maester finished for him. “The best in your level.”“Yes!” Dance’s breath gusted out in relief at not having to say i...

23 comments 23

Read story

“Thanks Bitch” by Daniel Fernandes

Submitted to Contest #180

The author has placed a warning on this post for language. This also mentions suicide. So this is where shit lead to? Moving on with life welding pain onto my wall of memories I had of you. Months of talking yet years of being friends. Visions of the perfect duo. Only now I know your senseless. Drifting sorry Pat Briscoe I have to with the loss of affection. I did my part. Where's my redemption? What else do you want me to do? I was fucking there. I gave you your fucking time. Shit you wanted yet oh turns out you slip onto some mother fu...

13 comments 13

Read story

“Losing Lucky” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #180

“What have you got in your mouth!”It’s not a game! Not this time! Bloody hell! Who the hell knew that owning a Labrador was like owning a vacuum cleaner with teeth? I dart around one side of the table, and he, like a black shadow with eyes, a maniacal grin, and what can only be described as an evil genius doggy laugh- mwhahaha, you think you can catch me! Foolish human!- darts the other way.“Stop! You bloody-” ooof! Nope. Slipperier than a greased pig- I wonder what a greased pig feels like? It couldn’t be slipperier than a La...

14 comments 14

Read story

“All because I stole an apple” by Lilith Aline

Submitted to Contest #180

I am running for my life all because I stole an apple. Well, not really for my life. I just encountered a bit of bad luck. You see, there are two things that you need to know before I go on. First of all, I stole this apple for my little sister. She was hungry and we didn’t have enough money to buy it, so I thought I could slip it under my jacket without being noticed. Obviously I was wrong. Second of all, I am running because I can’t afford to get arrested. I’ve...

6 comments 6

Read story

“The Black Fox” by Emanuel Diaz

Submitted to Contest #180

The black fox had always been a creature of the night, moving through the shadows with a grace and stealth that belied his blindness. He had always been a hunter, using his other senses to track his prey through the dense forests of his home. But he had never encountered an enemy like the anti-natalism regime that now ruled the land. For years, the regime had been using climate change as a guise for their true goal: the destruction of the traditional family unit. They believed that the only way to save the planet was to stop childbirth alt...

8 comments 8

Read story

“Inferno Luck” by J K

Submitted to Contest #180

I’m on the road, finally, and far enough away that I should be able to relax. Still, it’s hours until I get back home, and I’m just hoping the Taurus doesn’t let me down. That burning smell is back, so it needs oil already, but I am shaking too hard right now. I go ahead and pull over into a rest area. At least I’m not tired, but my stomach feels sick with adrenaline.The sun was not yet up to flush away the darkness when I left the motel this morning. I made excuses to Charlie that I needed to get back home to watch my roommate’s pets while ...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Dark Magic” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #180

Bad luck. She tells me it was luck, that I had some luck and my luck was bad. “It was not your fault,” she tells me this like it was something that happened in the past. A blip. The universe hiccupped and I suffered as a result. She’s wrong. They all are. The words in my head remind me of that. She’s wrong. They are all wrong. They are always wrong. Always and forever, wrong. You are bad, luck has nothing to do with it. I have many words inside of me, and they are all bad words. This is all that I know. That is all that I...

12 comments 12

Read story

“Some Days Are Like That ” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #180

Edie awoke to the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof. She yawned, stretched, and rolled over. As she drifted back to sleep, she could hear her baby brother, Whit, crying from down the hall. A few moments later, or so it seemed, Edie’s mother burst into her room. “Oh no, you’re not up yet? Edie, we’re late. You’ve got to wake up!” Her mother gently shook Edie’s shoulder. Edie opened her eyes and smiled. “Good morning, mommy,” she said. “Honey, you need to get ready. Whit is sick, so I can’t drive you to school today....

2 comments 2

Read story

“Priceless Treasures” by Kristen Nazzaro Keller

Submitted to Contest #180

Content Warning: Mentions of deathIt was the first day of summer and the young man made his way down the street, doing his best to avoid the students who were on a short reprieve from school. It was a foul day, and just as the man glanced up, the sky opened, releasing angry buckets of rain. All around him people were scurrying inside, trying to avoid getting drenched. But the man didn’t care. He continued moving forward, walking with hunched shoulders and his head down. If you hadn’t seen him walking like this before the storm it would be ea...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Unlucky Day” by Nataliia Stempkovska

Submitted to Contest #180

A short, thin, middle-aged man moved cautiously down the street, keeping away from the walls of the house. Nervously adjusting his glasses, he looked around as if looking for someone. It was pitch-dark outside, and not a single lantern was lit. The man reached into the pocket of his worn old coat to get a flashlight, only to find that there was a huge hole. He chaotically stuck his other hand into another pocket — another hole. “Damn, when will this day end!” John thought to himself and wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead with his s...

0 comments 0

Read story

“All in a Day's Work” by Corrie McCue

Submitted to Contest #180

Please note: This story contains use of strong language and adult themes.Marti returned to the register, the beer from the six pack dropped by the local drunk causing her shoes to stick to the floor. “Hi,” she acknowledged, hoping to avoid as much conversation with the plump, middle-aged man as possible. “Why are you in such a bad mood? You should smile more. You’d be so much prettier,” he admonished. “You need gas? Where you at out there?” She eyed him indifferently, ignoring the comments so typical of insecure men. It was like th...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Quintessentially (Un)lucky ” by Fathima R

Submitted to Contest #180

The air tasted sour that day. I just knew from the moment my eyes opened that it was an absolutely morose, burdensome, horrible, tumultuous, momentous in a bad-kind-of-way, day. I knew it when I woke up feeling the broken frame of my glasses jabbing my right side. As I reached my hand out and patted the sheets around me blindly to find the rest of my frame, I knocked down my table lamp, which resulted in a floor full of porcelain shards and a room full of curses.I took a deep breath and released it as a short sigh.Remembering the busy schedu...

5 comments 5

Read story

“It's Unlucky Not to Be Superstitious” by Bob Banel

Submitted to Contest #180

It was Steak Night aboard the harbor Tugboat Samson moored at Pier 13 on the San Francisco waterfront. At the dinner meal , Deckhand Nicky, a flibbertigibbet in Captain Billy's well seasoned opinion, spilled the salt shaker onto the galley table and apparently didn't possess enough common sense to toss a pinch over his left shoulder smack dab into The Devil's eyes. The other two crew members, Mister Mate Mark and Chief the Engineer, were too occupied chowing down their supper and were oblivious to this transgression. After all, it was Steak ...

2 comments 2

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that hinges on the outcome of a coin flip.

Adventure – 68 stories

Write about someone losing their lucky charm.

Mystery – 26 stories

Set your story in a casino.

Adults – 34 stories

Write about someone whose luck is running out.

Character – 44 stories

Contest #180

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: A Roll of the Dice

$250

Prize money

214

Contest entries

100

Stories

Ended on 22:59 - Jan 13, 2023 EST

Won by Marilyn Filewood 🏆

Title: Come In Spinner

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Start your story with someone having a run of bad luck.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“Fortunately, They Suck at Quick Service” by Delbert Griffith

“Our Lot in War” by Scott Christenson

“The Turning of the Wheel” by Laurel Hanson

“Thanks Bitch” by Daniel Fernandes

“Losing Lucky” by Michelle Oliver

“All because I stole an apple” by Lilith Aline

“The Black Fox” by Emanuel Diaz

“Inferno Luck” by J K

“Dark Magic” by Jed Cope

“Some Days Are Like That ” by Chelsey B

“Priceless Treasures” by Kristen Nazzaro Keller

“Unlucky Day” by Nataliia Stempkovska

“All in a Day's Work” by Corrie McCue

“Quintessentially (Un)lucky ” by Fathima R

“It's Unlucky Not to Be Superstitious” by Bob Banel

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that hinges on the outcome of a coin flip.

Write about someone losing their lucky charm.

Set your story in a casino.

Write about someone whose luck is running out.

Contest #180

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

214

Contest entries

100

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: