Center your story around a character’s personal exploration, whether it's trying a new hobby, visiting an unfamiliar place, or learning something completely new.

Posted in Character on Apr 19, 2024

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✍️ 89 stories

“Me, Myself, and Mexico” by Samuel Jackson

Submitted to Contest #247

The wings of the plane obscured the view of the mountains below, only feint blotches of white peeking through the corner of the window. The seat beside me was empty, providing a comfort that most of the passengers onboard wished they'd had, though, it also served as a reminder that I was on my own… yet again. Here I was, flying into a place which nearly chewed me up the first time, and which offered no amnesty or sign that it would be any less relenting the second time around. There was a lady across the aisle, her faded brunette hair crease...

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“Bon voyage” by Kim Olson

Submitted to Contest #247

The photo showed my mom and dad along with their best friends standing in the basket of an air balloon, smiling and looking excitedly towards takeoff for what was sure to be a grand adventure. Looking at that picture, I couldn’t help but smile. I am sure that picture brought back many fond memories for my mother. Could anything be better than sharing such an experience with her beloved husband and their lifelong friends? It was one of the many trips they had taken together over the years. This photo had been featured in a montage of rev...

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“Big Ugly Dish” by Daryl Kulak

Submitted to Contest #247

This wasn’t my idea. My mom pulled hard on my hand to keep me from looking at the tufts of grass that poked through the sidewalk cracks like hair on a straggly dog. She was always rushing me. This time we were visiting our “new neighbors” who lived in this old tired house on the top of the hill. We moved from a suburb in Columbus out here because they thought it would be a better place to raise me. I didn’t have a say in all this, as you’ve probably guessed. Eleven-year-old girls don’t get to decide where the family moves. My dad works as a ...

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“Art for Beginners” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #247

Room 19, level three. It would have been a lot easier for Jessica to find if the architect of the campus hadn’t seemingly been channelling M. C. Escher tripping on mind-warping hallucinogens. Or if the interior designers had been more direct with their signage, instead of littering the place with vague arrows. Was that one pointing to the stairwell, or around to the left? She’d finally given up when she’d found herself in the dusty basement, where a sour-faced janitor snapped out a route for her. “At least I’ve achieved my aim of speaking t...

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“Maternity Leave Goals - Learning Something New” by Carrie Simmons

Submitted to Contest #247

Sabrina stretches her spine tall in her desk chair and nervously feathers her unkempt bangs with her left hand. She hasn’t showered in three days and she feels bad about it. She feels greasy even with the dry shampoo she loaded into her hair.Her dominant hand grasps a freshly sharpened pencil and she taps it nervously on the crisp notepad she bought from the store yesterday. She felt proud for making it out of the house.Her chair teeters and totters on the uneven parquet floors in her makeshift office that is really just a corner in her emba...

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“Descent Into Vengeance: A Mother's Reckoning” by Ashley Doyle Pooser

Submitted to Contest #247

***Trigger Warning for sensitive content including bullying, suicide, child loss.***I don’t kill because I enjoy it. No. Everyone would misunderstand if they knew me. But they don’t know anything, because I’m invisible. They don’t even see me anymore. For all they see, I’m just hands slinging sloppy joes day in and day out. But they’re not invisible. Not at all. I see every single cruelty the bullies dish out. And it may be the last thing they ever see, but eventually I’m not invisible anymore.Not that I mind living my life unseen. I wear my...

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“Sliding Home” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #247

Charlie O’Brien thought he heard the bell. He wasn’t sure; his hearing wasn’t very good anymore. A bell would mean it was 3:00 p.m. Not that it mattered. His internal clock was accurate. That clock told him school was out. At the janitor’s closet, his inner sanctum, he extracted the waxing machine. It had been there almost since he’d started working and worked like a charm, that heavy aluminum buffer. The old gal could still polish up a mirror finish. He’d replaced the pads more times than he could remember. Wool they were, origina...

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“City of Light, Angel of Darkness” by Ali Anthony Bell

Submitted to Contest #247

The day after their wedding, Paul and Léonie Barry set out on their Honeymoon voyage to Paris, not to return to the USA. For Paul, it was the adventure he’d been anticipating for half his life and for Léonie the return she’d been longing for since her family had immigrated and settled in Manhattan three years earlier.Paul had insisted that they only take two suitcases each, because they could buy everything they needed for their new life when they arrived. Léonie didn’t have any difficulty putting everything she owned in two valises, with th...

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“That Space Trip” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #247

I tried to make it work.How hard can it be when you don’t believe that time exists? Think of it. Here I am a (for lack of a better word) librarian responsible for late earth culture and whatnot, trying to process what exactly?That time does not exist.We are not far removed from the idea that existence is not real—except, of course, it is. Most people give up at this point, but not me. I have a job to do.I guess it is time for minutia. He is right before me while my mind is in the clouds. A simple question?“Mister, I heard that people visited...

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“The Musical Odyssey of An Amateur Pianist” by Itisha S

Submitted to Contest #247

As the final school bell rang, Celeste sprouted up from her seat. Excitement ran its course through her veins, and she couldn’t contain the eager expression on her face as she headed out of her biology class. God, I hate that class, she always thought when she was in the clear to think such a thing. Ms. Smith was evil, according to Celeste and the rest of her grade, and her lack of mind reading powers had yet to be proven. She couldn’t help but stress over the test they just wrote, the test she likely failed. She had studied what she thought...

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“War with Mighty Waters” by Kaoli Chona

Submitted to Contest #247

The phone jolted me from my lazy Sunday afternoon slumber, beep beep and I groggily answered, expecting the usual mundane inquiries about church events or maybe even a wrong number. It was Reverend Jane on the line, her voice vibrated with energy and excitement. "Kaoli, my dear, we're going with you on an adventure to the Victoria Falls with Julius!" she exclaimed as if I had already agreed to go.The legendary Victoria Falls I heard was a marvel of nature so grand, it seemed like Mother Nature herself decided to show off her waters. I google...

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“Marathon Runner” by Heather Eldridge

Submitted to Contest #247

Just put one foot in front of the other. How could it be so difficult, to do something so simple? It had sounded so doable the night before, lying awake in bed at 2 AM, unable to fall asleep, yet again. Ellie really needed to stop drinking coffee so late in the day. That was the problem. She plodded along, trying to concentrate on the soreness in her legs rather than the sloshing cramp in her stomach that she knew would really be her limiting factor. Half a mile down, one and a half to go. Why did she ever think this was a good idea? She wa...

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“Abandoned Places” by Emily Howe

Submitted to Contest #247

Nola and I stayed in the shed for three nights. On our second night, I cut and dyed her hair. We burned her homemade clothes in the park shelter's outdoor fireplace. We watched YouTube videos to learn how hikers pack for the Appalachian Trail to minimize the amount of stuff we'd need to carry from place to place. We decided if anyone asked, Granola and Rags wouldn't cut it for names. So, in honor of our first meeting, Granola became Nola Parks, and I decided on Sarah Ragsdale. We embarked on a risky adventure on our third and final nig...

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“Choices” by Alexis Acker-Halbur

Submitted to Contest #247

Choices Short Story My cell phone rang. “Detective Kirra Stirling, dead body found at Oakwood Hills Cemetery. Please report.” “Acknowledged. I’m on my way.”A dead body in the cemetery, how original, I thought to myself. Those St. Paul police dispatchers are such comedians.As a kid I remember being in the car with my parents and siblings on a sizzling summer day. As we drove past a cemetery in our old Ford wagon, I asked, “Mom, how many people are dead in there?”“Oh dear, I can’t say.”“I do, ” I chirped, “all of them.” The car filled with lau...

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“Thing” by L.B. Goldman

Submitted to Contest #247

The Charlottes live in a quaint farmhouse with peeling white paint. They are surrounded by grassy fields and forest, their only neighbors a married couple around their age (Mr. and Mrs. Hermann) living just across the street—although just across the street is at the end of a snaking dirt driveway a little over a mile long, and subsequently another similarly lengthy driveway.The vast fields are ideal for crops, as implied by a barn with nothing but a well and a bit of storage inside and an empty chicken coop built alongside the farmhouse, but...

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Center your story around a character’s personal exploration, whether it's trying a new hobby, visiting an unfamiliar place, or learning something completely new.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 89 stories

“Me, Myself, and Mexico” by Samuel Jackson

“Bon voyage” by Kim Olson

“Big Ugly Dish” by Daryl Kulak

“Art for Beginners” by Karen McDermott

“Maternity Leave Goals - Learning Something New” by Carrie Simmons

“Descent Into Vengeance: A Mother's Reckoning” by Ashley Doyle Pooser

“Sliding Home” by David Ader

“City of Light, Angel of Darkness” by Ali Anthony Bell

“That Space Trip” by Joe Smallwood

“The Musical Odyssey of An Amateur Pianist” by Itisha S

“War with Mighty Waters” by Kaoli Chona

“Marathon Runner” by Heather Eldridge

“Abandoned Places” by Emily Howe

“Choices” by Alexis Acker-Halbur

“Thing” by L.B. Goldman

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by an explorer as they make their way through what they thought was an untouched location.

Set your story on a spaceship exploring the far reaches of space when something goes wrong.

Imagine a world where exploration is forbidden, and write a story about a character who defies this rule to satisfy their innate curiosity.

Write a narrative about a group of scientists exploring the deepest parts of the ocean.

Contest #247

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

260

Contest entries

102

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: