Center your story on a character filled with love and fear in equal measure.

Posted in Character on Oct 25, 2024

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✍️ 65 stories

“The Guardian of the Fireflies” by Theresa Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #274

The night was alive with glimmers. Lily sat in the grass, her fingers sensing the gathering dew, mesmerized by the elegant dance of fireflies. They rose and fell in gentle arcs, their lights dimming and pulsing, filling the air like notes of a song that only she could hear. This forest was her refuge; she had spent her entire life here, alone except for the fireflies and the trees. And she intended to keep it that way. As she watched the flickering lights, she recalled her childhood—long summer evenings spent with her parents, chasing firefl...

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“It isn't murder if I paint your corpse red” by Rehaf Imran

Submitted to Contest #274

(TW: Mental health issues, murder, obsession) It wouldn’t be murder if I died first. If I was the one who was shouldering pain, while you were out dancing with men in sickly bars. If I was the one shooting arrows in my heart, while you swooned over cigarette breaths, and French Martini’s. If I was the one watching you over, handling your shaking legs, and mumbling speech, while you rambled about the fifth boyfriend in line; how you’ve attracted everything in him with just a glance. If I was the one who fell first, to your gullible attire, a...

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“Missing” by Donna Fontenot

Submitted to Contest #274

“How is it possible that twelve people have simply vanished in the last two weeks? Every single one disappeared from this hospital corridor. Cameras everywhere, and not a single clue!” Nadine Landry’s voice reverberated through the briefing room, her frustration palpable. “Morrison, walk us through the camera locations and footage of each missing person.” Morrison stood before the map of the hospital’s south wing. “Each disappearance occurred after boarding the hospital trolley here, in section 8A.” His finger traced the trolley’s route. “Tw...

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“The Lake of the Lost” by Deborah Sanders

Submitted to Contest #274

Sensitive content: griefZac Porter drove the van along the winding gravel road, with his wife, Sarah, next to him. He was thinking about the days when they would have been blasting the tunes to break the monotony of the long journey, but things were different now, and it did not seem like they would ever go back to such carefree ways. Just this morning when they were setting off the children had objected to his music!Suddenly, Sarah’s voice broke the silence. “We must be nearly there now,” she insisted, “unless you missed the turn.”“I’...

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“The Deep End” by Jenna Lee

Submitted to Contest #274

It was just after 11 p.m. when the lights blinked themselves out, leaving Millie dripping wet in the dark. With its dying breath, the shower head cried a river of ice, bathing her in Antarctic cold from every angle. She let out a shriek even their neighbors across the way must have heard, flailing her arms as she drowned in pitch black. Millie shuffled into their windowless bathroom thinking a hot shower would help her catch some Zs. She was wide awake now. No one was going to sleep tonight. &nbsp...

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“She Had Feathers” by JB Wemyss

Submitted to Contest #274

The greatest truth about my tribe is that we are a fearful people. Our chiefs and elders teach us to make that fear our strength—performing the rituals, and weaving our greatest triumphs from the familiar shadows cast over us all. Fear is benevolence, and fear is safety. Fear makes us who we are. I was a child by the fire, shivering to the sharp-fanged creatures conjured in winding spirals of smoke rising through thick forest canopy. My wide eyes absorbed everything—the must nots, the shall nots, the fear, the pain—and sometimes the bite of ...

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“To My Family - Note #1” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #274

*Note: This is a fictional work and does not promote suicide. If you're struggling with depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns, please consider seeking help or talking to someone.*I’ve tried so many times to tell people how I feel, especially about the anger inside me. I told you again and again about my intentions and efforts, but in the end, I was left completely alone in this dark, unfair world. Sadness surrounds me, and it feels like I can’t breathe. Even though I know there’s love in my heart and moments when I feel hopefu...

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“Duchenne” by Josephine Alcott

Submitted to Contest #274

Hey Sammy. There’s something we should talk about. In her bedroom, curtains drawn, before a candlelit altar was where Veronika knelt at precisely 8pm each night before bed. I’ll be going out for a bit this evening. Nothing too crazy, just a few hours. So I don’t want to startle you- As she stares at a framed photo of her deceased lover, Veronika can’t help but notice a mark at the bottom right corner of the glass. I mean, I know it’s been 3 years- She wipes away at the smudge with a bit of excess draped over the table. So I don’t mean to sta...

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“In the Midnight Hour” by S.M. Luna

Submitted to Contest #274

The air is hot and thick. It clings to me like a blanket just out of the river, placed above the fire just long enough to be warm, and then draped across my shoulders. It weighs me down, making my breath hitch in my chest. But none of the villagers can see that. None of them should ever see that. The villagers must never know how my hands shake now. They must never heard the pounding of my heart as it rattles my ribs or how it thrums in my ears. They must never know the terror that flows th...

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“The taste of love” by Andre Fryer

Submitted to Contest #274

Helen started to notice that Mummy was doing a lot of staring at nothing. More than once, she’d bite her nails and softly tut at herself before giving Helen hurried, sideways glances. Like she knew something Helen couldn’t. It was Helen’s birthday the following day, and she’d heard Mummy on the phone, saying that it was ‘our last chance.’ For as long as Helen could remember, Mummy had wanted her to awaken, just like she’d dreamed of when she was a little girl. It was important. Helen knew so because Mummy told her. That night, she’d sn...

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“If I were ” by Pauline Claesson

Submitted to Contest #274

If I were a human, I would give You a family, a home full of love I pick up my eraser, but it doesn’t work. My scrawly writing just blurs and smears on the paper. I scratch it over with my pencil. No use. The lines and dashed and half hidden letters are mocking me, glares at me behind my futile attempt to erase them from the face of the earth. They laugh, maliciously. As always. With an exasperated sigh, I pick up the useless paper and crushes it in my fist till I would have had half moon shaped cuts in my palm leaking blood, if i were a hum...

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“Keeper of the Woods” by M.C. Raven

Submitted to Contest #274

A rickety shack sat on the edge of a winding dirt road, deep within the Forest of Shadows. Most were scared of the woodlands, terrified of the creatures that roam the trees late into the night.Dracea Toony however was not.The middle-aged woman with fine, crinkled lines bunched at the outer edges of her lash lines bent to tend to her small garden. Allowing the thick, hydrated leaves coated in dew to caress her aging fingers as she hummed to them. She believed the more one would sing to the the young buds, stimulating their outer soft shell, t...

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“The Curious Case of Emma Dreadmore” by Mariel Renaud

Submitted to Contest #274

In the small town of Rustleville, where the scent of fresh-baked pies drifted over white-picket fences and even squirrels seemed polite, lived a woman named Emma Dreadmore. Emma was not an adventurer, nor was she someone you’d find in the thick of a crowd. She was, however, an expert in the art of being terribly afraid. And, coincidentally, she had a heart as big as her fears. Emma’s fear list was substantial, laminated, and tucked safely into her handbag: heights, public speaking, automatic car washes, mayonnaise (yes, mayonnaise – don’t as...

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“Brunswick” by Levi Michael

Submitted to Contest #274

Herman’s face was obscured amid the shadows cast by the firelight. He sat deep in his overstuffed wingback chair, a blanket over his lap. Andrew settled into the well-worn chair, opposite Herman. He dug into his briefcase and produced a tape recorder and a pen and a pad. He set the recorder on the small table. “Yeah, I guess I will take that drink.” He glanced up at the butler. “Rye. Rocks.” “Thank you, Benson,” Herman dismissed his butler with the wave of his two-fingered hand. Benson bowed. He wordlessly poured and served Andrew befo...

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“Backwoods Boogeyman” by Rhonda Smith

Submitted to Contest #274

This story is written as my Dad told it to me. Often, when I was growing up, I begged him to tell it again and again. I have written it in the Appalachian dialect that he and my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins — and sometimes I myself — still use. He’d heard ghost stories all his life. But as a teenager, my father’s knowledge of the supernatural exceeded his first-hand experience. When his Scots-Irish ancestors settled into the mountains of southwest Virginia, they brought with ‘em centuries-old stories of “haints” ...

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Center your story on a character filled with love and fear in equal measure.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 65 stories

“The Guardian of the Fireflies” by Theresa Sullivan

“It isn't murder if I paint your corpse red” by Rehaf Imran

“Missing” by Donna Fontenot

“The Lake of the Lost” by Deborah Sanders

“The Deep End” by Jenna Lee

“She Had Feathers” by JB Wemyss

“To My Family - Note #1” by A.J. Williams

“Duchenne” by Josephine Alcott

“In the Midnight Hour” by S.M. Luna

“The taste of love” by Andre Fryer

“If I were ” by Pauline Claesson

“Keeper of the Woods” by M.C. Raven

“The Curious Case of Emma Dreadmore” by Mariel Renaud

“Brunswick” by Levi Michael

“Backwoods Boogeyman” by Rhonda Smith

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that includes the line “Fate is resourceful.”

Use a personal memory to craft a ghost story.

Write a story where a creature turns up in an unexpected way.

Center your story around a childhood fear that – as much as you try to shake it – still resonates in adulthood.

Contest #274

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

406

Contest entries

120

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: