Write a story in which a character is running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Posted in Angst on Jan 26, 2024

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?

✍️ 122 stories

“Can't Sleep” by Travis O

Submitted to Contest #235

The motel room is dirty. Not from me, it came that way. The toilet constantly runs and the sheets on the mattress have stains. There’s some mud on the floor near the entrance. Even the TV reception is poor, not that anyone is watching. I can’t say I’m surprised, coming from a place like this. Nobody actually stops here to sleep. They come here to escape, to get away. Maybe some even come here to die. Like one final stop on the roulette wheel. Not me though. That’s exactly what I’m hoping to avoid. You can run but you can’t hide. Thin...

1 comment 1

Read story

“March” by Molly Jenkinson

Submitted to Contest #235

Sunday 21st March 2010 Mam was fuming when we got back from church today cos there was a big rip in my tights and apparently the whole congregation was staring at me. I don’t know why she even cares. We’re only going so they’ll tell the welfare people we’ve been. It’s not like God gives a toss about my laddered tights. He’s got bigger things to worry about, surely. She’s making me go every Sunday now – acting all holier than thou as if she’s not down the Swan with Big Tony twenty minutes after we’ve left. He’s such a weasel. (Big T...

2 comments 2

Read story

“How to Run Away in Microgravity” by Corbin Russell

Submitted to Contest #235

They train you how to amble about on these rocks, but they don’t train you to run for goddamn life. One third gravity, hell one twentieth of Earth gravity, you can learn how to hop in your jump suit, pack and all, without falling on your bubble like a damned terra firmer, fresh in the float. But it all goes out the air lock when you suddenly have to run for your last. That lizard brain of yours doesn’t care a milliliter about the tech that brought you out here. It remembers. Remembers you scurrying from one rock to another knowing the sunli...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Tumakbo Ka!” by Conrad De Jesus

Submitted to Contest #235

“Run for your lives boys!” The sound of the headmaster’s shrill words echoed across the grassy field. “Or you’ll be seeing me at three o’clock!” Father K’s deafening voice on the loudspeaker caught Freddy by surprise causing the twelve-year-old to drift off the dirt track. A quick nudge by his best friend’s elbow helped correct the wayward course. Arnel, a step to his right, drew Freddy’s attention with a look of concern that mirrored his own. The moment however, evaporated as the two were overcome with laughter, a hysterical yet natural res...

3 comments 3

Read story

“"Car ride home"” by Elle Florendo

Submitted to Contest #235

‘It’ll be different this time,’ Corrine repeated to herself as she drove steadily across the highway. Emma fell asleep in the backseat minutes past midnight. She wore the same clothes for two days straight. They haven’t eaten anything but pretzels and chips. She once had to brush her teeth at the side of the road. This would understandably be upsetting for most kids. But Emma didn’t mind at all. She had her mother’s free spirit attitude, so all of it seemed like a normal thing to do on roadtrips. They never really did one b...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Killer Run” by Stardust Rubino

Submitted to Contest #235

It was the same morning jog Lindsey Schwartz took daily. Two miles from her house to Marshall Park. It was a piece of cake for her, although she didn’t eat them herself. Even with the greenest slice of key lime or banana cream staring her in the face at Shari’s bakery, they were invisible to her, as her goal to double her mileage made the scrumptious snacks moot. November 2, 2022 was going to be that day. The sky dropped as much water as any other day in southwest Washington, yet not an umbrella in sight. The ability to withstand the ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“JJ’s summer” by Bill Miller

Submitted to Contest #235

"I ran *huff* as fast *huff* as I could!" I sputtered as I stood on the front porch of the tan double-wide trailer, hands on my knees and gasping for breath. The sweat from my brow burned as it dripped into my eyes. Jimmy came running up behind me in no better shape than I was. "Billy, what the heck are you running up here all hot and bothered about," Mom asked as she opened the cracked screen door to let us inside. "Come on in and cool off, let me get you a.." "Mom *huff* she found him! She found JJ!" I...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The Search Party” by Carly Vair

Submitted to Contest #235

Content warnings: infanticide, accidental suicide The last drops of the infant’s blood cling to the knife wound like slick glass beads. Bast gives the body a little shake to dislodge them; one lands in the goblet beneath, the other on Melidrei’s hand. She flinches though the blood is already beginning to cool, staring at the dark spot on her hand as if it’s a spider she’s afraid to spook. Bast wipes the blood off with his forefinger and pops it in his mouth. “Don’t look so forlorn, Mel.” Melidrei glances up at him, cat-green eyes dry...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Dirty Laundry” by Sarah Mahon

Submitted to Contest #235

New Ross, Co. Wexford, IrelandJuly 4th, 1970The sound of joyous, excited voices outside slipped through the glass panes of the window above my bed and invaded my ears. It didn't matter how intensely I tried to drain them out and focus on getting some sleep for the gruelling day ahead of me tomorrow, they bombarded me.With a soft groan, I pushed myself to sit up and let out a slow breath through my lips before turning to peer out of the grimy window. A group of boys, not much older than myself, laughing and joking around, shoving each other p...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Good Habit” by Geraldine Donaher

Submitted to Contest #235

The Good Habit By Geraldine Donaher Pushing away doubts about a vocation is exhausting. My spiritual director says, “Prayer is empowering and peaceful when done with an open mind.” I answer, “Then I’m a hypocrite staying in a life that I think God doesn’t want for me.” He sighs and tells me I’m not praying the right way. I don’t think I can do this much more. It’s been the same conversation every month for about a year. As I pull out of the seminary parking lot, I take one more look at the ominous building in my rearview mirror...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Roar ” by Oizys …

Submitted to Contest #235

For weeks, the tension had been mounting in the cramped little house. Money was tight and jobs were scarce, putting strain on Ronnette's parents' already fragile relationship. Her father, once a loving man, had taken to drowning his failures in a bottle of whiskey night after night. And with each swig, the darkness inside him grew. More and more, he'd come home spoiling for a fight. Any little thing could set him off - a burnt meal, the kids being too loud. And he always seemed to direct his rage at her mother first. This p...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Seeds of the Unspoken, Water of Change” by Talulah Pellon

Submitted to Contest #235

The buzz of anticipation had created a charged atmosphere of resolve and silent narratives that each of the eighty-eight runners carried with them. Kael's assertion, almost to herself, was a whisper lost in the cacophony of nervous energy, "We're chasing after a finish line that doesn't exist." The runner beside her, his long limbs a stark contrast against the short, sharp shadows of the morning sun, glanced at her with a bemused expression. "Sorry?" he asked, his brow furrowed under a bandana streaked with sweat before the race had even beg...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Romance on the Run!” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #235

Imagine the future is now, some when. Once upon a love story sat a romantic dreamer, an undercover Renegade. Her real time name was Rianna. For starters, all our heritage properties and 21st Century ticky tacky town houses had been swept away by progress. The future consisted of towering apartment blocks, with one bedroom each. These towers were interspersed with high-rise hydroponic farms. Here only certain foods were grown, pest-free, cultivated by clever robotic devices. These were the food sources of the future. All the present farming c...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Living On Without You ” by Stephen Laviera

Submitted to Contest #235

Maligned by how today unfolded. Accepting events as they come. For as they are. Had in ways been ferocious to control. Making a valiant attempt to withstand and bear them. Splashing water again on my face. Feeling as if I’ve been asleep the past few days. My perspective has come unraveled. I only remember excerpts. My younger brother Scott barrels through the men’s bathroom door. The ginger man mountain coddles me over my shoulders. Asking if I had broken. “Bro, you were screaming. It’s gonna be okay...

14 comments 14

Read story

“The Dark Forest” by Ashley Quinn

Submitted to Contest #235

Seventeen years of running, and I’d gotten no further away from her. My whole body ached, my muscles burned and quivered from fatigue. Exhaustion consumed me. In that nanosecond of acknowledgement, I lost focus on the path in front of me. A gnarled tree root that pierced the forest floor caught my foot and nearly sent me sprawling to the ground. Somehow, I remained standing, but my pursuer didn’t see the obstacle coming and a low groan escaped her as she collided with the ground. I didn’t want to look at her—this hot mess of a human being ...

2 comments 2

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with one or two characters going for a run.

Adventure – 37 stories

Make a race an important element of your story.

Narrative – 44 stories

Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Character – 42 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “You can’t run forever.”

Dialogue – 65 stories

Contest #235

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Running Wild

$250

Prize money

310

Contest entries

121

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 02, 2024 EST

Won by Kajsa Ohman 🏆

Title: KILLER IN THE WILLOWS

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

Write a story in which a character is running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 122 stories

“Can't Sleep” by Travis O

“March” by Molly Jenkinson

“How to Run Away in Microgravity” by Corbin Russell

“Tumakbo Ka!” by Conrad De Jesus

“"Car ride home"” by Elle Florendo

“Killer Run” by Stardust Rubino

“JJ’s summer” by Bill Miller

“The Search Party” by Carly Vair

“Dirty Laundry” by Sarah Mahon

“The Good Habit” by Geraldine Donaher

“Roar ” by Oizys …

“Seeds of the Unspoken, Water of Change” by Talulah Pellon

“Romance on the Run!” by Julie Grenness

“Living On Without You ” by Stephen Laviera

“The Dark Forest” by Ashley Quinn

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with one or two characters going for a run.

Make a race an important element of your story.

Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “You can’t run forever.”

Contest #235

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

310

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: