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

Posted in Angst on Jan 6, 2023

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✍️ 42 stories

“Fateful Luck” by Nathalie Lacoste-Hofmann

Submitted to Contest #180

“Alright you two, let’s get home.” The young mother searches her red purse for a tissue to mop the nose of one of her charges on this cold January day. She has on each arm bags from children’s clothing and shoe stores. Her own attire is worn. Her grey wool coat is thinning. A small hole makes an appearance as she raises her arm to hitch her purse higher on her shoulder. The black of her boots is dappled with much lighter spots from years of scuffing. As she searches, a paper flutters out of her purse while she rushes ...

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“Four Leaf Clover” by Kenzie Ramirez

Submitted to Contest #180

They say bad luck comes in threes. Your cat dies, your car tire goes flat, and your job calls you to tell you business has been slow and your hours are being cut. Sound familiar? Or maybe it’s something small. You break your favorite watch, you stub your toe, and you dropped that twenty dollars in your wallet walking down the street. All bad things, all at the worst time. All consecutively in a row. For me it only seems to keep piling on. Not just three events but four, five, seven even. A death in the family. A last minute mov...

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“When Marco Lost his Mojo.” by Abdurrahman Asri

Submitted to Contest #180

It was still dark outside, but Marco was wide awake. He was alone in his dorm room at six in the morning and had made it his goal to investigate every corner thereof. He would stand still for a few moments, charge toward a certain corner, thoroughly examine it, then curse his fate. He checked his jackets, under the bed, under the blankets, in the drawers, and even under the pillows. He went as far as to remove the mattress and lift the bed frame. He also hopelessly checked his gym bag. He had been looking for clues for at least thirty minute...

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“It started with an umbrella...” by Elizabeth Garza

Submitted to Contest #180

Kelly sat on the bench trying to catch her breath. Her chest heaving and sweat pouring down the back of her second nicest shirt. As she stared down the road at the taillights of the bus with frustrated gray eyes. She had missed the bus by only a few feet because she was running late and it seemed the world was out to get her. She pushed her dark hair, the color of a raven’s wing out of her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to calm herself. The problems had started about a week ago when she had been given an umbrella as a gif...

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“Fight or Flight” by Zainab BH

Submitted to Contest #180

It was with that dream that Esther Douglas’s bout of bad luck began. She hoped it was a bout at least because she did not know who she was if not lucky. Her whole life, perhaps even before she was born, good luck had followed her. When Pinky Douglas was eight months pregnant with Esther, she visited Mrs Jency, a woman too young to be on her deathbed. At just sixty four, Mrs. Jency had suffered quite the stroke that had left her weak and practically immobile. Hope was chipped away with each visit of a doctor, even the ones from the mo...

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“Manic Monday” by Shirley Bradley

Submitted to Contest #180

"Mummmyyyy, Alfie hit me!""Mummmyyy she kicked me first," came loud cries from the living room as Jess prepared the children's breakfast in the kitchen. The song "Manic Monday" by The Bangles blared from the radio. Jess smiled at how apt this song was for the present moment. It was indeed a very manic Monday morning in the Robinson household. It had been a long weekend. Jess's husband, Tom, was ill with the flu and had been in bed for all of it. She was exhausted and had slept through the first alarm (thank goodness for the snooze funct...

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“From Afar” by Keith Maynard Jr

Submitted to Contest #180

Rummaging around in the garbage a homeless boy stumbling over something. He falls over face first due to this. As he gathers himself he looks around and doesn’t see what he could have tripped over; instinctively he begins clearing the bags of garbage to find the source. A pair of legs come into view, at this sight he hesitates. Carefully he steps around the legs and removes more garbage bags slowly. His breath speeds up a little as his heart beats even faster. Slowly the arms and torso are revealed. Spotting blood on the torso worries hi...

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“Tragic Trevor's Special Day” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #180

New Year. New day. Same city. Same me. Same...everything. I believe the cliché line is, “It wasn't always like this.” Which is true, boring as it sounds when you compare what I go through since my ascendance into adulthood. Now, I don't mean to knock anyone out there who actually grew up in a bad lifestyle, nor anyone who actually lost everything. I just want to address- Ouch! Damned ladder! Anyways, as I walk under the maintenance crew yet again, no doubt finally fixing that air conditioner I had been notifying my landlady about fo...

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“Doing Hydrotherapy. ” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #180

It was all more bad luck really. Hilary got the bad news from her doctor. Her painful left knee was cactus. Her GP prescribed her some anti-inflammatory tablets, and recommended that Hilary, aka Hilaria, take up hydrotherapy. She felt her sagging heart sink to her boots. Reluctantly, Hilary went home and shared her news with Ben, her husband. She booked a session at the aquatic center in a neighboring suburb. All her couch potato husband said was, "You can't drive the car tomorrow. I'm taking it the panel beater's at Hometown Smash Repairs. ...

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“Rolling Out Of Bed” by Anna Komora

Submitted to Contest #180

Pure horror freezes the blood in her very veins when she sees the time as her phone screen lights up. 8:13 AM No, this wasn't happening. Nope. Not to her, not today. In a flurry of blankets, sheets, and pillows she attempts to get out of the warm bed she'd been in as fast as possible. There wasn't a second to waste if she has any hope of getting to her job in a reasonable amount of time. If she still had the job anymore at all, since she is already thirteen minutes late. Why her useless phone didn't wake her as it did on any other ...

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“Facing Eviction” by J.C. King

Submitted to Contest #180

*Profane/Suggestive language* Dear God, It is I, yes, your humble servant yet again. I know it’s the eighth time today, so? What else do you expect from me? And given the circumstances how could I not call on you, did you see that?! This past week has been trifling and do mean absolutely trifling, Lucifer himself would throw in the towel—only you can undo and fix this, Jesus! Please. Stepping in fresh dog shit was just unfortunate icing on the cake. And it feels as if you’re testing me Lord, what do you need me to do? Do you hate me? My ...

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“The Shoplifter” by Molly Layne

Submitted to Contest #180

March 3rd, 2022 Gratiot; The Red Zone; Detroit, MI, USA The wind whipped through his thin clothes and penetrated his bones. He bent over and dug deeper into the trash can, ignoring the stench of rotting food and dirty diapers. It was a shame that people didn’t throw away good clothes. He could sure use something more than the pair of ragged jeans and the light, sleeveless vest that currently were doing little to keep out the weather. Reaching the bottom of the ga...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“Fateful Luck” by Nathalie Lacoste-Hofmann

“Four Leaf Clover” by Kenzie Ramirez

“When Marco Lost his Mojo.” by Abdurrahman Asri

“It started with an umbrella...” by Elizabeth Garza

“Fight or Flight” by Zainab BH

“Manic Monday” by Shirley Bradley

“From Afar” by Keith Maynard Jr

“Tragic Trevor's Special Day” by Steffen Lettau

“Doing Hydrotherapy. ” by Julie Grenness

“Rolling Out Of Bed” by Anna Komora

“Facing Eviction” by J.C. King

“The Shoplifter” by Molly Layne

🌟 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

99

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: