Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Posted in Character on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 216 stories

“Well?” by Joey Rain

Submitted to Contest #95

**WARNING** CONTAINS SUICIDE AND TRAUMA***" Well what's your choice?"When Helix woke up this morning he wasn't planning to do it. It just, well, happened.After a day of running around, passing through crowds alone, walking past thousands of smiling faces. It drags you down.Helix never meant to be like this, different. Broken. Sad.After thousands of days on your own, the demons always being in the corner, it doesn't often feel like a choice.When he did it, he never expected to be presented with a choice." Kid, c'mon I don't have all day. Do y...

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“"My choice"” by Mommy &me

Submitted to Contest #95

"Liam, don't you trust me. I'm your girlfriend. We've been dating for several months now. I want to do more than just kiss. I want to feel your heartbeat close to mine." Liam's girlfriend said. "Don't we already do that when we hug?" Liam said. "You know what I mean. I want to have consensual intimacy with you. I want lips to lips. Skin to skin. Body to body. I say intimacy." Liam's girlfriend said. "I just don't feel comfortable." Liam said. "You don't feel comfortable. You don't feel comfortable. What do you think would happen when we star...

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“Mindset Reset” by George Key

Submitted to Contest #95

MINDSET RESET By George Key Standing naked with my toes curled around the precipice of relapse, I stood poised to take that final big step. For years I considered such a move clearly somewhere between sacrilege and selfish stupidity. Yet, my perceived reality evinced such ideation as reasonably justified in my mind. A calmness came ...

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“The Contagion” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #95

"It has to be done Commander," said the stern, hard-faced woman on the viewscreen, "I am sorry. Containment protocols must be observed," Commander Aaron McKenzie had tuned her out long ago. His ears rang. He felt ill. "Commander, do you understand?" "What?" His attention was drawn back to the viewscreen, "I'm, er, I mean, yes ma'am. Of course," "Good," the look on the woman's face was skeptical at best. The harsh lines around her eyes and mouth made her look like a corpse. Her cold indifference made him sick. The viewscreen did not show colo...

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“Jasper” by Gillian Kingsley

Submitted to Contest #95

Kaylee wanted a puppy. I knew this was coming and that avoiding the issue was no longer an option. Her seventh birthday was looming and my 'friend', Lillian, told me - in front of Kaylee - that her litter of nine puppies were soon to be ready for their forever homes. Thanks, Lillian.Life was going to change with a puppy in the house, that was for certain. There would be mess to clean up, chewed table legs, 'little accidents' on the stairs, needle-sharp teeth, and late-night walks in the dead of winter. I had no doubt that these doggy duties ...

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“Rosco” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #95

‘’Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you, our finalist for tonight, Robert. Robert is about to make a lifetime decision. You can select to have ten million dollars, tax-free, or…give up Rosco to a wealthy family that will take care of him and leave to live with them in England,’’ announces the game show host, Damian. ‘’Can I visit him time to time, when I feel like it?’’ Robert looking very undecided. ‘’I am afraid not. You have passed all the levels of this game show. Now, you don’t need to play. You need to decide. Rosco or ten m...

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“Erasing doubt” by Tanya Stingley

Submitted to Contest #95

TW: mention of child molestation You're ugly and no one is going to love you but me. Those words were branded onto Toni's heart, those words seemed to appear anytime Toni Had a decision to make. And now, before her was her future and the biggest decision of her life. Today was the day of reckoning, today Toni was going to leave her mark on the world. Just three months ago, Toni was discovered so to speak. She was showing some of her drawings and sketches at a community art fair, when she was propositioned about hosting her own art showing at...

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“Made Unbreakable” by Twisty Girl

Submitted to Contest #95

I blinked, I blinked! I’m sure that was all I did… how did I get here? God, my throat is sore, and it’s so dark. What is that rancid smell? Hot iron and rotting meat? I’m going to be sick. “Ah, you’re awake, welcome,” a man says from somewhere around me. Welcome? To where? Why can’t I move my… I’m tied up. How did I get tied up? I was in bed! “It’s perfectly normal to feel a little, out of sorts when you first wake up, my dear. Don’t worry,” why don’t I recognise this assholes voice? He sounds like he swallowed a jar of honey, and who is ...

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“A Dilemma that Could Be Beat” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #95

A Dilemma that Could be BeatI have long been content with my life. Those words, and that sentiment sound weak, but they are still true. I have won for myself much more than my teenage self could have even imagined, and he had quite an imagination.I have a well-paying, respectable job in an office with pictures of my wife and three kids and one dog on my desk. My wife, Katy has always been supportive, even in the early financially insecure days. My kids are just great, I draw joy from their everyday presence.And yet…W...

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“Dilemma” by Rose Wildon

Submitted to Contest #95

DILEMMA Is it Murphy’s Law or Sod’s Law that claims that if there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then? A court case had just ended and I was trying to fit eight hours’ work into an afternoon when she phoned. She being the manager of the retirement village where my mother has spent the last four years. I don’t get to visit as often as I should, but this was clearly a summons. An issue that “could not be discussed over the telephone”. A large lady with a vaguely m...

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“The Side Character” by Gilliane Marie Damasco

Submitted to Contest #95

I never knew how hard it was to make a decision until I was really there, feet glued on the spot and feeling like throwing up because of the certain situation. Ben stood at the doorframe of our homeroom, eyes stuck on my direction. Mike’s arms rested around my shoulders as he showed me the latest music video of his favorite artist. But I wasn’t paying attention on his screen. My eyes were on Ben. I saw pain crossed his face before turning around, scratching his plan of entering the room. I didn’t know what to do. I'm torn between sta...

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“Moonlight” by Aimie Laylee

Submitted to Contest #95

The moonlight dances across her face, illuminating the subtle imperfections of her otherwise flawless appearance. Her mouth a permanent I'm better than you and I know it kind of smirk, fixed in place without intention. Everyone wanted to be Alexis Smarts, or be with her. She knew that deep down but never paid any real attention to it. After all, she had more pressing issues to deal with.The eve of her eighteenth birthday was fast approaching, the pit in her stomach bubbling away and washing over her in waves of fear and uncertainty, no escap...

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“The Demon Plague” by Ruth Aleman-Ortiz

Submitted to Contest #95

The Demon Plague “It's the last one Edward! You can do it!” Harry yelled as his best friend, Edward, hesitated to shoot the last demon. The Demon Plague was finally over after two terrible years of terrorism. The Demon Plague started in 1710, in Southern Africa after a traditional ritual to rid off demons went wrong. The ritual opened a portal for demons to leave the underworld and roam the Earth as humans. The Demons terrorized humankind, from corrupt world leaders to farmers. The only way to get rid of the Demons and stop them from tak...

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“languid” by Simone Quinn

Submitted to Contest #95

“Running from nothing. The cold air like daggers on his lungs. ‘Do you remember?’ The sound of leaves crunching and sticks snapping, broke the silence in the still night. A full moon, of course, how cliché. ‘That time you wrote that letter?’ The boy stopped, scanning his surroundings, silence taking over again. The bloodthirsty, flesh-eating, creature would have taken his head easily if he hadn’t ducked in time. ‘What letter?’ This sudden interaction caused a twitch in the boy’s leg, and in no time he was off. He ran traumatized, for no man ...

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“'Holding on or letting go?'” by Anushka Dwivedi

Submitted to Contest #95

'Holding on or letting go?'My vision was blurred. Tears had collected in my eyes. I knew I could not afford to let them fall down, after all, she was watching me. I looked at her face, it was blank as if she was used to it. I don’t know if that should make me relieved or concerned. I was lost in my thoughts when I realized the ambulance had stopped. I very carefully lifted her as if she was a flower a slight pressure would break her. Dr. Singh came running towards us and asked the nurse to put her on the stretcher. After that, the events hap...

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Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 216 stories

“Well?” by Joey Rain

“"My choice"” by Mommy &me

“Mindset Reset” by George Key

“The Contagion” by Adrian Stolecki

“Jasper” by Gillian Kingsley

“Rosco” by Rajesh Patel

“Erasing doubt” by Tanya Stingley

“Made Unbreakable” by Twisty Girl

“A Dilemma that Could Be Beat” by John Steckley

“Dilemma” by Rose Wildon

“The Side Character” by Gilliane Marie Damasco

“Moonlight” by Aimie Laylee

“The Demon Plague” by Ruth Aleman-Ortiz

“languid” by Simone Quinn

“'Holding on or letting go?'” by Anushka Dwivedi

🌟 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: