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

“Out for a Run” by Dan Sun

Submitted to Contest #274

I used to have these nice earbuds that I really liked, and they didn’t slowly inch out of my ears or anything, but I accidentally left them in a hotel room while traveling. The only problem is that they were like 200 bucks and I am now super broke, so I can’t be dishing out money like that anymore. But I also can’t bear to exist without earbuds, so during the same trip I lost them, a few cities down, I bought myself a pair of cheapo earbuds. Contrary to the nice ones, these do slip out of my ears whenever I do anything like run or even chew....

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“My lover” by Allison Leahy

Submitted to Contest #274

So I love and fear him. Today, I love him because I believe he will be the man he says he will. Yet, he is in prison for abusing me. He smokes and he used to drink. I love that he stopped drinking, but I fear his death will come soon. When he is angry, he is verbally abusive, calling my mom a gold digger and my dad and idiot. He reserves his more subtle insults for me. He says I would kill myself if he ever left me. I have fantasized many times to leave him instead.He is my boyfriend of five years. He is a good man. He buys me food every two...

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“Cold Feet” by Amy W

Submitted to Contest #274

It’s been 6 months since Tom lost his life. We’d fought that night, the neighbours had heard us shouting at each other before Tom drove off, leaving me on the driveway staring at his tail lights. I didn’t know where he planned to go. The police told me he’d been driving under the influence, and they concluded that he wasn’t thinking straight, that emotional distress had clouded his judgement, that anger had tempted him to drink and drive. And I became a very wealthy widow.At the funeral I met Rob, an old friend of Tom’s, and we grieved toget...

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“Ó Leannáin” by Wolfgang Widrig Wood

Submitted to Contest #274

The moonlight drifted pleasantly through a gap in the autumn clouds. Breathing in, you would taste rain and smell the delight of the refreshed grass and mud. Niamh shivered, not because of the cold, but from the excitement that came from knowing that after tonight she would be an adult. She couldn’t help the foolish smile that spread across her face. Her boots sank softly into the mud till she reached where the road became divided into three parts. It had gotten so deep that no carriages could safely be pulled through. Her skin tingled ...

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“Ashen Snow” by Frankie Clabon

Submitted to Contest #274

CW: This story contains implications, themes, or mentions of domestic abuse, emotional distress, violence, manipulation, and murder.Stained with time and filth, a pile of rags resembling the shape of a human hunches on the polluted floor. In silent despair, he sits, closed off to all - except poverty.A narrow streak of daylight pierces the putrid darkness, splitting the small room into two distinct halves.Within that golden arrow, if focused, the ragged old man may observe floating sprites of dust before him. Pulsating and dancing in the dra...

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“The Wrath of Glory” by Vincent Ellison

Submitted to Contest #274

The streets of the city found themselves barren, the roads and alleys devoid of noise. There was, however, an overwhelming presence and sound emanating from one place alone: the circle of stone which so ostentatiously stood in the middle of the city. It was an intense structure, impossible to miss and impossible not to appreciate. Beautifully crafted stone raised the structure as high as one could see, casting a great shadow on everything around it. It told the other buildings that it mattered more. That it was greater. That it was more glor...

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“Face Everything And Rise to LOVE” by Claudia Batiuk

Submitted to Contest #274

"Face and Rise Face and Rise Face" these words are still ringing in my ears. "You are the most loving person whom I have ever met" are a second set of words I was told almost daily in my early recovery.Since I am a child deep inside of me, it is fear and fighting the love which I carry in my soul. During my first years of childhood, I experienced severe trauma. Our mother, I have two half siblings, was physically, mentally and sexually abusive. The woman did not know what she was doing and today I pray for her soul. All the abuse never took ...

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“A Reluctant Cyborg?” by Neil Dabb

Submitted to Contest #274

Gwen hated the exoskeleton, despite the fact that it was they only way she could move. The straw that broke the camel's back, (or her back, so to speak) was when the damned AI that controlled the thing unbuttoned her blouse, unbidden while she was on a blind date. "Sorry..." she whispered as she stood and left as quickly as the damned AI would allow. I was just trying to help. the AI element of the skeleton said. Well don't! Gwen cursed as she realized that they’d never told her how much of her thinking the AI would be able to hear.&nbs...

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“My True Self” by Alex Hawkins

Submitted to Contest #274

My true self will be shaped by what I leave behind with my lingering shadows. The echoes of my actions in the silence of the night.I often ponder how we can reflect on our lingering shadows, as they are part of who we are, yet we often deny them.I must create my own identity and find meaning in the present because of the lack in my childhood, especially since I was abandoned at three years old. I’ve never worked on my identity until now.Since I was three, I’ve taken on different characters, used various methods to communicate with people on ...

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“The Lesson” by Steven Creel

Submitted to Contest #274

Rachel swallows with apprehension as she stands in front of the bedroom door, where her boyfriend resides. They had such a big fight earlier, both of them saying things completely out of line. Her most of all. “Ho–” She tries to speak but the sound is caught in throat, unable to escape. She takes a step back and tries to take a deep breath but her lungs refuse to take any. Clenching her eyes she desperately tries not to cry, Rachel's whole body shivering at the thought of talking to the man behind the door. What if he yells at her? What if h...

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“Distant, but Cherished Comfort” by Tyler Pulvermacher

Submitted to Contest #274

To my beloved, Jasmine.1800 Heartstring AvenueMilwaukee, Wisconsin, 53217 To the love of my life, Jaz, I write to you from a land of beauty and shadows. To this place, I swear to never return. For the horrors that linger behind each wall, each tree, and over each mountain are unknowable. I sit awake at night watching the moon silently dance through the sky, the only light in this forsaken land. Evil may persist but not all is fowl. I have found solace, and an unnatural level of affinity, in the men and women beside me. The jokes and ...

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“Death of a poet” by Sage Rosell

Submitted to Contest #274

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood–I know now where I have seen these woods before. Whose woods these are I think I know, his house is in the village though.It is the woods from memory. I stand at the familiar fork in the road once again, rooted to the ground. A ground littered in golden leaves.And both that morning equally lay, in leaves no step had trodden black.I have been at many crossroads in my life; and at each crossroads, I would think of these woods–with their yellow leaves caught in the sunlight. But what was once only a plac...

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“Every Good Deed” by Robert Radcliff

Submitted to Contest #274

From the moment I first encountered my niece Mary, I knew she was a special girl. Whilst now a teenager we have become close not only as relatives but as friends too. She usually phones or messages me at regular intervals. And she is the only child of my brother Peter and his wife Gill. They all live a short distance from me in West London, though because of all our work commitments we are prevented meeting that often.Yet just a short while ago I got a very distressing phone call on my mobile. "Hey Uncle Bob....your got to hel...

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“Nothing Good Lasts Forever” by Avery Hawthorne

Submitted to Contest #274

I close my eyes, but all I can see is her. Her blonde hair flowing down her shoulders, her piercing blue eyes cutting into my gaze. I could never keep my eyes off her. But she wasn’t mine to keep. I made sure of that when I let my secret slip.*** We were out in the park, watching the sun go down. Her laugh filled the air when I told her a joke. I couldn’t peel my eyes off her. She was so beautiful. She was my whole world. “Jake,” she whispers, laying beside me on the grass. Our hands were intertwined, resting on my chest. “Yeah, Emma...

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“A Garden of Wilted Roses” by James Carr

Submitted to Contest #274

In truth, I don’t know what she is.The thought struck me as I stood at the window, watching the thick mist rise from the wet ground and wrap itself around the crumbling stones of the graveyard. A near-constant stream of cold air whistled around the old window frames, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves.Her cottage, draped in ivy, sat next door as it always had. Although I will confess to a suspicion that one day I will wake up, and her house will no longer be there. As usual, her thick curtains were drawn shut. Her g...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 65 stories

“Out for a Run” by Dan Sun

“My lover” by Allison Leahy

“Cold Feet” by Amy W

“Ó Leannáin” by Wolfgang Widrig Wood

“Ashen Snow” by Frankie Clabon

“The Wrath of Glory” by Vincent Ellison

“Face Everything And Rise to LOVE” by Claudia Batiuk

“A Reluctant Cyborg?” by Neil Dabb

“My True Self” by Alex Hawkins

“The Lesson” by Steven Creel

“Distant, but Cherished Comfort” by Tyler Pulvermacher

“Death of a poet” by Sage Rosell

“Every Good Deed” by Robert Radcliff

“Nothing Good Lasts Forever” by Avery Hawthorne

“A Garden of Wilted Roses” by James Carr

🌟 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 🏆

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