Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Posted in Character on Jan 26, 2024

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✍️ 42 stories

“Beneath the Shadow of Wind” by Gail Ormsby

Submitted to Contest #235

Raindrops lashed against the window, mirroring the storm brewing inside Elias. His once-gleaming running shoes lay abandoned by the door, a stark reminder of the cruel twist fate had dealt him. A few months ago, Elias was a blur of motion on the track, a symphony of wind and pounding feet. Now, his legs felt like leaden weights, his breath a ragged wheeze. Elias, a man carved from the wind, his lungs accustomed to the rhythmic song of his own strides, woke up one morning to a chilling silence. Not the quiet of a snowfall nor the hush of a st...

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“The Very Last Step” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #235

Life is a circle that cannot be denied. A hungry mouth devouring its own tail. We come into this world alone and we die alone. We arrive helpless and vulnerable, and at the end, we are rendered into the very same state. And as the last of our strength falters, we are at last reminded of the temporary gift that is life. A miracle that we housed within our body, but that could never be sufficiently contained. The light of life spills forth from within those who are not too afraid live well. When someone lives well, life breaks free of them and...

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“Overachiever” by Maisey Mansson

Submitted to Contest #235

Be the best or be absolutely nothing. Anything in between is a waste of time. My mother once told me this. She was fifty-eight, and Catherine Jenkins was still nothing. She must have made her choice. You can stand in the spotlight, or you can disappear. You can be welcomed with deafening applause, or you can leave without a single person noticing. It is up to you to decide, and some just don’t have it in them to make the choice. They let the world make it for them. That is how people become the one thing I fear the most- average. I ga...

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“The Lost Run ” by Hannah Lloyd

Submitted to Contest #235

Warning: This story deals with sensitive topics and subjects of loss and grief. I had to stop running. Most people stop running because they can’t find the motivation anymore, or maybe because their life gets so busy that they couldn’t fit a simple run into their schedule. That wasn't the case with me. I glanced over at the alarm clock on my bedside table, the constant “tick-tock” blending into the simple lines of meaningful nothingness. The even knots of the mahogany seemed to sing along with the tick, tick, tock of the clock. I p...

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“The Last Run ” by Aryana Moonsong

Submitted to Contest #235

This was it. No more. She just couldn’t do it anymore. She had been doing it for so long that she didn’t even remember why she had started running in the first place. Her body could easily go on forever but her heart, her mind and her soul were tired, so very tired. But day after day, her feet kept on the same path, running away from her responsibilities, her life. She didn’t know how else to live anymore. Running had become all she did, all she knew, but she wanted to change, she needed to change. She felt like she would die if she kept goi...

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“Thank You for Your Disservice” by Fredrick Neri

Submitted to Contest #235

This story, like the last one contains references to child abuse in the various forms that is done to kids not old enough to read this. - I couldn’t trust the grown-up because he was a grown-up. So, I was scared when he asked me a question. Then the grown man by the gate looked with his old-beard and priests-towel asked me “And who are you, young lady?” I stuttered a bit and was quiet in case I got the question wrong because then he’d go on correcting me forever and ever, and if I tried to say something about it he’d get mad...

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“Stroke By Stroke” by Cynthia Crawford-Roach

Submitted to Contest #235

When I woke up that morning, I couldn’t speak.I called to my daughter to wake up for school, but the words came out in a jumble. Why couldn’t I speak properly? I stood at the island, feeling the cold, smooth surface of the counter beneath my hands, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. We were in the middle of major renovations: no sink, no cupboards, our living room was now a partially constructed bathroom and dining room, everything was upside down. Our house was a construction zone.I had just turned fifty in June. I had no health p...

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“The Unflappable Flush” by Chris Jones

Submitted to Contest #235

This story is about a disabled superhero. Being disabled myself, I think it would be nice if disabled people have their own superhero! “Crikey, my legs feel like overcooked linguini this morning!” Joe exclaimed as he tried to get out of bed, only to flop unceremoniously onto the floor. I peered down at the pathetic heap of duvet and despair that was once the mighty Joe “The Flush” Johnson. The fastest dude around, who could move so quickly he was practically invisible, reduced to a moaning mess tangled in his bedsheets. Just yesterday t...

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“Dragons and Evil Spirits” by Diane Shubinsky

Submitted to Contest #235

DRAGONS AND EVIL SPIRITS She phoned again. It took time till someone answered, then the sleepy voice asked, “Who is this?” “Yusef was a wonderful husband,” she said. “And a wonderful lover.” “Who is this?” the voice asked again. “I was only fifteen when I married him. ‘Young and pretty like a butterfly,’ Yusef used to say.” The phone went dead, and the happy memories closed within her. Should she go to bed? She’d had her four phone calls. There was a creak behind her. Nura whirled round and saw Abdullah. Their eyes met; he smirked an...

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“Track and Field Theory” by Ethan Zimmerman

Submitted to Contest #235

Track and Field Theory At the 3.14159265359 mile mark of my run, I began to limp and had to stop. I thought I must have a foreign particle in my shoe, so I stopped and leaned on an electromagnetic post. I removed my right shoe, touching the toe of my sock-covered foot to the pavement. I inspected the sole and the shoe's inside; nothing was detectable. Then I heard a big bang. The theoretical physicist Lisa Randall tapped me on the shoulder. Her ...

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“Running for Good” by Jordan Tyler

Submitted to Contest #235

Howling laughter turns into screams as the young robber is met with a brick wall on the other side of the thorn bushes that he was sure would lead to his freedom. What should’ve been another easy heist has suddenly turned awry. How was he to know that the old shop keeper would be coming back early from vacation? How could he have ever predicted he’d injure his hip walking off of the plane and have to return home the very next day? How could he have not seen him lock the front door just as he snuck in through the back window? He’d neve...

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“Lucky” by Lisa Brady

Submitted to Contest #235

I wake up with my ears first. The sound of the beeping machine is a constant reminder that I am not in my comfortable bed, in my comfortable home, with my three dogs surrounding me. My eyes fight me but I open them anyway. The gloomy luminescence from strategically placed florescent light bulbs wars with the bright sunshine creeping around the blackout curtains. It matches my moods…one bright and hopeful—thankful to be alive; the other, somber and scared for the future. I try not to dwell on the pain that is already taking aho...

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“THE SNEAKERS IN HER CLOSET” by Marion Cohen

Submitted to Contest #235

When Marissa Pelka decided to take advantage of an early retirement offer from the suburban New Jersey school district where she had been teaching for more than two decades, she was filled with many emotions. She had enjoyed a very satisfying career for close to 27 years while exposing teenagers to many aspects of fine arts in her classroom. Marissa also experienced much pleasure in fostering an environment where her students could discover their own artistic abilities. ...

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“Death of an identity” by Helen Power

Submitted to Contest #235

The wicked fairy pointed her gnarly magic wand at me and delivered her curse. “You will never run again,” she spat, as the hair on the wart on her chin wobbled with the force of her words. “For all your sins, your slovenly ways… Your punishment is that you will never run again!” Well… that’s not exactly how it went down. In actual fact the wicked fairy was a condescending orthopaedic surgeon, who looked at me down his haughty nose as he made his pronouncement. “I don’t know what part of stupid you don’t unde...

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“The Winds of Change” by Kayla Shay Gibson

Submitted to Contest #235

The sound of a glass crashing into a hundred pieces still sparks a trigger in me. The breaking of furniture and the wailing cry of Elliot as Mum and Dad fought. I can still smell the week-old whiskey drenched into our couch as Dad would often pass out in a drunk haze. Mum wouldn't let him sleep in the room anymore. It was a never-ending war raging through our home; I wondered if anything would ever change. I would watch over Elliot as Mum did her daily morning shift at Rockwell Cafe; the mornings were most peaceful. Dad would wander out of t...

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Write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“Beneath the Shadow of Wind” by Gail Ormsby

“The Very Last Step” by Jed Cope

“Overachiever” by Maisey Mansson

“The Lost Run ” by Hannah Lloyd

“The Last Run ” by Aryana Moonsong

“Thank You for Your Disservice” by Fredrick Neri

“Stroke By Stroke” by Cynthia Crawford-Roach

“The Unflappable Flush” by Chris Jones

“Dragons and Evil Spirits” by Diane Shubinsky

“Track and Field Theory” by Ethan Zimmerman

“Running for Good” by Jordan Tyler

“Lucky” by Lisa Brady

“THE SNEAKERS IN HER CLOSET” by Marion Cohen

“Death of an identity” by Helen Power

“The Winds of Change” by Kayla Shay Gibson

🌟 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: