Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a character in search of something or someone.

Posted in Angst on Oct 25, 2022

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.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 94 stories

“The Perfect Sermon” by Lanny Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #124

He sank down into his desk chair. It was Monday, the Monday before the Sunday before Christmas. His head in his hands, Rev. Larry Carter prayed. Though he talked often to God, this was different. As always at this time of year, he was in search of the “perfect” Christmas sermon. In fact, his parishioners had come to expect his best sermon to be on the Sunday before Christmas. And he had never disappointed them. But as of yet, he had not felt God’s leading clearly on a particular topic or passage of Scripture. And he had one week to prepare. ...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Search For Time” by Ananyaa Patil

Submitted to Contest #124

Flashback16th January 1993“Is it here?” Said Dr. Samuel. “I think it’s with her, Shh!! Someone’s coming. Get down” Said Mr. Walter.“Bad place to hide Walter. Give up. You’ll never get it.” Came a voice of a lady. “You wish. I would do anything to get it.” Said Mr. Walter. “Yeah. You’re the one who should give up. And give in. To the Police.” Said, Samuel. “It’s nice how you play with words, Sam. Too bad you use it at a time like this. Let’s just use this shall we?” Said The lady as she pulled something from thin air. “Celine no!! Keep it awa...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Amulet of Hartla” by Omar Alvarez

Submitted to Contest #124

       Tankard looked at the map and at the Six Peak Mountains off in the distance. He turned the map around and slanted his head to try and fit their heading towards the course.           “This looks right… Like this here… No… Like this…”          He turned around and looked at the Yout River, then to the Panaba Hills on his left, then back at the map.          &n...

7 comments 7
Read story

“The Job Search ” by Melanie Hawkes

Submitted to Contest #124

Santa fills his sack with presents and slides down the chimney with ease. He tip-toes across the living room floor, careful his boots don't make the floor boards creak. "It's about time you showed up."Santa looks around, surprised at the strange voice. "Up here, old man. On top of the tree."Santa puts his sack of presents down and gazes at the tall decorated Christmas tree in front of him. Red and gold baubles, handmade ornaments, tinsel and flashing lights fill the tree. A beautiful golden angel looks...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Day Drinkin'” by Michael Danyluk

Submitted to Contest #124

“There’s a guy that’s been gone for twenty minutes, and I don’t think he’s coming back,” my co-worker — Sarah, the daytime bartender — told me. “And he was pouring his own draft behind my back.”“I didn’t even notice anyone leave... who was it?”“The skinny guy with the crew cut. He’s never been here before. I didn’t expect any problems though; he looked pretty clean-cut... He seemed to get wasted pretty fast.”“OK, I think I know who you’re talking about... how much was his bill?”“22.97... I don’t know why he would leave on it. Jeremy told me ...

1 comment 1
Read story

“The Collapse of the Humanities” by Ash Simons

Submitted to Contest #124

The air was choked by silence aside from the occasional grating of teeth against dinner forks and the gulps that followed. I was wracked with guilt as I sat rigidly in my seat—eyes fixated on the woman seated directly across from me. I was searching for my wife, but she’d been consumed by the stoic statue seated there—a chiseled piece of art that I could not seem to find beauty in. Her once unfettered mane that showcased her eclectic personality in all its glory now wreaked of chemicals that worked to tame her tresses into a sleek bun. Her d...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Jenna and Kate” by Melony Beard

Submitted to Contest #124

Five-year-old Jenna gazed through the filthy panes of the kitchen window. The sky was dark. She hadn’t yet learned to tell time, but she knew the sun had risen a few hours ago. Stepping on the porch for a better look at the sky, she noticed Mom’s faded blue car still parked in the grass. Mom hadn't been home in two nights. Jenna knew because Liz, her neighbor, had taught her to count before she went away. Jenna went back inside the single wide trailer wondering if Mom had disappeared like Liz.Jenna climbed atop the stained countertop, stood ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Papayas in Winter” by Julie Frederick

Submitted to Contest #124

“Pardon me, do you have any papayas?” an unfamiliar voice asked.Lauren Miller was lost in a daze as she removed the checkout divider and numbly watched the conveyor belt ferry the next customer’s groceries her way. She looked up with a start. She glanced first at Coleslaw—her nickname for the sixty-something-year-old bachelor whose shopping basket lay in front of her with its predictable staples: white bread, milk, sardines, apples (always three!), and, of course, coleslaw. But Coleslaw’s face registered the same uncertainty as hers. Behind ...

2 comments 2
Read story

“The Thief in the Garden” by Austin Seaver

Submitted to Contest #124

Born as the only son of an absent father and an ill mother, Oskar lacked every resource for success; except the desperation only an empty stomach could provide. A desperation that was cultivated by the untimely death of his nurturing mother at age five. If there had been an ounce of luck in his body, Oskar would have been adopted by the holy man that laid his mother to her eternal slumber. Instead, he was cursed to hunt for scraps of food that fell from carriages, into horse manure that littered streets of the great kingdom.Despite being for...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Ain't Genealogy Great!” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #124

Ain’t Genealogy Great! (Based on a true story) Walter Hanson was from East Tennessee. He was a proud southern gentleman. Maybe not so proud of the south’s slavery history, but still loyal to the memory of his ancestors. Proud that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Civil War for the South. Proud of the tombstone in the local cemetery that, while not marking the grave of his progenitor, it did commemorate the man’s loyalty to the south with the inscription, “Jacob L. Arbeiter, Cpl. CSA, 1834 – 1865.” Proud to be the great-great...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Hidden Apostate” by L.J Sunwing

Submitted to Contest #124

“Oof”, Ripley falls onto her bed. The comfort holds her body like a coffin. The warmth cradles her amongst the stress of midterms which is almost over besides a project to hand in tomorrow. With that being finished, she is excited to relax for the first night since the Summer. The window is slightly open and the fall breeze comes in and brushes her face. Despite having track practice tomorrow, she was happy to spend an hour alone while her roommates were gone. This left an empty and quiet apartment for the book worm. She looked at the book s...

0 comments 0
Read story

“DIG #235” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #124

“Seek and ye shall find…” The script in English was cut deep into the wall of the ancient structure recently revealed at Dig #235. The young archaeologist trembled as her brush swept sand from the last word. How long ago had humans lived on this world? This was always a key question in the work of interstellar archaeologists. She had been assigned to this section of the dig to search for clues about the human diaspora as historians had come to call the centuries of humans migrating across the Universe. There was documentation from archaeolog...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Score” by Greacian Goeke

Submitted to Contest #124

Hear these:   gloom    lust     truth     n. Anglo-Saxon.  Dense, blade-quick. Is there a one-syllable word for disgust, she wondered.    Hate    dread    guilt    gut       gharghhghhgh    may retch.   She inhaled the gloom of the empty library, sieving it through her skin, gall, the heavy bitt...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Solid White Knight” by Leela Rae

Submitted to Contest #124

All of existence was in search of the truth. The Book of Knowledge and Wisdom held all of the answers, the secrets of eternity… locked away, in the center of a city, in a glass case, guarded by a solid white knight whom had never spoke.   The key had not been seen for ages. Legends claimed it was a key made of glass just like the glass casing the book was contained in. One story told of the key being shattered in a million tiny pieces by the emperor because he found his wife sneaking and reading the book. A...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Too Tight Skin” by Mary Fitzgerald

Submitted to Contest #124

Warning - Possible Mental Health Trigger : I could always tell the people who hadn’t outgrown their skin, they were grumpy all the time or just went about their lives on autopilot and never followed their passions. In fact, they don't even know what their passions were anymore. Life in the world is difficult enough and  it’s a painful process to become who you are meant to be, and begin to share your gifts with the world.  I guess that’s why so many people never choose to go through it.  It is a choice.  It’s th...

5 comments 5
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone trying to read a map.

Fiction – 35 stories

Write a story where two characters are playing hide and seek, literally or metaphorically.

Fluff – 27 stories

End your story with someone finding themselves.

Character – 39 stories

Set your story in a labyrinth that holds a secret.

Dark – 31 stories

Contest #124

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Seeking, Finding

$250

Prize money

226

Contest entries

147

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 17, 2021 EST

Won by Amanda Lieser 🏆

Title: Birth Mother

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!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢