Center your story around someone facing their biggest fear or enemy.

Posted in Character on Aug 9, 2024

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✍️ 71 stories

“The Peculiar Warrior Origin of D.B. Cooper” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #263

I swear, if I ever get out of this, I’m going to make sure I’m a rich man. Seattle or no Seattle, I’m going to be rich, rich, rich. Filthy rich. Come to think of it, maybe instead of Seattle, I’ll live in an apartment in Manhattan, or a mansion in Palm Springs. Wherever the hoity-toity reside. England had been so close. But no way that cratering Flyi...

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“My Own Legacy” by Cassey Castleberry

Submitted to Contest #263

My ears rang as my blade screeched against the stone block. I needed my weapon to be sharp as a glare for what was to come. I come from a long line of superhumans, each more powerful than the last, and my father wanted me to keep that trend going. I remember the earliest years of my youth, completely consumed with training. At four years old, I had my first lesson on combat. At five years old, I had my first fight. My first fight with my father anyway. He landed a blow, a blow that felt nothing like the intensity of love I thought I kn...

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“The Glass Jar” by Livia Owens

Submitted to Contest #263

Clara Crenshaw has been waiting for her mother to pick her up at the school bus stop for hours. The horizon swallowed the sun long ago, and a full moon's faint outline is visible in the twilight sky. Her mother’s lateness terrifies her. Something has happened, something bad, probably, knowing her mother. Clara tried to tell Aunt Mona that her mother frightens her, that she didn’t want her mother picking her up on the last day of seventh grade, but Aunt Mona insisted Pearl Crenshaw is fine now. “They wouldn’t release Pearl if she wasn’t bette...

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“Zu and the star fox” by Gayatri Varma

Submitted to Contest #263

When you said stepping out of the house was your biggest fear, no one laughed. And the sheer thought of it felt like a physical cut. To leave the house which carries Zu’s memory was like allowing the witches and the monsters to eat you whole. Sound of rain seeped into the room and Blue or Annie or Copper rushed to close the windows. Bee or Laya or Ethal remained silent. Their gaze shifted from you to the rotten bananas on the table.‘How long it’s been there?’ Annie or Ethal asked.You didn’t say anything but thought of Zu and her tired smile....

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“The Phobia” by Lisa Onion

Submitted to Contest #263

This is it. This is what all those therapy sessions and deep breathing techniques led up to. I want to face my fear head on, I don’t want this to hold me back from exploring the rest of the world around me. Man oh man! Do I feel wrong…Here I stand right in front of my biggest fear and I hate it. I hate it so much that I start to feel bile rise up to my throat just like the last few times I’ve tried to conquer my fear. I can hear my blood drumming in my ears and my heart lodged itself in my gut. I could barely hear anything, everything sounde...

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“The Accord of Storms” by Ava Black

Submitted to Contest #263

My feet hurt, I smelled like a deep fryer, and the coffee burns on my forearm stung. I sat in the driver’s seat of my sky-blue 1990 Honda Accord, staring at the little mountain restaurant I’d never return to. I slammed the car door, and I screamed.The restaurant I worked at had just laid me off. It was 2010, and Canada was still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. I was broke, and though I’d been accepted into university, my mother made it clear she would kick me out at the end of the summer—whether or not I had saved enough for ...

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“Bravery?” by Christina Miller

Submitted to Contest #263

TW: This story contains mentions of physical violence, mental health issues, and a cult My breath rattles in my lungs as I try to take a calming breath. My hands fist at my sides. This is it. This is the decision that'll change everything. Or it won't, and I'll be stuck spinning my wheels for the rest of my life. The bruised skin on my back stretches uncomfortably tight as I shuffle on my feet. After today, they'll be no new bruises. No new broken bones, no more punishment for breaking the rules. Whatever the rules were supposed to be. The A...

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“The Shadow of Valour” by David Dean

Submitted to Contest #263

The wind blew through the city streets, and a sign announced to Hector Mares’s hologram that he was nearing a crossroads. There were gaps in the traffic but soon enough the lights changed and he navigated the cyber truck to the diner to meet Johnny Antunes. Antunes from the Canadian Spacetime Agency who was his contact.He walked into the diner and sat opposite Johnny and his girlfriend, who had brought a quilted backpack. He shook hands with both.He wants to work with us,’ said Johnny.“What do you need me for?” asked Mares.“We need you to de...

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“The White Dragon - Part 1” by Max Sun

Submitted to Contest #263

In ancient China, there was a special vocation for transporting important items from one point to another. Usually, the items can range from a huge amount of gold to important military letters that might impact the future of a nation. Only the Kungfu masters with special abilities can take this job because many dangers can happen on the way. This was the first time Wuxi’s Biaoju(bureau for transporting items) was asked to transport a prisoner. Wuxi’s father was assassinated brutally before the mission set off. The young Wuxi had no choi...

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“41” by Rebekka Chvatal

Submitted to Contest #263

11:41pm I slip my shoes on and open the door, ready to head out. ‘Do you have your keys’ he asks me standing right next to me. Without a word I take them from the hook next to the door and slam it into his face. I don’t want him (coming) with me again. It is dark and raining outside and I don’t have my jacket, I bury my hands in the sleeves of my worn hoodie. At least I am away from his constant nagging and his voice in my ear telling me who I am ‘supposed’ to be. I walk down the sidewalk briskly; I can’t tell if it’s the rain...

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“The Dark Soul” by Dana Orr

Submitted to Contest #263

“Your soul, it emanates death, Melantha.” I sneer, as I begin to pick my bruised and broken body up off the ground and raise my hand to face her. “But not for much longer.” “Oh, you stay down. You won’t be touching my soul, Eleni.” Melantha spits with a roll of her dark eyes. Then she raises her arm and shifts it high above her head before downswiping it. Following her arm, I lift further off the ground straight into the ornate ceiling and then get propelled right back down to the tile, cracking yet another rib. I close my eyes, w...

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“The Enemy Within” by Sharon Schoneveld

Submitted to Contest #263

As far back as he can remember, he's been afraid. Not a general sort of anxiety, but the specific kind - that which can dictate the path of one's entire life. The attempts at avoidance, the terror of anticipation, the dread of a confrontation. The fear can be paralysing, robbing him of the ability to move at all. No fight or flight for him, only freezing; like a terrified rabbit at the mercy of its hunter. But here he is, at this juncture where he must gather up all of his courage and press on. His job demands it, his troops expect it. A pro...

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“Bright Line” by Marc Wilks

Submitted to Contest #263

Brian Woods walked along the sidewalk, his usual dread weighing on him like an anchor. He was on the way to school, a place that until recently, he would have said that he enjoyed. Brian played football, was in the drama club and his grades placed him in the top ten percent of his class. It was a situation that anyone would have loved to be in. That is until you factor in the presence of Neil Redman. Neil had transferred from a private school last year, and from his first day, Neil made it his mission to persecute Brian in any way he could. ...

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“TRUE ADVENTURES OF A TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN JAMAICA, W.I.” by Corelli GIEFER

Submitted to Contest #263

TRUE ADVENTURES OF A TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN JAMAICA, W.I. I was a skinny, but highly energetic and athletic child. At ten, I had just begun to wear glasses. I was proud to be the best friend of Peggy. She was fourteen and very smart. She knew ‘everything’, I was certain. She told me that I would soon get my ‘menses’; which would mean that I could have children: but she warned me it would only happen when I had sex. Then she explained what ‘sex’ was. Sex, she explained, is an i...

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“This Wasn't It” by Carly Dodgen

Submitted to Contest #263

Hot Florida sun burns a small spot on Billie’s back, but behind she could hear a storm approaching. Her backpack leaves sweat stains on her black Against Me! shirt, worn thin from the teenager’s reckless love of it. She is walking the mile or so from school back home. It is a poor neighborhood, but not because of a lack of money. The people here had just stopped. Houses half-painted, cars half-fixed. So many lives seemed halted abruptly here. She hoped that hers was not among them. Their yards were a mottled combination of overgrown grass an...

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Center your story around someone facing their biggest fear or enemy.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 71 stories

“The Peculiar Warrior Origin of D.B. Cooper” by Gregg Voss

“My Own Legacy” by Cassey Castleberry

“The Glass Jar” by Livia Owens

“Zu and the star fox” by Gayatri Varma

“The Phobia” by Lisa Onion

“The Accord of Storms” by Ava Black

“Bravery?” by Christina Miller

“The Shadow of Valour” by David Dean

“The White Dragon - Part 1” by Max Sun

“41” by Rebekka Chvatal

“The Dark Soul” by Dana Orr

“The Enemy Within” by Sharon Schoneveld

“Bright Line” by Marc Wilks

“TRUE ADVENTURES OF A TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN JAMAICA, W.I.” by Corelli GIEFER

“This Wasn't It” by Carly Dodgen

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story from the antagonist’s point of view.

Start or end your story with a hero losing their powers.

Write about two mortal enemies who must work together.

Write the origin story of a notorious villain.

Contest #263

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

314

Contest entries

109

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: