Write a story in which one of the characters is a narcissist.

Posted in Character on May 24, 2024

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✍️ 40 stories

“The Purple Wave” by Alexis Araneta

Submitted to Contest #252

CW: Abuse, swearing“Oh my God! It’s happening,” Melissa Alton sputtered out in a breathless whisper, her well-modulated television journalist voice drowning in a wine-dark sea of nerves inside her. As she sat on the stool of the cedar dresser set, painted her favourite lavender, she bought from a rummage sale seven years ago, she felt her entire body tremble like a purple maple leaf in an autumn breeze.She stared at the mirror and broke into a slight, polite grin, her facial muscles tightening as it settled into the familiar quiet little smi...

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“Freddy Feinberg Doesn't Live Up to Expectations” by Lara Temple

Submitted to Contest #252

Wind roared round the corner, shoving cold, clammy hands under my red coat. We’d rushed out of school so quickly I hadn’t had a chance to button up and now I was afraid to let go of Dad’s hand, ripped away by the current of people. Just in case, I kept my eyes on the street signs.I lost count when I saw the man on the other side of Broadway. He was staring at a shop window, a tear in the human flow around him, his milk gray hair sailing side to side in the wind. As we were about to pass, his eyes, also grey, went big and round.‘Burton. Burto...

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“Getting to Know You” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #252

(Based on the article Know the Kind of Narcissist You're Dealing With and Symptoms from psychologytoday.com, posted on March 6, 2021)Zac, now twenty-three, sits alone in his psychiatrist’s office on a couch that he feels had its legs cut short to create the illusion that the therapist was superior, since she always sat higher. The office had a dim relaxing feel to it. Even the short couch was leather and warm. You sink right into it the moment you sit down. It has a professional aura with a big desk and bookshelf filled with large volumes of...

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“Simply The Bestest” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #252

(contains mild swearing)“Mirror, mirror, on the ceiling,” the King breathed, stretching languorously on his black satin sheets. “Who’s the bestest? Tell me with feeling!”The glass of the mirror quivered, the reflection momentarily making the bloated figure below – through the wonders of optical illusion – vaguely acceptable-looking.“Bets are off, none can contest. Thou, Your Highness, art simply the best,” the mirror replied with all the feeling it could muster … which wasn’t much given that it had been at it for decades now. But it was work...

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“Parasite” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #252

We meet via friends. Always theirs, never mine. A small knot of misfits and losers desperately clinging to each other as though they aren’t dragging each other down, when that’s all they’re capable of. Sharing a broken camaraderie that strokes the one thing they all have in common, the crushing boredom of their isolating loneliness. I can taste their wounds. Each and every one of them. These inept creatures kid themselves into thinking they have done a good job of hiding their pain and inadequacies. I’ll tell you something for free, the more...

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“My Story with D” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #252

Sensitive topic warning - references to emotional abuse. This is how it all started: my story with D. I met the most interesting person on a Friday four years ago. They were fascinating enough that I broke my own rules. For one thing, I thought I was a straight cis woman, but when I met this person (let’s for the sake of their privacy, call them “D,”) everything that was previously normal to me went out the window. D was hosting an event I attended. I spent most of that event less engaged in the activity than I’d expected to be. We were maki...

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“Barbie & Ken” by Lily Lloyd

Submitted to Contest #252

*TW for emotional abuse*“Remind me again why we can’t put the top up,” I asked, very conscious of the fact that I looked like a wet dog as the rain pelted my hair. “Cuz I’m mad at you,” Billy replied matter of factly. I turned to stare at him unamused.“Are you being serious?”He huffed dramatically. “Yes.”"Billy," I sighed, "Let's not do this right now. Please? You're gonna ruin your car and our clothes."After a minute of contemplation, Billy slowly reached for the roof button and pressed it half-heartedly. As the sound of the closi...

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“The Waitress Likes Me” by BD Smith

Submitted to Contest #252

They only had the one car, so she had to load up the girls to pick him up. They were always together, the three Musketeers, and always without him. He always had better things to do than to be with his family. Today was no different.Typical Sunday, she was taking the girls to church like she always did – alone – because he no longer attended. He had stopped sometime between her having their first daughter and becoming pregnant with the second. A lot of things stopped during that period of time, but that’s a story for another day. Just like e...

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“The WhatsApp Swindler” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #252

-based on a true storyI like to steal things. It matters little whether it’s an unattended iPhone on a coffee shop table, a Barney jacket taken from in front of the sales staff, or a packet of almonds snatched at CVS. The value is inconsequential. The act is exhilarating. But after three close calls–each of which I needed to talk myself out from–I realized my little hobby clashed with my grander ambitions. And why steal things when people will simply give them to you?I study her from head to toe. My girlfriend Amanda is standing before me, a...

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“Small in His T-Shirt” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #252

1I run my finger over the surface of an old dressing table—dust, silver thimble—and perch myself on a precariously wobbly stool. I stare into the mirror, into its wonky rendition of myself. It has a cloudy, greenish hue and its circumference is freckled with dark spots—a few of which are superimposed on my collarbone—and I’m unsettled by the ashen face that glares back, the purple beneath her eyes, the eeriness of her white dress. It’s the mirror. Even the sunlit bookshelves behind me have lost their glow, the grass has lost its green, and t...

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“Perplexity.....” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #252

"There's a bright side to everything!" Sister Heloise told herself, as she was serving up morning tea to her senior nuns in the retired teacher's convent. It was date loaf for nibbles. She regarded herself as a handmaid to the Lord, being good and kind. She had woken up a bit grumpy, but kept on smiling.Their annual summer holiday at the beach was over, back to their routine in the slow news town of Old Blithering. Those lazy and hazy days of summer were winding down towards Autumn. It had still been so hot, until a thunderstorm had swept ac...

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“Blood and caramel ” by Sophia Dove

Submitted to Contest #252

“The first kill is the hardest.” She said to me, with a brutal indifference that is mastered by creatures who have surpassed their lifetime. I cradled the broken body of an innocent girl, as if she were mine to protect. As if I didn't reap the very life from her. Blood. On my hands. Not mine, but hers, I soon realized. Scarlet and oozing, and mingled with mine. Thick as burnt caramel, sitting on my tongue like tar without any of the sweetness. Bitter. I had once revered this white gown as a gift, a present free of charge. Unknowingly, I had ...

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“Broken Royals ” by Natalie Portera-Sickler

Submitted to Contest #252

I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but most of the memories I have left of my grandmother are unpleasant. To say Eve was unkind was an understatement. She was downright cruel. She made a sport of pitting others against their friends, their family, and no one was safe from her sadistic schemes – especially not her own husband and children. If you ever spoke a word against her, she would verbally tear you down for daring to challenge her, and then cry victim to your so-called unfair treatment of her.She suffered a disease of disillusionmen...

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“Winter Squall” by Scott Winkler

Submitted to Contest #252

WINTER SQUALLEugene tormented his wife and daughter. He sniped at them day and night. He was a 58 year old fortress of fear and doubt behind the walls of which he sniped at them all day and all night. His ammunition was their trust and love. The more they loved him and danced around him on eggshells the deeper his assorted grievances against them lodged in the horizontal crevices that lined his forehead and the folds of his double chin.. He was a closet miser who gave to charity only in an effort to purge the rot and darkness from his s...

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“Ugly and the Beast” by Swain A

Submitted to Contest #252

I am Ugly. This was not always true. Once, I was beautiful. Once, I could look at my face with pride for its symmetry, its color, its allure. Back then, I never had to worry before stepping outside to be seen. But then the Beast came, appearing into my room as I slept, and every night since then, scar me ever so slightly. For years, I have tried to capture it, contain it, kill it, escape it, but it always returned and always with its blades, taking a piece of me away. Now, my face is mutilated. The Beast took away its symmetry, slowly, slow...

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Write a story in which one of the characters is a narcissist.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 40 stories

“The Purple Wave” by Alexis Araneta

“Freddy Feinberg Doesn't Live Up to Expectations” by Lara Temple

“Getting to Know You” by Ty Warmbrodt

“Simply The Bestest” by PJ Town

“Parasite” by Jed Cope

“My Story with D” by Keelan LaForge

“Barbie & Ken” by Lily Lloyd

“The Waitress Likes Me” by BD Smith

“The WhatsApp Swindler” by Scott Christenson

“Small in His T-Shirt” by Carina Caccia

“Perplexity.....” by Julie Grenness

“Blood and caramel ” by Sophia Dove

“Broken Royals ” by Natalie Portera-Sickler

“Winter Squall” by Scott Winkler

“Ugly and the Beast” by Swain A

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character being followed.

Write about a character who struggles to do the right thing.

Make a character’s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Contest #252

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

360

Contest entries

143

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: