Write a story about someone who has to “move mountains” to get what they want.

Posted in Angst on Jan 13, 2023

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✍️ 15 stories

“The Wizard of Washington Square” by Lee Disco

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

There is a wizard in Washington Square. He wears a billowing cloak, bundled in a pile on his shoulders; he is a tall creature, and with the ebony fabric wrapped up to his ears, he looks even larger. The rest of the cloak drapes down his legs, swaying in fraying threads at his ankles. His jeans—black, too—are too short for him, yielding to gray ankles and ragged shoes. He is pale all over, with skin dead blue pale like a corpse. His hair is like pale wheat in need of a glinting scythe. For all his magic, he must cut it in the dim reflection o...

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“Amor Vincit Omnia. Love Conquers All.” by Marilyn Filewood

Submitted to Contest #181

(One profanity, a theme of Autism, bullying) "Asparagus got Aspergers!" Bronson lowered his face to my eye level and beamed with menace. His two front teeth had fallen out last week, so a spray of spittle came through the gaps and landed on my glasses. I wished glasses came with windscreen wipers. Due to the missing teeth, what Bronson actually said was "Athparagath got Athbergeth", but I got what he meant. Bronson was possibly the meanest of the mean boys in Year 3. He was born mean, I think, so not much can be done about it. On the ...

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“Doomscrolling Mountains” by Akash Joshi

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

You open google and type “unsplash.com”. The site is simple, functional, and promising. You know you are at the right place when the most prominent thing on a site is the search bar. And there are two of them. Search free high-resolution photos, they say. You know why you are here. Your life is lacking. You need inspiration. Or is it motivation? Or is it both? You decide to go with the former. It’s long-term. Choosing your desktop wallpaper is an important business for you. Because of the nature of your job, you are constantly chan...

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“The Miners of Mount Elgon” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

As the sun sets on the extinct volcano of Mount Elgon and the red light of the African evening fades, a female dung beetle scrambles over a pile of elephant droppings, forming her find into a ball. Once completed, it will be at least three times larger than the shiny, black-armored insect. She will roll her prize away backwards, a single egg enclosed within, to be buried in soft ground.Though the deed of the lady dung beetle is both fascinating and commendable—for it is she, and all her kindred, who help prevent the putrefaction of the land—...

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“Bullets and Feathers” by Ian Gonzales

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

“Sigma Station Control, this is Shuttle D177 on approach, please confirm.” I release the transmit key and sit back in my command chair, feeling that sense of weary satisfaction that comes at the end of a long day’s work, done well. “I’ve got one giant hunk of rock, all ready to deliver.” There’s a moment of silence, then the comm crackles to life. “Roger that, D177. We have you on our scopes. Your approach vector is clear and set. Come in nice and slow; we don’t need that ‘hunk of rock’ missing its orbital slot.” “I’m all over it, Sigma Cont...

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“Conquering catatonia” by Autism Active

Submitted to Contest #181

He lay across the breakfast table, locked in uncontrollable rigidity. His head was turned to one side and the unchewed food bulged in his cheeks. She jumped up, once again on red alert. “Jimmy, Jimmy” she called as she immediately shook his shoulders to sit back up. He didn’t respond. With the confidence of a pro, she pressed on his chin, opening his mouth and in one fluid movement cleared the contents onto the side plate in front. Jimmy returned to the room from his trancelike state, as if on cue, awakening back to the present. He glan...

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“Amalie's Escape” by Richard Leslie Brock

Submitted to Contest #181

On June 25th of 1930, Amalie turned eighteen and lived with her parents near the Saint-Lizier Cathedral in a house overlooking the Salat river in France. One year later, she would go to the Spanish side of the Pyrenees to become a teacher of children, change her name to Amala, and marry a sheep farmer who lived high on a mountain and had a bent toward philosophy. Amalie had always been an unpredictable child her father would say of his beloved daughter—smart, impetuous, and often unruly. She was always driven to follow her whims —no matte...

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“Ain't No Mountain HIgh Enough...” by Lisa Wentworth

Submitted to Contest #181

Ain’t No Mountain HIgh Enough… There once was a girl called Lydia. She was pretty and sweet, but not the prettiest and sweetest. She was smart and clever, but not the smartest or most clever. She never won awards for her work in class. She was fit and active, and loved being outside, but she never excelled and got blue ribbons at contests…she preferred to just challenge herself. In fact, Lydia was quite content in her own little world; it was a beautiful place. She dreamed of mountains, and seas, and blue skies and birds that she chatted...

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“Mama Bear” by Vanessa M

Submitted to Contest #181

Content warning: language As she watched little Gracie enter the building, Kimberly let out an exhausted sigh. The first two weeks of the school year had been difficult to say the least. Gracie was the new kid, and that was always hard in and of itself. It’s easy to forget how mean kids can be. Then there was the matter of Gracie’s IEP. Gracie was hard of hearing and wore bright purple hearing aids in both ears. Gracie also required motor support, and she had a sensory processing disorder that required near-constant stimula...

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“Moving Mountains” by Sharon Farnsworth

Submitted to Contest #181

MOVING MOUNTAINS Nic and Pic and their ant colony recently moved but discovered their food source was depleting quicker than anticipated. Someone had to go look for food, and Nic and Pic were chosen. This was good news for them. They were over the moon with the idea of exploring. They hadn’t had new territory to explore in quite a long time, and looking for food presented the perfect opportunity. They began making plans.News spread throughout the colony there may be a mountain in the vicinity, so the two girls decided t...

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“New Beginnings” by Val Jean

Submitted to Contest #181

Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence, Gun ViolenceNew Beginnings It’s not going to be like last time. Violet thought as she squinted through her one good eye and reapplied a different, darker shade of red to her swollen lips. I’m stronger than my excuses and braver than my fears. She placed both hands on the sink counter and stared at her bruised reflection as she repeated the mantra her sponsor, Damon, had given her last week after she’d broken down in the meeting and spilled her stale coffee all over the church’s new carpet.Blinking bac...

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“Impossible to Possible” by Abby Jiang

Submitted to Contest #181

The thunder was loud and rolling over the dark summer sky. The storm was coming. Against the gusting winds of the incoming rain, I rode my bike through the winding streets of Shanghai to my review class. During the Culture Revolution in 1978 – a movement that Mao started—colleges closed for ten years. My regular school education stopped when I was in fifth grade. Like every young person, I was sent to both the factory and the countryside as part of the “Learn from the Workers and the Peasants” campaign. Since a child, I have always wanted...

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“To Will a Mountain to Move” by Juan Diego Olivarez

Submitted to Contest #181

Grand Heights wasn’t a very large town. It was the kind of town where everybody knew each other. Gossip ran amok, families could leave their doors unlocked, and when you saw someone you waved them hello and wished them a good day. With how close-knit the town was, word spread quickly that Mike Oats had been hurt in a car accident, currently in critical condition. Mike was in college, currently separated from his family. The way word moved around town, the whole town might have heard about the accident before his own family knew. Mike was wel...

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“Katrina” by Justina Joshi

Submitted to Contest #181

Katrina was a prostitute, not a whore, and that’s a difference. When she was 5 years old, her mother put her in a musical school back in Moscow, in the violin class. She was a genius. She has picked her long ago relate grandfather’s violin when she long before she could walk or talk, as if she knew. At first she played with it as normal kids do with normal toys, meaning, she would examine it with her mouth leaving glittering saliva on if lucky, worse, she would bang it against the floor. Her parents dread this sight…and sound, so they took G...

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“Journeymen.” by Erika Mara

Submitted to Contest #181

I felt repeated taps and repeated grabbing of my shoulder as I was asleep. The sound that no man wants to hear when he is in a deep slumber is, “Vladimir, wake up. It is time to go to work.” I slowly opened my eyes at the sight of my father already wearing his work uniform. Black corduroy pants, with dark brown and black wool flannel. I could see my reflection in his black-rimmed round glasses. The only light in the room was coming from the sun starting to rise because it was the crack of dawn. My father looked at me with con...

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Contest #181

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Write a story about someone who has to “move mountains” to get what they want.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 15 stories

“The Wizard of Washington Square” by Lee Disco

“Amor Vincit Omnia. Love Conquers All.” by Marilyn Filewood

“Doomscrolling Mountains” by Akash Joshi

“The Miners of Mount Elgon” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

“Bullets and Feathers” by Ian Gonzales

“Conquering catatonia” by Autism Active

“Amalie's Escape” by Richard Leslie Brock

“Ain't No Mountain HIgh Enough...” by Lisa Wentworth

“Mama Bear” by Vanessa M

“Moving Mountains” by Sharon Farnsworth

“New Beginnings” by Val Jean

“Impossible to Possible” by Abby Jiang

“To Will a Mountain to Move” by Juan Diego Olivarez

“Katrina” by Justina Joshi

“Journeymen.” by Erika Mara

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who realizes they're on the wrong path.

Write about a character who’s climbing a mountain, whether internal, external, or both.

Write about a character who, for whatever reason, retreats to a remote cabin.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Contest #181

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

278

Contest entries

125

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: