Write about a character who has to grapple with something completely alien to them.

Posted in Character on Aug 4, 2023

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✍️ 46 stories

“Bruce and Missy Find True Love” by Bob Long Jr

Submitted to Contest #210

Bruce had never truly been in love best he could tell. And to be honest, he wasn't exactly sure he was now. But this time felt different .. foreign to him, if you will. Sure, there were others who he found captivating, perhaps even breathtaking. This feeling though, was different. Really different. Just observing her walk down the street with that beautiful mane of coal black hair gently blowing in the breeze was enough to make any guy's fragile heart skip a beat. Well heck, even a dog's tail would wag back and forth at such a sight. An...

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“Dog Gone World” by Charlea Jefts

Submitted to Contest #210

The Jail keeper ran his metal stick along the bars. His keys and treat bag rattled sending the aroma of the ‘good-boy’ treats wafting through the air. Great loud woofs and mousey little yaps began to resonate through the cold and sterile block. This was my first stay in the Hound Pound. And hopefully it would be my last, either a trip to the room of no return or out the front door and out of this alien prison. I needed to learn to navigate this foreign environment if I was to find a way out. I was scratching my floppy ear with my big, back p...

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“The Ocean Horror” by Harmonious Pierce

Submitted to Contest #210

My terrifying debacle began and ended at sea. It was under my wife’s prompting that I agreed to dive with the rest of the cruise ship’s thrill-seekers, although I would have been just as satisfied to have remained on board and enjoy the pleasures of the deck. A certain fear of the sea had always plagued me—I say plagued because this fear was coupled with a morbid curiosity whose limits were just as boundless as those of its subject. It was with this mixture of fear and fascination, along with the innocent desire of a newlywed to please his s...

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“Stay Awake Stay Alive” by Mark Gagnon

Submitted to Contest #210

Stay Awake, Stay AliveI’ve been awake now for 48 hours and I know I won’t be able to stay this way for much longer. Who wants to die at 31—I know I don’t, but I’ll have to sleep sometime. Maybe the end will be painless, however judging by what I’ve observed, it will be anything but. This all started innocently enough.What I thought was the crown jewel of my life at this point is this penthouse on the 22nd floor of a newly renovated high-rise. The neighborhood had been run down but, because of gentrification, it’s now a great place to call ho...

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“Black Rock Dreams” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #210

The garden of Cass Emeritt was a mess, as she had been ill for a while. Her grass was stomach high, and she lacked the strength to sort it out. Last summer Cass was seven stone lighter. She had regularly been in the gym, where she had developed strong muscles and her back and knee pain had gone. With less effort than ever, she had cut the lawn. Bagged up the grass and sat sipping an iced cordial while smiling at the fruit of her work. "Cass, do you want another cordial with ice?" asked Emily. "Yes please, I'll be coming in for dinner soon, s...

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“Flin Flamming the Pivyck.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #210

Before I could protest his invasive and sudden appearance, he said ‘Wait, wait, wait. Let me tell you my story.’ He proceeded to explain how his previous jump was not well-planned and he found himself in the middle of a dispute between two large, very strange entities. ‘Little did they know’ he said, ‘it had all been pre-arranged. Planned to a T.’ “It was a bit like being at a grudge match between two mismatched Titans,” he began, “then proceeded to recount the events, by mimicking the participants.” “This can’t be happening,” the P...

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“HOW HUMANS EXCHANGE INFORMATION” by Kajsa Mcgeorge

Submitted to Contest #210

HOW HUMANS EXCHANGE INFORMATION A report by exprmntl rsrchr #FIC137 I wish the subject of this report could have been ‘How Humans Reproduce,’ since that was, of all my experiences, the one that sticks with me. And I may be able to dovetail it in eventually, because I know my colleagues really want to hear about it. After all, they’re only human![1] Lol.[2] Meanwhile, I’ll at least pretend I’m focused upon my assigned topic: the exchange of information. After so many months—years it was, in human terms—of humanoid training, I was...

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“H.O.A.X.” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #210

H.O.A.X.My mother drove the school bus year-round; staying home alone was not an option, so we left home at six Monday- Friday, around the winding roads of Greensville County for two hours, scooping up children 5-13 years old. We were heading to Route 18’s school of destination with fellow students who wished they could sleep in, play in the yard, or do anything other than board 718 for four weeks during the prime summer break. On the other hand, I passed every subject but needed something to do during school hours because riding a scho...

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“Heavenly Blend” by Richard Verre

Submitted to Contest #210

The steaming coffee cup warmed my hand as I left the Heavenly Blend coffee shop on that chilly April morning. I was headed to the office, rounding the corner onto Milk St. when I saw her. But how? To say I was stunned wouldn’t even begin to describe what I felt. I stopped abruptly, dropping my coffee on the sidewalk. She can’t be! It’s not possible! She’s been dead for twenty-four years. I know. I watched her die.“Hey Lee, it’s been a while!” Her voice brimming with the same enthusiasm it always had. “How have you been?” Glancing down at the...

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“Step One ” by Logan Cummings

Submitted to Contest #210

Step One I stare at the building for a moment before entering. The bricks rubbed down, aged. Comparing them to myself thinking that though I’m but 23, the marks of my choices are carved into my exterior just as deep as they are inside me. I exhale and reach for the handle, hesitating as though it might give me a shock. Shaking my head, I take a step forward, grab hold and thrust the door hard, the weight pushing back against my frail tired body. Stepping through the threshold of the church, my senses are whelmed with the scent of b...

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“Where's the Catch? ” by Jessie Laverton

Submitted to Contest #210

Three days ago, I arrived at a place where I don’t yet know what to feel. Before now, I had never journeyed away from my home and my family, although neither of those things were synonymous with safety and comfort. The exact composition of my clan was frequently modified, feebler members often failing to return home. That’s hard at first, and then you get used to the disappearances.My homeland is a bleak place. My people are tortured and oppressed. When the sun beats down on the arid earth, we are dragged from our cramped dwellings, out into...

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“No. 2” by J Hublick

Submitted to Contest #210

In my apartment, there was only the soft scratching of a pencil point meeting cartridge paper. Uneven strokes created for me a dissonant sort of music and I filled the page edge to edge with shapes and shading. It was my routine - to pass the small morning hours hunched over the table letting my pencil move without attachment to my mind. Lost in these wanderings, I didn’t feel another presence settle in behind me until the back of my neck tickled with intuition.“Again?” came the question.“Yes,” was my answer, my eyes and pencil not leaving t...

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“Only Human” by Mike Chiodo

Submitted to Contest #210

Log Date 475.551 My ship awakened me from stasis, and I have spent much of the day allowing the medical systems to work on my physical recovery. Once I was feeling well enough to look over the ship’s logs, I discovered something unexpected. I am not on our colony planet of Oracia. My ship has suffered a severe mechanical malfunction, and autolanded itself upon the nearest planet that would support life; a planet which happens to show few signs of a technologically developed civilization. Once I have completed this lo...

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“Lost” by Vincent Paiement Désilets

Submitted to Contest #210

The lights swirled above me, between branches of towering pine and cedar trees. Spills of colorful ink in the starry sky. They seemed to communicate. A red glow would enlarge, then retract. A blue halo would shine brighter as a response. And purple, green, yellow… High in the night. They had to be gigantic, for I saw them large and clear from the ground, lying under a sheet of dead leaves, shivering. I had blamed the cold for waking me up. Only thin embers remained of the dyin...

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“An Unwanted Visitor” by A R

Submitted to Contest #210

Alister remembered what it was like to slide across an empty ice rink. The cold air would seep into the creases of his skin and bones. Smiling fondly, he put down a set of worn-out ice skates. He sat there for a few minutes soaking in the smell of old leather. His memories of ice skating were a comfort to him like no other. He basked in the feeling, knowing he would eventually have to acknowledge the hole in the roof a few yards away. He had been quietly reading in the loft when he first heard wood crackling, as if it was bend...

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Write about a character who has to grapple with something completely alien to them.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 46 stories

“Bruce and Missy Find True Love” by Bob Long Jr

“Dog Gone World” by Charlea Jefts

“The Ocean Horror” by Harmonious Pierce

“Stay Awake Stay Alive” by Mark Gagnon

“Black Rock Dreams” by Jay DeBurgh

“Flin Flamming the Pivyck.” by Ken Cartisano

“HOW HUMANS EXCHANGE INFORMATION” by Kajsa Mcgeorge

“H.O.A.X.” by Kimberly Walker

“Heavenly Blend” by Richard Verre

“Step One ” by Logan Cummings

“Where's the Catch? ” by Jessie Laverton

“No. 2” by J Hublick

“Only Human” by Mike Chiodo

“Lost” by Vincent Paiement Désilets

“An Unwanted Visitor” by A R

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story after aliens have officially arrived on Earth.

Write a story about a character who is trying to share groundbreaking news, but isn’t being taken seriously.

Make a mysterious message an important part of your story.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “We’re not alone.”

Contest #210

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

300

Contest entries

112

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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