Write a story about a character forced to give up something important to stand up for what they believe in.

Posted in Character on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 26 stories

“The Hate They Gave” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #137

“We’ve called you in here today to discuss the concerns that numerous parents have voiced over the past few weeks,” Scott said calmly to Nadia as he crossed one leg over the other. Nadia glanced at Scott, the head of Trinity Lincoln School, and then looked at the other members of the board in front of her. They were all coincidentally white, leaving Nadia as the sole, brown-skinned person in the room. Nadia couldn’t help but notice that her colleagues all somehow looked like someone jammed a pole right up each of their asses and they couldn’...

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“Broken Country, Broken Family” by Hen Neralany

Submitted to Contest #137

I’m flipping through my binder. Going back in time and moving forward slowly as I skim through elaborately written notes and post-its. I’m not using my phone today because I want to save the battery for emergencies. I stop at the last entry I have written, a small reminder I have written for myself at the bottom of a very cramped but organized page.Reminder: SCIENCE QUIZ BEE ON FEBRUARY 24 AT 4 PM!! Remind mama to drive you on her way to the barber with Alex. Good luck!!!I hear my brother calling out my name, I shut my binder.“Arina! Call ma...

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“Doctor Robot” by Daphne Chou

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #137

You used to have to study to become a doctor. As a human, that is. People sat hunched in libraries for weeks on end, suffered through apprenticeships, lived unshowered in hospital call rooms, drifting from ward to ward. Not anymore. The People’s Consortium (PeopleCon, the humans say with irony) replaced physicians with Eurocentric-accented (British preferred) AI. We don’t mind the terribly long silences while patients fish for their words, and have immense processing chips to efficiently diagnose and treat...

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“One Year for Ginny” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #137

Who’d you give up somethin’ you love for? Better be clear about that. My family, not always sweet on havin’ me around, told me that they were givin’ me one more chance to make a right impression on my Ginny. That is my niece; that’s the only one I’d give up anythin’ for. And who am I? Not really important, is it? This ain’t A.A. Nah, don’t worry about that. I gotta tell ya my story and maybe you will understand why this was so hard. They say that every family has that one person who is just broken, or out of the loop; the whole black sheep t...

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“Jack Gets Energized” by John Hanna

Submitted to Contest #137

Young Jack isn’t a weak or inexperienced young man but he was having trouble concentrating. He wasn’t required to move the camera around as Becky knew the boundaries of her frame and was careful to keep them. It was the first take and all Jack had to do was watch for glitches while the girl begged for money. Young tanned olive-skinned, green-eyed sinuous beauty that Becky is doesn’t need to move during her pitch, but she does; seemingly random undulations reveal chasms between creamily squeezed breasts while the midriff allows bottom boobs t...

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“11:59” by Krystal Pepper

Submitted to Contest #137

11:59 I shoot straight out of bed to an ear piercing alarm right outside my door. The walls of this room are a dull white. Every day that passes it seems as though those walls are closing in on me. The bed feels as though I am sleeping on just springs. The only other items in this room are a sink and a toilet. The door, my only release from this hole, is so thick a bullet would not even pierce it. There is a small window in here, which is more just a tease than anything else, showing me green ...

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“Flaco and Guillermo” by Luis Cruz

Submitted to Contest #137

The old man sat in shade, under the rustle of windy palms and looked out over the ocean through white, milky eyes. Behind him, the early morning traffic on Ocean Avenue hummed, and in the distance he could hear kids bursting out of the housing projects, hurtling headlong into the cool morning sun. It amused him that his blindness had extended his vision.The ocean crashed and receded.He was thinking about the ocean. Contemplating its immensity - its steadfastness, its long memory, its reach. Nostalgia came over him, and he felt grat...

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“Giving It Up for Good” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #137

A Drive in the Country I am driving out into the countryside with my good friend ‘Stan the -Stang-, my mustang which I bought long years ago when I was 20. He was my first car. I hope that if I take care of it properly it will be my last. I almost wish that it could be buried with me. Maybe just the rearview mirror. I remember so well the first drive out here on the country roads with Stan. I felt so much freedom. Now, years later, whenever anything disturbs me, I take a long drive with Stan. The farther...

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“You Can't Pour From An Empty Cup” by Sarah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #137

My heart was breaking. I could physically feel it shattering into pieces, splintering off into different parts of my body. I gasped shallow, painful breaths as the splinters impaled my lungs. I couldn’t even look at her as she asked me, “Why?”“I-I just can’t do this with you,” I choked out. “I have to think of my son and I have to put him first.” I lifted my shoulders and turned to face her. Her blue eyes, usually gentle and calm, were a raging storm, destroying ships and drowning sailors. The air around us was brisk and the cool breeze...

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“Anything for my People” by Samantha Matty

Submitted to Contest #137

A gunshot went off in the distance. “Your Majesty—” “I know,” I said. I walked down to the basement of the castle, where I could pull the book that moved the bookshelves. Then, when I was in the corridor behind the shelves, I would tip the vase that opened the trapdoor beneath me. And after landing on the plush mattress, I lifted the large tapestry on the wall and stepped into another corridor, which led to the safe room. I was alone in the room, because this one was reserved for the royal family. I was the entirety of the ...

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“For a new tomorrow” by E. Roux

Submitted to Contest #137

Note: The story contains acts of physical violence. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than this moment, I tell myself as I sit next to the kitchen table, looking at them playing so innocently in the living room. Alexander is standing next to me, one hand holding a mug of hot coffee, his other hand around my waist. “Are you sure about this?” he asks me, and I find it so hard to meet his face. “It’s my only option.” I whisper. “I cannot take the risk to find you, things are going wild.” I always had in the back of my mind that thin...

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“Outcasts of Granny Flats” by Mark Linsky

Submitted to Contest #137

The Outcasts of Granny Flats An Original Story &n...

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“Special report: Habitants Flee From Violence And Organized Crime.” by José Pablo Carrillo

Submitted to Contest #137

“Why are you fleeing?” I waved down the small-sized pickup driving towards the entrance. The wind must have carried my question swiftly inside the four-door midsize SUV because the small pickup came to a sudden halt. I walked a couple steps towards the driver’s door and saw an older woman, mid-fifties, her skin light brown like Mexican soil, and a Panama hat whose shadow barely hid the wrinkles and bags around her eyes. “Why..?” She rolled her head back laughing bitterly, thinking she was being mocked. “Oh...please, You still ask...

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“Recollections Inc.” by R. H. Phillips

Submitted to Contest #137

(Attn: story contains PG-13 language) The man across the table did not seem to blink, like at all. His eyelids never even fluttered behind his heavy blackframed glasses. They had locked on her from the moment she sat down and had not left her face. His partner next to him was far more animated. Least that one pretends to be somewhat human, Claire thought. “You are Ms. Irving? Ms. Claire Irving?,” he asked. The manila folder lay open in front of him and Claire could clearly see her headshot photo in the top corner but the ma...

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“True to Self” by Christian Arnold

Submitted to Contest #137

I count my steps as I walk up the stairs to the convention center, my parents on either side of me. Once inside we follow the signs to our designated conference room; the room where we will discuss my future, my career, my life. We arrived early per my request. I wanted a few moments to myself before the room filled with my agent and new coach. I glanced out the window. Birds glided past the window as I sat in the empty conference room waiting for the meeting to start. This day was the day everything could change, I just have to survive th...

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Write a story about a character forced to give up something important to stand up for what they believe in.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 26 stories

“The Hate They Gave” by Kathleen Fine

“Broken Country, Broken Family” by Hen Neralany

“Doctor Robot” by Daphne Chou

“One Year for Ginny” by Kendall Defoe

“Jack Gets Energized” by John Hanna

“11:59” by Krystal Pepper

“Flaco and Guillermo” by Luis Cruz

“Giving It Up for Good” by John Steckley

“You Can't Pour From An Empty Cup” by Sarah Lynn

“Anything for my People” by Samantha Matty

“For a new tomorrow” by E. Roux

“Outcasts of Granny Flats” by Mark Linsky

“Special report: Habitants Flee From Violence And Organized Crime.” by José Pablo Carrillo

“Recollections Inc.” by R. H. Phillips

“True to Self” by Christian Arnold

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a scientist.

Write about a character who gets called an Einstein ironically.

Write a story about somebody in love with someone from their past.

Write a story about someone forced out of their home.

Contest #137

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

218

Contest entries

117

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: