Follow a character who’s looking for someone or something.

Posted in Character on Nov 29, 2024

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✍️ 57 stories

“The Tiger's Den ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #279

Captain James Sphinx, leader of Misfit Squadron, stared out across the neon lined street, where trolley cars and autos plied the streets, the buildings all had a distinctive European design. If the young pilot didn’t know any better he’d have sworn he was in Europe. The distant hum of a jazz band seeped from the open windows of a nearby club, mingling with the scent of street food—garlicky dumplings, fried skewers, and an undercurrent of opium smoke that whispered of darker dealings. This was Shanghai, where East and West blended together.&n...

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“True North” by Manning Bridges

Submitted to Contest #279

My office exemplifies order. Labeled shelves march along three walls. Their contents arranged by period, region, significance. Every artifact preserves its story in its assigned place—all except one. My hand glides across the empty space on the desk where my father's compass should rest in its worn leather case. Its absence throbs like a missing tooth. The compass survived three wars. My father's fieldwork. My childhood. Then thirty years of my own academic life and archeological digs. Dad taught me how to read that compass on a dig. H...

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“Off-Road Adventure” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #279

It started out as a pleasant jaunt along Route 50 East to Maryland’s coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. Our trip began at 6 am to give us plenty of time to bask in the sun of Ocean City and later frolic in the waves–perhaps spotting a few dolphins or whales romping in the surf. We planned to stop in one of the boardwalk eateries for a little pizza and adult beverages before heading back to our bed and breakfast in ...

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“Willow’s Last Three Words” by Arora Gleans

Submitted to Contest #279

Willow turned her body in agony as the sun streamed through her bedroom window into her wide-open eyes. Although the sun rose a few moments ago, Willow had been awake the entire night, tossing, turning, and jolting up straight when her breath staggered.Today, Willow Church turned thirteen years old. For the past few months, the taste of being a teenager was all she could salivate about. Thirteen was entering a new era of blue-streaked hair and staying out later than she could at twelve.Willow was especially excited to go to school on he...

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“The End of Days” by Carson Lupton

Submitted to Contest #279

Q: When will the world end?A: Sooner than you think. The worst part about the end of the world was how suddenly it happened. The end didn’t come the way most people expected- a slow, painful death to climate change or nuclear war or any other long-lasting issues. The end of the world was out of everyone’s control, coming impulsively and devastatingly. One day the world functioned as it had for millennia and the next it’d gone kablooie. No psychics (not even the highly-rated ones), no AI supercomputers; no one and nothing saw it beforeh...

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“Fragments of Memory” by Enlitu To

Submitted to Contest #279

Reva paused in the kitchen doorway, a hand on her hip and a slight frown creasing her forehead. She stood there, the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the window over the sink, highlighting the swirling dust motes in the air. Her gaze swept the room, her eyes flicking from the fridge to the countertops, from the cabinets to the cluttered kitchen table. "What was I looking for?" she muttered, her voice soft but tinged with frustration. It had been happening more often lately—a sense of purpose leading her somewhere, only to dissipate ...

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“Fourth Gear” by Julian Hickman

Submitted to Contest #279

We were standing there at the open garage bay, studying her car. Cars and trucks were whizzing past on the interstate behind us, just on the other side of the service road. The mechanic wiped his greasy hands on a handkerchief as he glanced at the car's tags. "Your transmission won't make it back to Virginia." He shoved the hood down. The car shuddered. "I can work on it first thing Monday. You'll be on your way home Tuesday." "We're headed to Montreal," I said.If it had been my car and a different trip, I would have made some joke, sold the...

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“Shadows Left Behind” by Angela Ying

Submitted to Contest #279

Beneath the endless stretch of dark, looming clouds, the world served as but a facade. A lifeless imitation, where mechanical humming drowned all that could be perceived as "living". The sky itself seemed incapable of breathing, its oppressive nature heavy, weighing on the world below in a way that felt eerily familiar though she did not know why. Despite it all, Eira continued to exist in the silence: the empty world, where nothing seemed real, save for the ever-looming presence of the Council and a vague sense of longing—almost as if...

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“Eyes Like Hers” by Lindsay Marshall

Submitted to Contest #279

I’ve heard it said that we are born looking for someone looking for us. Makes sense, right? It’s usually, at the very least, our mother who is looking for us, waiting to see who was growing inside of her all of those months. From that moment of birth on, our eyes are always searching the earth, the horizon, looking for someone who is looking for us. That was certainly true of me. I was born looking for someone looking for me. I must have known from inside the womb that my mother didn’t want me. Can an unbor...

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“Jason” by Bonnie Bradlee

Submitted to Contest #279

Jason An eerie glow eminated from nowhere, and everywhere. Every molecule of the air shimmered with it. Jason, a seasoned meteorologist, witnessed many strange atmospheric conditions, but never anything like this. His thoughts swirled as much as the snow, blowing in ever changing patterns across the great prairie. “What am I doing out here? Why did I come out here looking for Paulie? How could I leave my wife, my family? Why did you take off the way you did? And the note! What’s up with that?” All these questions flew through his head a...

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“Once Upon A Time in the Watford Gap” by Ian Craine

Submitted to Contest #279

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WATFORD GAPArmitage left Towcester behind, and the empty centre of England opened itself to him. It was a fine evening. On his left the sky was still aflame, scored with parallel bands of blue and yellow and red. It was if the light had been refracted through a giant spectroscope. Then the yellow smudged the red and they all fell down the sky together until nothing was left but a variegated blue, and a red aureole of fire on the far horizon. Then ...

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“Looking for Lily” by Louise Croese

Submitted to Contest #279

Embrace the UnknownLooking for Lily“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde“It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Boots thundering, Lily rolls face first into the gutter. She wants to throw a tantrum to suck her thumb but can't, her fist is in her mouth to stop the scream coming out. “Get her off the road, HURRY.” Lily’s is curl...

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“Henry's Average Day” by Anthony Carello

Submitted to Contest #279

Henry was average in almost every measure of the word.He worked in a company that—like himself—was totally and completely ordinary. Nothing he did on a day-to-day basis mattered. And that was just the way he liked.All that changed, however, when he showed up to his office one day. He’d been there for a few hours at this point, mindlessly typing away at his keyboard, when a thought occurred to him. Why had it been so quiet?Now, usually, he was the first one to the office and quickly settled into his desk. He would close the door and get lost ...

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“The Three-Way Curse” by Elda Orozco

Submitted to Contest #279

The moment I walked into the room, all conversation stopped. A hundred eyes turned toward me as if I’d crashed a funeral in a clown suit. “It’s you again!” said a man in a tattered suit, clutching his chest as if he were about to faint. I froze, gripping the doorknob like it was my lifeline. “Me, sorry? I was looking for my fiancé, John. Have you seen him?” I stammered. That’s when a woman in a ballgown, half-eaten by moths, wagged a finger at me. “Don’t play coy, ghosty!” she snapped. “Just cross over already. You’re causing a draught.” ...

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“The Labyrinth” by Ivana Pavićević

Submitted to Contest #279

I lost my heart. It didn’t vanish suddenly. If it had, it might have been easier to find- like my mind too, which I always rediscover in some drawer. But no, I lost it slowly and imperceptibly. All our hearts shine- green for hope, yellow for joy, and red for love. Long time ago, mine glowed neon red, covering my entire being. Some gazed with joy, and those with a hole where their heart should be, with envy. In fact, trying to fill other people’s voids, I lost my own heart. And it worked. In my presence, all hearts began to glow. Some people...

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Follow a character who’s looking for someone or something.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 57 stories

“The Tiger's Den ” by M B

“True North” by Manning Bridges

“Off-Road Adventure” by Bob Faszczewski

“Willow’s Last Three Words” by Arora Gleans

“The End of Days” by Carson Lupton

“Fragments of Memory” by Enlitu To

“Fourth Gear” by Julian Hickman

“Shadows Left Behind” by Angela Ying

“Eyes Like Hers” by Lindsay Marshall

“Jason” by Bonnie Bradlee

“Once Upon A Time in the Watford Gap” by Ian Craine

“Looking for Lily” by Louise Croese

“Henry's Average Day” by Anthony Carello

“The Three-Way Curse” by Elda Orozco

“The Labyrinth” by Ivana Pavićević

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story from the POV of a zombie, mutant, or infected creature.

Write a story about someone confronting their worst nightmare.

Center your story around a person who believes they’re the last human on Earth.

Write a story about a character who’s lost.

Contest #279

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

334

Contest entries

146

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: