Set your story in a type of prison cell.

Posted in Dark on Oct 6, 2023

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✍️ 82 stories

“Day One” by Ross Dyter

Submitted to Contest #219

The steel door slammed closed, throwing the cell into darkness. If anything, the small patch of cross hatched light on the stone flags made the shadows deeper. Day one. Day one of one thousand and ninety-five, unless there was a leap year. He had no idea when they happened, they just seemed to appear out of the blue and suddenly February would still be there with March waiting in the wings to start. Three years, he’d be just over thirty by the time he got out. This was the last time, the very last time they’d lock him up. He would keep his h...

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“Doctor in the House” by Anne Segard

Submitted to Contest #219

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE Dr. Vinny Polk wanted to cry as he was led to his cell. Ten years. How could he do 10 years? Once impeccably dressed . . . neatly pressed slacks and crisp shirts with cufflinks he shuddered to think of how he looked in prison garb. As he was shoved in his cell and the door banged behind him an enormous man with a shaven head, enormous bulging muscles and a large collection of tattoos looked up his bed. Oh, God thought Vinny this is like the movies you see about big bubbas making you their bitch. I bet his name really i...

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“FREE” by Inigo Montoya

Submitted to Contest #219

His head swelled as he slowly stood up from what felt like a long nap, placing his hand on the cold wall that was next to him for balance. He felt as though he had been tossed around or trampled underfoot. Looking up, he saw past the iron bars that stood in front of his face, was a thin pale skinned man. The man was covered in rugged black torn clothes and a hood that stooped low over his face, making it to where all you could see was a sly devilish smile that could put shivers up your back. Immediately emotions of anger and rage fille...

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“The Chains that Bind” by Victoria Fortune

Submitted to Contest #219

Bitter wind howls through cracks in the walls. The chill of the stone floor seeps through her linen skirt and wool stockings, through her kneecaps and deep into her joints, which feel as though they could splinter at the slightest tap. She shivers and coughs, arching her aching back, but she must continue praying until the appointed hour or she will surely feel the lash. The scent of baking loaves drifts into the room. Hunger gnaws at her stomach like rats under the floorboards. She has not eaten since dawn—a snatch of bread before fetching...

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“Days and Nights In a Concrete Cocoon” by Wilson Watt

Submitted to Contest #219

That stain of blood is probably what bothers me most in life. I imagine it got there when they threw me in here, and I mean threw. No way I was letting them put me in this concrete box without a fight. Dad always said, “It ain't about being beat to shit, its about ripping their fucking ear off when they do it.” He told me that after I came home with a bloodied lip. If he had just listened he woulda known I just bit it while eating my fucking PB&J. Goddamn asshole. At first I was a little happy it was there. The blood st...

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“The Growing Cell ” by Radek Michalik

Submitted to Contest #219

The first escape involves crawling through a tunnel, naked, claustrophobic, unable to breathe, but toward a light. Then pain, and hunger, and cold. Soon I’m behind bars again, and so I’ve traded one prison for another. … My situation soon becomes clear. I’m being held captive by two guards, a man and a woman. Their language is nonsensical. Additionally, I’m much smaller than they are. Comically so. And my cell is just wide enough for me to lie down in. The enforced schedule is the worst part. I feel my mind starti...

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“Bank Run” by Kyle Collins

Submitted to Contest #219

"Ya fucked up Marty." "I know." I replied. Like berating me would fix our situation. He stood up and paced around the living room. "I should have known better than to bring a rookie." I'd only recently begun pulling small jobs. I'd been holding up markets and liquor stores outside town, but I was new. Bruce was a vet of the business. He was known as a Breaker, a man that gets shit done. He'd done real time in the State Pen too, seven years for manslaughter. I bugged him for weeks to take me out with him. It's ...

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Set your story in a type of prison cell.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 82 stories

“Day One” by Ross Dyter

“Doctor in the House” by Anne Segard

“FREE” by Inigo Montoya

“The Chains that Bind” by Victoria Fortune

“Days and Nights In a Concrete Cocoon” by Wilson Watt

“The Growing Cell ” by Radek Michalik

“Bank Run” by Kyle Collins

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that includes the line “I think someone’s listening/watching.”

Write from the POV of a security guard on the night shift, sitting in front of a wall of CCTV feeds.

Write about someone who is shackled by fears of failure, until they break free.

Write a story about someone who breaks an unwritten social rule and the consequences they face as a result.

Contest #219

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

254

Contest entries

114

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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