Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Posted in Character on Jan 26, 2024

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✍️ 42 stories

“KILLER IN THE WILLOWS” by Kajsa Ohman

🏆 Winner of Contest #235

KILLER IN THE WILLOWSJust do it, so the T-shirts say. Just pick up the gun, pull the trigger—but maybe aim first, aim at the upper sternum and then pull the trigger, congratulating yourself that at last, in your long, passive life, you have shot somebody dead. So she did, and thus she became a murderer. She slipped through the night after that and disappeared into the willows to wash off any blood that spattered onto her clothing. The willows were thickly interlaced, with an overpowering smell, acrid and watery. The stream flowed t...

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“The Wall” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #235

Everyone on the high school cross-country team had the same Steve “Pre” Prefontaine poster on their bedroom walls, but I was the only one who took it literally. “The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die.” That was the quote. And I bought it, hook, line, and sinker. During my hard runs, I would picture the “red line” as a brick wall, and the idea was to somehow gather enough steam that when I hit the wall, I would crash right through.As I vault off the grassy section of the 5K cross-country route and crash into the cove...

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“A Slice and a Half of Apple with a Teaspoon of Peanut Butter” by K.A. Murray

Submitted to Contest #235

I have always hated going to the doctor. They ask too many questions, and they stare at me intently with kind eyes while I try to answer. This appointment in particular has been worrying me for the last day, ever since the incident at soccer practice yesterday, when Eliza was tearing down the field during a scrimmage and I went in for a slide tackle, winning the ball, and instantly felt a sharp pop in my knee and excruciating pain shooting through my body. The whole thing was my fault; I should have gotten to the ball sooner. I was a jun...

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“The Runner” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #235

I am sitting in my favorite chair. The fire is dying down, but it will not die down entirely. It has been created to stay aflame, and as it begins to extinguish, it will loop back. There are two dishes in the sink, and those two dishes will never be washed. The garbage should be taken out, but it won’t be. These imperfections are important. They help you forget that you have no reason to feel safe. Outside, a vampire hunter is patrolling my yard. I created her because, in my youth, I was a fan of a television show about a vampire hunter....

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“Flight Risk” by Allis Connor

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #235

My parole officer said I’d hardly notice the system. Once I grew accustomed to the minor physical intrusions—the dual ankle monitors, the belt with no buckle, and the generic smart watch—it would be smooth sailing for the next month. My only task was to stay on the straight and narrow. She never said what was considered “antisocial behavior,” or clarified what form the “nudges” would take. The judge had said something about “diversion” when he imposed the system, but I couldn't bear listening to his full justification. My ears buzzed. Fu...

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“Running Through the Tape” by A. M. Conger

Submitted to Contest #235

Jill was angry. Angry that she had to take PTO during the biggest deal of her career. Angry that she had to use said PTO to fly home instead of going on vacation. Angry that she wasn’t going to be running in the marathon she’d been training for (EIGHT STICKING MONTHS), and angry that her dad had had a stroke. Fuming and with a clenched jaw, she stared at a framed picture on the mantel of her childhood home. It was a candid photo of her and her dad running in their first marathon. They were covered in sweat, mud, and smiles as her mom thrus...

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“No More Zoomies” by Dené Hees

Submitted to Contest #235

The ageing girl would often be overcome with bouts of zoomies. The kind left a trail of broken furniture, cushions scattered, and neighbours confused. Despite the growth on the side of her foot slowing her charges to a hop-along, nothing could stop her from a great, long, leisurely sniff around the neighbourhood. Why would it? She had survived surgery to remove the previous growth on her shoulder (about the size of a golf ball when it started bleeding) and had not once shown any signs of feeling poorly. In fact, the zoomies got even better...

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“Pressure-Packed” by Morgan Aloia

Submitted to Contest #235

For Mepka, being alone in the cabin was not nearly the same as being alone in the wilderness. There was a disquiet to the place, like it might tell her mother of any secret thing she did sitting in its guts. Still, by herself for the first time in weeks, Mepka couldn’t help but call out her word. "Ahtr’ul" She swept hands over the course of her figure. Where they passed she faded from existence ever so slightly, ever so briefly. The call allowed her a moment of peace, to feel as though she was there and not here. She called out for that...

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“Memorial Marathon” by Joe Forgue

Submitted to Contest #235

Closing my eyes, heaven sent supportive smiles kept me going. The downtown start was jumbled yet quite manageable. I was comfortable beginning with the 12 minute a mile group; quite confident I could finish in no more than the 5 hours I had practice for. Closer to 4 hours was my best-case scenario. Preparing to run was logistically enjoyable. Had to first find increasing distances of 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-mile running venues. While a challenge, the job turned out to be a set of minor geography tests. Due to a vist with my son in Hong Kong, I ...

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“The Figment of a Footprint” by Dr. Stephen A Salaka

Submitted to Contest #235

I have been running; for how long, I can not tell. A wrong turn, a trailblazing disaster, lost and never to be found. How did I get here? Does it even matter anymore? With each labored breath, pacing my strides, my body is consumed by a primal battle, the stale air thick with rancid decay. The forest engulfs me in a suffocating terror, its ancient malevolence seeping into every inch of its murky darkness. Twisted trees writhe and contort in agony, their branches reaching out like gnarled claws to ensnare me. But it is not just the physic...

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“Rotting Kelp ” by Kacie Foos

Submitted to Contest #235

My Mother Jan had survived chemo. During that year of treatment I had felt that I had no control of my life. I was living in Hollywood, California and my parents were north in Spokane, Washington. It was agony to have my mother so far away and facing such a horrible part of her life. I flew to be with her to take her to her first round of treatment and it was something I'll never forget. It was gut wrenching to feel so helpless and watch someone I loved so dearly facing such a terrible disease. I felt like I needed something in my life that ...

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“Alexithymia” by Amari Leiva Urzua

Submitted to Contest #235

I can’t run anymore.Bland,white,plain.Wake, eat, sleep.Life in six words.Six syllables. Thirty-Two letters.I wake, make my bed, work, eat, work, and sleep. All the while, I’m hiding, heaving, dying. Running? Sure, running in circles.But they don’t need to know that.What do you do?I wake, make my bed, work, eat, work, and sleep.My life since 3021.AX1-19, the virus that rid 95% of Earth from feeling.The last light of human nature, Cracked, &nbsp...

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“The Principle of Magnetism” by Ariel Sycorax

Submitted to Contest #235

Sigmund sat in near darkness, the room lit only by the dim glow of the nightlight in the wall behind him. He waited patiently for the manifestation of his fortune. It was inevitable at this point. He took a deep breath to calm the collywobbles overwhelming his stomach and chest. Sigmund willed himself to remain calm and not run like a coward. This was meant to be, he reminded himself, he had to go through with it.The man now understood everything about himself ever since reading the self-help book he’d picked up at the New Age shop. It had b...

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“The Relay Race” by Doug McGuinn

Submitted to Contest #235

The handoff was flawless. Sitting in my wheelchair on the track’s Astro-Turfed infield, I could almost feel the aluminum baton in my hand, watching my daughter leave the exchange zone and head down the rubberized homestretch, soon entering the near turn, showing perfect form as she ran the anchor leg of the 4 X 1,600-meter relay race in the state high school championship relays.Quickly turning my wheelchair around, I wheeled like mad across the infield, heading for the backstretch.Still showing perfect form, she came out of the tur...

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“The Cody Incident ” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #235

trigger warning: depictions of gruesome injury Penny screamed a blood-curdling scream when she saw that Cody broke both of his legs. Well, it was the combination of the sound of Cody’s legs snapping like planks followed by the sight of Cody collapsing on the ground, both legs from the shin down dangling from the rest of him, that set her over the edge. During their fourth grade P.E. kickball game, she watched Cody step up to the plate, eager to kick the ball over the playground fence. Penny played shortstop, engrossed in the exciting and c...

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Contest #235

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Ended on 23:59 - Feb 02, 2024 EST

Won by Kajsa Ohman 🏆

Title: KILLER IN THE WILLOWS

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Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“KILLER IN THE WILLOWS” by Kajsa Ohman

“The Wall” by Jonathan Page

“A Slice and a Half of Apple with a Teaspoon of Peanut Butter” by K.A. Murray

“The Runner” by Story Time

“Flight Risk” by Allis Connor

“Running Through the Tape” by A. M. Conger

“No More Zoomies” by Dené Hees

“Pressure-Packed” by Morgan Aloia

“Memorial Marathon” by Joe Forgue

“The Figment of a Footprint” by Dr. Stephen A Salaka

“Rotting Kelp ” by Kacie Foos

“Alexithymia” by Amari Leiva Urzua

“The Principle of Magnetism” by Ariel Sycorax

“The Relay Race” by Doug McGuinn

“The Cody Incident ” by Jarrel Jefferson

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with one or two characters going for a run.

Write a story in which a character is running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Make a race an important element of your story.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “You can’t run forever.”

Contest #235

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

310

Contest entries

120

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: