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

Posted in Character on Jan 12, 2024

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✍️ 50 stories

“Pharmaceutical Slavery” by Scott Taylor

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...

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“TAKE THREE” by Rory Kilalea

Submitted to Contest #233

Take 1.Pushing through the throng of suit jackets, the smell of sweat haunted by stale aftershave. The bar was crowded. A typical Dubai drinking hole for advertising and film people. They called it the Red Lion, pretending that it was the same as you find in England. Except it wasn’t. Like the city, it was faux, built on dreams and hopes, rising from the sand of dry dusty life.It was my escape, this city, a haven for a film director. Being busy, pushing for the next job, networking was the way to fill life with money and meaning. From t...

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“1898 at the Lighthouse - When Dreams Are Calling ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #233

Joseph watched whole tree trunks with roots attached bobbing in the churning sea.He saw the wind-driven waves tossing them so they landed in tangled piles on the sandy beach below the lighthouse. "Later we can gather wood, dry it, and use it for the fires in the warming stoves," he thought.Joseph's knitted cap, layered under another hat, protected his head from the windy rain squalls when they blew in from the ocean."I'm still glad we came here," he thought. "I love living by the sea." The gusts chilled his face. He put his hands in his...

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“Meat-eater” by Eleftherios Konstantinidis

Submitted to Contest #233

It was a cold winter night, and the streets of Soho were almost empty of people. The staff remaining in the stores were hurriedly putting the “closed” signs on, and the lights were gradually being turned off by people who obviously couldn’t wait to return to the cosiness and warmth of their homes. Very soon, the few people left around would be making their way to the nearest bus stops and underground stations. At that moment, Michael realised that he was the only person walking on Dean Street, the lights of Chinatown ahead of him getting ...

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“A History Of Smoking” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #233

My father rolled his own – puny little worms of loosely-packed tobacco drooping from his lip while he went about his business.With hands that were calloused and clumsy from working in the factory, he would struggle to produce something stable and smokable. He did try using a magic rolling machine at one point – a tin contraption with a rubber belt and rollers – but it never caught on with him. I think the act of rolling by hand, however disastrous, was part of the pleasure for him.Before plastic pouches, he bought his baccy in pocket-sized t...

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“Celebrating” by Alex Davis

Submitted to Contest #233

Tessa was proud of herself. She had been going to Dr. Navarro for months to work on her addiction, and today was the first day that she could see progress in the real world. Sessions at Dr. Navarro’s office had been hard at first. Finding the initiative to get up and bring herself to the office was a chore worthy of godhood in her eyes. If cleanliness is next to godliness, then punctuality is second best. However, despite her slow, groggy mornings, and mental protestations, she dragged herself to Dr. Navarro’s office week after week, and tod...

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“GRAVE DIGGERS ON STEROIDS” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #233

The loud, angry voice shouting into the phone by my father scared me enough to run outside and hide in the treehouse. Then I heard my brothers come out, slam the door and left the house, shouting loudly back at our father who suddenly opened the door and threw two shovels at them. I peeked out. Dressed in dark clothes, they grabbed the shovels and hoisted them overhead in a farewell salute. How gross! Those still had blood and pieces of dried skin on them. What's going on? The two shouted back to the house, got into the car, turned up the ro...

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“Punchy Nirvana Under The Tree” by Emanuel Diaz

Submitted to Contest #233

A Punchy Biography. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Once upon a time, in a little kingdom somewhere between the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers, I was born. Siddhartha Gautama, they called me. Yeah, I had a fancy name, but my old man wanted me to be a king or a great warrior or something. So, my crib was decked with gold, and my toys were probably worth more than your house. But you know what? I got sick of that shiny crap real quick. All right, so picture this: I'm Siddhartha Gautama, born into this pal...

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“SPEED” by Nicholas De Waal

Submitted to Contest #233

The little diamond glistened and shimmered, shards of broken light shining up through the opaque prism. It seemed to almost tease Justin, beckoning him to look closer and closer. “Who’s it for?” A voice asked him and Justin looked up at its owner. “It's a beautiful piece.” The clerk continued. He was surrounded by a treasure trove of hanging jewelry, as if the little shopkeeper had grown greedy and hoarded it all for himself. “A girl.” Justin returned, continuing to eye the little diamond ring in front of him. “Lucky ...

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“Whatchamacallit” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #233

“It is possible to be perfect!”He looked at me like I knew what I was talking about, or was he just humoring me? “Look at it this way. When was the last time you had to return…oh, name something you like, electronics, computer, whatever?”“Everything usually works?” he replied helpfully. “Even in the smallest details? Like a computer keyboard. If even one key doesn’t work, is the whole thing useless? So, you are saying that people can be like that?”“Sure. Why not?”He shuffled around, opening a kitchen cabinet. He puts my favorite mug in the w...

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“Seat filler...” by K Fields

Submitted to Contest #233

The decadence of him was captivating. She craved his touch, his scent, his conversation. Elation was not descriptive enough to illustrate just how he made her feel. And sometimes, it was just his presence that fascinated her spirit. It was like her very essence was defined by his existence. And she could not catch her breath at times. She often smiled at the thought of him and could not bare to imagine her life without him… in it… But &n...

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“New Year, New Me” by Martin Marriott

Submitted to Contest #233

New year, new me. No more ‘middle-of-the-night gardening’ or ‘driving endlessly down country lanes looking for the perfect spot to hide my misdemeanours.’ Those days (years… let’s be honest, decades) are well and truly behind me. I’ve even tidied my shed and gotten rid of many of my ‘tools.’ Not all of them, mind you, but most. The ones that may tempt me back to the old days. The old me. The me that I’m not particularly fond of anymore. People still are, though. They still write books; I’m featured on the occasional true crime podcast, and I...

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“Dry” by Alexandra En

Submitted to Contest #233

Thirty days.That was the agreed-upon timeline. It wasn't a decision we came to lightly; in fact, it was a miracle that we were able to decide on anything. All we did was fight these days. We would fight about the overwhelmingly obvious codependency that defined our relationship, and in that same breath, quickly oscillate to the suffocating feeling of fear when thinking about life apart. When you've spent over a decade of your life together, having celebrated birthdays, holidays, job promotions and gut-wrenching losses, the idea of such a lar...

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“A-1 Recovery Solutions” by Dave Stanley

Submitted to Contest #233

Getting sober and staying sober is rarely easy, but Nathan feels that he is on a roll. Two months into recovery, and he has not had a sip of alcohol. Better yet is the fact that he is actively working on sobriety, which is better than simple abstinence. “Dry drunk,” is how his AA peers put it. This morning, the menu of Progress and not Perfection entails going to another job interview. And for the first time in two months, he wants a drink to quiet his nerves. “I miss the bitch. She was trying to kill me, but boy do I miss ...

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“Guilty Pleasures” by Martin Harp

Submitted to Contest #233

“The name is Daniella but call me Dee...” Dee’s voice bounced off the concrete walls in a basement backroom of St. Vincent’s Middle School. LED lights flickered sporadically. A smell of burnt coffee and stale donuts emanated from a table in the corner and filled the room. Opposite the table, boxes filled with old textbooks went from floor to ceiling, making the room feel much smaller than it already was. Wooden chairs, no younger than 50 years old, held together flimsily by a couple screws, were arranged in a circle in the center of the ro...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 50 stories

“Pharmaceutical Slavery” by Scott Taylor

“TAKE THREE” by Rory Kilalea

“1898 at the Lighthouse - When Dreams Are Calling ” by Kristi Gott

“Meat-eater” by Eleftherios Konstantinidis

“A History Of Smoking” by PJ Town

“Celebrating” by Alex Davis

“GRAVE DIGGERS ON STEROIDS” by Debbie Curtin

“Punchy Nirvana Under The Tree” by Emanuel Diaz

“SPEED” by Nicholas De Waal

“Whatchamacallit” by Joe Smallwood

“Seat filler...” by K Fields

“New Year, New Me” by Martin Marriott

“Dry” by Alexandra En

“A-1 Recovery Solutions” by Dave Stanley

“Guilty Pleasures” by Martin Harp

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

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

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

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

Contest #233

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

231

Contest entries

78

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: