Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity.

Posted in Character on Jan 12, 2024

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 48 stories

Windfall

Submitted to Contest #233

I can't tear my eyes away as the bartender fills up the glass. For such a simple task, it's entrancing. Ice. A little bourbon. Some bitters. A splash of fernet, a little twist just for me, my mouth watering as she rubs an orange peel along the rim before sliding it over.My hand trembles as I reach for the drink, but I only indulge in a small sip. It's sweet and warm. Someone shoves my shoulder, a broad-shouldered man reeking of weed and beer, and I nearly spill. He coughs hysterically, jostling me as his large body shakes, that wet rattle in...

28 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

Through her own looking glass

Submitted to Contest #233

Please note this story comes with a Parental Guidance (PG) certificate: mum and dad, please do not read. ‘And how many sexual partners have you had?'‘Um, I’m not sure. More than ten, less than one hundred. Is there a multiple-choice option?’‘On a scale of ten to twenty, twenty to thirty, thirty to fifty, more than fifty?’‘Let’s say Fifty.’ said Alice looking at the various hideous healthcare posters on the wall behind her doctor, ‘How to live your life with a positive diagnosis’ and so on.Feeling increasingly mortified by the situation,...

24 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

Psycho Nicole

Submitted to Contest #233

“You are a miserable wretch. I am done.”He put on his sweats and went out for a run to clear his head. Dammit. Just halfway down the block and he already felt winded. How long had it been since he went running? He looked down at the gray sweatpants he was wearing, unwashed and picked out of the hamper outside the laundry room. What kind of person takes laundry out of the basket to wear? He had it ass backwards.It was her fault. Nicole. How did this happen to him again? She got under his skin,...

22 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

Bye- Bye Binkies

Submitted to Contest #233

Thelma loved her binkies. They made her feel calm and happy. Thelma and her binkies had been together since the day she was born. She knew that, because she had a Binky in her mouth in the picture that Mommy showed her, from the day that they first met.  Blue Binky was Thelma‘s favorite pacifier. That was the one she put in her mouth. Pink Binky, and Purple Binky were too small for her now, but she still liked to hold them while she slept. Thelma had her binkies all through the night.  At bedtime, she put on cozy pajamas, and t...

18 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Mom is Calling

Submitted to Contest #233

       I don’t remember falling asleep. He supposed he was in the back of an Uber. That’s good, he thought, on my way home. He fell back asleep.            Some amount of time passed, but Jake did not know how long. The car came to a slow stop, and footsteps were heard coming to the door. Jake tried lifting his head and, though it was just as difficult now as it was the last time, managed it and tried to focus on the car window next to him. He knew it w...

18 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

The Modern Addict: A Case Study

Submitted to Contest #233

The following is a recorded series of snippets from rehabilitation support meetings that the Subject A has attended. The published transcripts have been used with permission from all participants in the support group.Day 1[applause]“Hi, everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome. My name is <redacted>. I’m nineteen years old. Recently, I’ve come to the realization that… I have certain habits that are becoming detrimental to my health. I spend an insane amount of time on Instagram every day and it’s gotten to the point where I can’t even pee...

17 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

Daisy's Vice and Her Delight

Submitted to Contest #233

It seemed to Daisy that she was the absolute worst reader in her class. She had a terrible habit of burning her books. She would sit in class and the teacher would ask about the latest story and Daisy would avert looking at the teacher in the hope’s that she wouldn’t be called. And being called always seemed to be the one thing that Daisy could count on regardless of how much she dreaded it. Oh, how she hated that class and having the teacher ask her about the latest story that she had not read. The first few times s...

14 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

My Uncle's Beast

Submitted to Contest #233

My Uncle's Beast. After my grandmother's death, my uncle, consumed with grief, locked himself up in his studio for weeks on end and did nothing but stare at the wall like he was staring into an abyss. Almost like he was trying to get rid of his sadness by projecting it onto the white nothingness of his studio wall. My uncle was especially angry because even on her death bed when she could no longer speak or swallow because the cancer that would eventually kill her had metastasized into a goiter in her throat, my grandmother still had a loo...

14 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

My New Pair of Glasses

Submitted to Contest #233

Disclaimer: According to the 11th Tradition, "[Alcoholics Anonymous'] public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion." As discussed in this story, AA is for narrative purposes only. This story contains pertinent profanity. *** December 31 I am about to do something incredibly stupid. I am about to quit cold turkey. This is incredibly stupid because I have been drunk for over a year, and I have been a drunk since I started high school, and everyone knows the dangers of quitting without detox for the chronically imp...

13 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Analogy Schamology - A Sobriety Play in Three Acts

Submitted to Contest #233

964 Boston Post RoadWinding my way through the suburban streets of Rye New York on the back of my DoorDash moped, I reach the Methodist church on Boston Post Road. I've been delivering pizzas to the alcoholics there on Friday nights and know the route well. Today is a Tuesday.Outside their meeting room, a poster on the wall features a lighthouse with the message: Sobriety is a journey, not a destination. For years, alcohol has been a heavy anchor around my neck, and it's time for a change. I take the first step into their meeting room.“...

12 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Love, True Story

Submitted to Contest #233

The train ride back to East Village was a blur. Unconsciously my feet were doing the guiding. I lit a smoke a few feet from the door to the building. Concentrating on my breath in between hits from the fumo. Fumbling around in my pocket for my keys. Zonked out going through motions. Aware of my being emotionally drained. Not even completely inside the door and my phone starts blowing up. “Can’t this day end, I'm about to tap out.”      I murmured under my breath. Backing out of the doorway. Onto the sidewalk looking ...

12 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

American Mythology

Submitted to Contest #233

I was ten years old when I ran away to join the circus.  The lady who worked from the state came and explained to me what was going to happen to me after my mother died giving birth to my brother Abel. My father had gone north to Alaska to find work, but we hadn’t heard from him in almost a year.  “Martin Landover.” She addressed me with a smile, “You will be placed at Harper’s Home for Boys. I have a flier for you to look at.”  She placed the glossy brochure in front of me.  I glanced at it.  It had pictures of bo...

12 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Love Drought

Submitted to Contest #233

She kept hearing Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" in her head. Sparrow broke her leg coming down a set of stairs while walking her dog. She had been talking to this really fun guy right before that and things were heating up when they would chat. Sparrow liked sex but never put out early, in fact she had promised herself that things would be different with this guy. She had rushed in with her last relationship which ended up being more of a "situationship" as the kids liked to call it and kept kicking herself. In fact she had told herself she wa...

11 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Fucking Ugly Truth

Submitted to Contest #233

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, substance abuse, implied child neglect, depression, implied trauma, and mental health issues, mention of implied suicide This story is a sequel to I Don't Know What to Tell You, which is on my profile, but can be read on its own :)            Evan came out of the tunnel and stepped out into the blinding, blistering light of a hangover, sharp and lucid and ugly. He wanted to turn around and walk back into the darkness, but sleep was gone, and it wouldn’t be...

10 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

Pharmaceutical Slavery

Submitted to Contest #233

In literature, there is a concept called ‘arcs.’ This prompt seemed like a good place to demonstrate the idea. I start this story where the protagonist undergoes a negative arc, and then we see a positive arc. Enjoy. Language‘Your doctor has not approved your refill for HY….’Damit“Shelly, is everything ok?” Joan asked.Shelly briefly looked away from her phone. “Some days, I feel like screaming. I’m going to go outside for a smoke break.”Joan laughed and asked, “Since when did you smoke?”A sly smile appeared on Shelly’s face. “Do you ever que...

10 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Character – 33 stories

Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Narrative – 49 stories

Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Fluff – 61 stories

Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Dramatic – 36 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel