Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Posted in Character on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 216 stories

“You’ve Got Two Choices” by Eryn 003

Submitted to Contest #95

“You’ve got two choices,” The man with a black mask says, “One: it’s you, or two: it’s her.” He points at us and then at the picture. *** I was walking home from an after school activity, my parents had called and said they were going out for a bit and wouldn’t be home till late, maybe even the next morning. I decided I’d go to Chloe’s house, she said earlier that she’d be inviting the rest of our friend group, so if I could make it we’d all have a little get together because we haven’t seen each other since we changed schoo...

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“Maria's dilemma” by Lydia Mensah

Submitted to Contest #95

Name of author: Lydia Mensah Number of pages: seven Word count : 2352 #Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma. # She had lived most of her life as a single woman and she found nothing wrong with it. She was actually enjoying its prospects until she realised that some people’s happiness depended on her status. Everyone was tired of waiting Inn eager expectation for her to settle down. No one had been bold enough to tell ...

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“Ready Or Not ” by Suvro Koley

Submitted to Contest #95

What options did I have? I could have stayed in bed rolled under the sheets as February cold was still biting with its fangs bare in dry north wind. Or, I could have woken up before the sun, lurked in the hazy darkness, crept up behind the shrub in front of my window – like a thief in shadows in his own garden and plucked its only budding bloom! Calling it a garden could be an overstatement but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and of course the artist who created it. In this case, it was my grandma who was oddly attached to her five...

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“The Job” by Steve Cripwell

Submitted to Contest #95

Should he or shouldn’t he? It was the question that tore him apart every time the situation arose and that was every time he set out on a new job. Clive always came down on the yes-he-should side of the decision but it still remained a dilemma. He’d been doing ‘the job’ for a long time and at seventy years of age, he should now be retired. He should be pruning roses or growing tomatoes; the things that old people, like him, talked about when he spent time with them. A lot of his work involved doing just that; talking and listening to elderly...

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“The Rat Snake” by Anna Weber

Submitted to Contest #95

Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma. This story is based on true events. What a dilemma, I thought to myself, as I stared eye to eye at the snake. My limbs had frozen up, that way they do when terror seizes your heart and leaves no wiggle room. The snake began to move. In one fluid motion, I was standing up, mid-stride backward, and away from the snake. My legs were vaguely sore from the weight I had been putting on them in my crouched state. My feet were used to standing on the bumpy texture of the rock, but my ...

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“Memories of a Broken Heart” by Andrés Carrizo

Submitted to Contest #95

He felt something. Edward thought that he must run to his son's bedroom, but could not move on time. His heart was extremely broken. It was too late. Edward sailed on a journey with no return to the most uninhabited pieces of land knownt to mankind; it was a very colorful place, so much, that you could get lost into its hues if caught off guard. He could barely recognize where he was, but a glance at the past was enough to reveal what just happened… What were the odds? He could remember everything, every single little thing: It was seven...

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“"BRIDGES"” by Eunice Horsfall

Submitted to Contest #95

“BRIDGES” Judith had heard the cliché 'when you get to that river, you will cross it’, so many times, she must have even said it before. This was the river, but there was no bridge, not even stones for her to jump on. She was alone, no help, she had to make up her mind fast, time was running out. Her mother's surgery was tomorrow, her mother was going to die if she did not create a bridge. She would be blamed, the society would blame her, the society would call her an ingrate for not doing the needful, the socie...

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“The doors of choice ” by Adrienne Bosch

Submitted to Contest #95

Meticulously carved, vibrant in their coloring, the Rosewood doors loomed in front of him, forbidding in their beauty. The years seemed to radiate off of each door, as if a single sliver, delicately untwined from the souls of those who had come before, took up residence in their dark wood. Whispers of lives fully lived; the warmth of their laughter rustled at the edge of his awareness. Echos of long-forgotten silent sobs vibrated deep within his chest; brief lives that comprehended nothing but despair. Anticipation, liquid adre...

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“Dip, Dip, Dip.” by Marie Maher

Submitted to Contest #95

Jane was walking slowly down the aisle to the mellifluous strains of ‘The Wedding March’, and she knew she had to make a decision fast. The guests were waiting expectantly in the pews as she reached the altar. Inexorable panic, slowly rising into the back of her throat, threatened to choke her. She felt hot; the palms of her hands were sweating as they clutched her bouquet. It was made up of her favourite flowers, roses and carnations, and she lifted it now to her nose to smell their heady perfume; then saw in horror that she had plucked all...

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“Vaccination Queue ” by Wasim Ahmed

Submitted to Contest #95

“You think you are the only one waiting for your turn? Be quick man, or just get out of the way. A line one person short is better.”“Nah. There is plenty of time to debate this. Look, there are at least 20 people before us who decided to show up unregistered. By my calculation, we will be here at least for an hour and a half. That is if we don`t give up before our turn comes. The thing is, I am still in a bit of conundrum, you see.”“You can run your mind, all you like, but I am pretty sure what I am going to do. Get a jab, pick up beer, go h...

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“Invited” by Sarah Shobrook

Submitted to Contest #95

Write a story about someone being presented with a dilemma Invited The silence in the apartment was broken by the gentle ping of an email arriving. Evne glanced up from the keyboard just in time to see a new message slide into view at the corner of the computer. She read, and then reread the sender’s name and subject, OMG!!! The ‘sender’ was ‘Yrsa Olsen’ and the ‘subject’, ‘Invite: Svalbard Expedition 2025’. For a moment Evne was frozen in time, staring blankly at the message for what seemed like an eternity. Was it real, was her ...

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“Grayscale” by Leonora Juarez

Submitted to Contest #95

Reckless — that’s what this was. Stupidly reckless. And yet I was standing there, almost frozen, staring at this piece of paper in my hand. At this letter, that was either going to save me … or completely ruin me. My mind was tearing me apart, whilst I was unable to finally take this one last step that I thought was so needed. How do people do this, I wondered. How do people decide like this, that they rather live than survive? Did they take it lightly or did they struggle as much as I struggled right now? How was I still so unsure, when I h...

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“Forethought” by Susan Turner

Submitted to Contest #95

Shanice knew this wasn’t a training exercise. There were strict guidelines throughout the organization regarding after-hours and off-site training. Whether it was her years of experience as an FBI agent or simply mother’s intuition, Shanice could tell the pressure of the cold gun barrel on the nape of her neck was there with intent to kill. At thirty-four years old, Shanice Truman had faced near death before. She had been an agent for sixteen years and knew the sense of foreboding that only came with facing finality. Her right eyebrow bore...

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“The Dilemma ” by Brenda Liddy

Submitted to Contest #95

Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma. The Dilemma The word dilemma comes from the Latin dilemma via the Greek word dilemma meaning ‘double proposition’. Di means ‘two’ and lemma means, ‘premise, anything received or taken’. And the root word is lambanein which means to take. The biggest dilemma Billy ever faced in his life was whether to vote to stay in Europe or to leave the union. He lived in a small farm in County Down and he was not an overly politically ...

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“The Heart or The Soul” by Sue Marsh

Submitted to Contest #95

The Heart or The Soul Suzanne Marsh “Soldiering has one great trap. To be a good soldier you must love the army to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.” General Robert E. Lee said to his “old war horse” General James P. Longstreet. Old Pete sat astride his war horse Blackie; Lee’s words ringing in his ear. He knew that General Lee was very much correct in what he stated. There were so many things that had already gone wrong. The first day t...

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Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 216 stories

“You’ve Got Two Choices” by Eryn 003

“Maria's dilemma” by Lydia Mensah

“Ready Or Not ” by Suvro Koley

“The Job” by Steve Cripwell

“The Rat Snake” by Anna Weber

“Memories of a Broken Heart” by Andrés Carrizo

“"BRIDGES"” by Eunice Horsfall

“The doors of choice ” by Adrienne Bosch

“Dip, Dip, Dip.” by Marie Maher

“Vaccination Queue ” by Wasim Ahmed

“Invited” by Sarah Shobrook

“Grayscale” by Leonora Juarez

“Forethought” by Susan Turner

“The Dilemma ” by Brenda Liddy

“The Heart or The Soul” by Sue Marsh

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about someone who’s extremely impulsive — or extremely indecisive.

A character stands in front of two doors. Write a story about what happens after they choose one to enter.

Write about someone making a seemingly inconsequential decision, which goes on to have important consequences.

Write about someone finally making their own choices.

Contest #95

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

920

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: