Start or end your story with a house going up in flames.

Posted in Dark on Oct 25, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 56 stories

“Through the Jungle and Other Ways to Escape” by Melissa Balick

TW: mental illness, substance abuseMom’s guy ran out of benzos, so I figured it was better for me to bring Paul anywhere but home after school. When her pills wore off, at best she’d leave soap bars in the sink with the water running to expose the listening devices she was convinced were hidden inside; at worst, she’d believe that Paul and I were minions of Satan sent to spy on her. Better for us to stay out of her hair, in case it went the second way.Before school, she emerged from her bedroom in a discolored rob...

12 comments 12 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“The Art of Fire” by Sarah Kreiger

Fury seared deep in Brooklynn’s veins, building with every second that passed. The fleeting minutes burned her anger higher, much like the engulfing flames over her beloved house in front of her.For the briefest millisecond she felt a pang of guilt, but squashed it immediately. This was not her fault; she had done everything right for years. Ten years of what she thought was bliss, broken and wasted in the blink of an eye.How did it come to this?She clutched her squirming Pekingese, Kh...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Inevitability” by Beth Jackson

Travis and Ethan watched the house burn, with a brazen enthusiasm undignified for middle-aged men. Josh stared at the ground, scouting for potential hazards, lest he suffer a similar fate to the house.A glowing ember drifted through the night sky and nestled on Matt’s shirt. He smothered it and glanced at his friends.Just four friends, standing on the side of the road, watching a stranger’s house burn.Matt lifted his hand. A charred hole peeked from under his fingers. He closed his eye...

10 comments 10

Read story

“Playing with fire” by Alex Mullin

As I watched helplessly while flames engulfed the house in front of me, I couldn't help but wonder if this kind of thing went on your permanent record.Frankly, I had no idea what that meant in terms of implications for my own life. Perhaps the next time I applied for a job, there would be a menacingly red "DO NOT HIRE" stamp embossed on my background check. "Set her date's house on fire after they went out…twice." As if it would have been a more reasonable offense had it happened later in the re...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Burn it all down” by Christina Marie

Ash drifted down, dusting their lives and lungs grey while hell’s fingers scuttled across meadows, sprang over rivers, and sprinted between trees. Mother Nature thwarted every effort to contain the flames, scoffing at prayers for rain and instead delivering dizzy winds and dry lightning. The billowing smoke plumed so large that it developed its own weather system—creating more lightning,...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Brief Encounters” by Jon R. Miller

Tryst 1 - Vivification07.07.2456“Don’t worry, Shinji,” you said when we stepped out of Dr. Lau’s office at the Bradbury Lunar Medical Center. “They're going to find a cure, eventually. We’ll just keep skipping ahead until we get to that time.”Keep skipping ahead.You always made it sound as though it were the simplest thing in the world, Harry. Like horseback riders stopping at stations and switching out their out-of-breath steeds for fresh ones and c...

17 comments 17

Read story

“Mr Jingle” by Phil Manders

When the nice policeman comes, I just won’t speak to him. My mummy always calls them “the nice policeman.” She told me, if I ever get lost, all I have to do is find the nice policeman and he will keep me safe and look after me. I hope he'll be nice. ********* Obviously, the police have to get involved in a case like this. Apparently, she will be i...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Mind Stone” by Blue Green

It wasn’t the acrid smell of the smoke drifting into my bed corner which woke me, nor was it the heat of the flames or the cries of the villagers fleeing for their lives. It was Otis, my faithful weasel who saved my life that night. He had snuck into my pocket as usual to share my warmth as I lay curled up on the straw mattress, and it was the sharp nip of his teeth on my finger which alerted me to the danger which I was...

16 comments 16

Read story

“Flickers of an Unfullfilling Life” by Emily R Bellas

The couch was comfortable. It was one of those expensive ones that they advertise on TV during reruns of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC. The ones they want you to think you can afford when actually it costs about a month’s rent and isn’t even that cozy. This one is, though. And knowing her sister, she probably got it on sale or won it in some kind of home furnishing Instagram contest. Nina hated the couch. She hated the ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Family House that was not a Home” by John Steckley

“Does your vision slow down when you get older?” George wondered with spoken words on that fateful day. Objects in his old house were appearing to move when he looked at them in passing. They would stop that seeming motion when he put his full focus on that apparent movement. It was happening more and more often these days. George asked himself whether his aging brain was processing images more slowl...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Inheritance” by Kerry Goldsworthy

My brother inherited a classic car and management of ‘Seascape’; the grand residence on the Esplanade with it seafront views and imposing gardens. I inherited approximately a thousand old postcards in a sturdy green cardboard box. Yes, you read that correctly. I am younger than my brother James by nineteen months, but I was always my Aunt Doreen’s favorite. Doreen had been my mother’s younger sister. She...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Angie Robinson” by Amanda Lieser

Content warning: pregnancy and toxic relationships “You got a fast car/ I want a ticket to anywhere”-Tracy Chapman Outside, crickets sing soft love songs for the end of summer. The moon is full bellied and glowing, just like me. Her bright beams stroke my distressed face, brow furrowed out of anger. I pace in a cotton nightgown, my toes curling into the threadbare brown c...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The Damn Box” by Justan Romias

"God damn ..." Christopher Pitt groaned this well-worn expression as he picked up his 107th box of the morning and placed it into his delivery truck. It wasn't a very heavy box, but Chris didn't have a very good back. Or a very good knee, or very good shoulder. It seems that when Chris hit the big 3-0 five years ago he started to play the real life version of the children's game Operation. So many unexpected movement...

6 comments 6

Read story

“The House That Dad Built” by Greg Gillis

It was going to be a fresh start for our family. My parents had been scrimping and saving every penny for the last five years just so they could buy a piece of land in the country. For as far back as I can remember, which is only the fifteen years of my life, we moved every few months from one dingy apartment to the next. It was the only life I knew. So, when ...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Up in Flames.” by John Filby

Martha was curled in bed and happily dreaming. She was lost in her vivid escapism from the day to day grind that was becoming the normal in these pandemic times of lockdown. Tanya and Jeffrey were probably in the house somewhere as it was still night time and dark outside, never one to worry too much about the clock. Martha was not too concerned about the others at the best of times but especially so when...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a voyage on a boat.

Adventure – 44 stories

Write about a person or object vanishing into thin air.

Thriller and Suspense – 44 stories

Write a story about a team tunneling down into the centre of a planet.

Science Fiction – 7 stories

Write a story about a character who’s trying to fill an empty space, literally or metaphorically.

Angst – 56 stories

Contest #108

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Elemental

$250

Prize money

207

Contest entries

208

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 27, 2021 EST

Won by Rachel Kenley Fry 🏆

Title: I Leave the Six Blank

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Start or end your story with a house going up in flames.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 56 stories

“Through the Jungle and Other Ways to Escape” by Melissa Balick

“The Art of Fire” by Sarah Kreiger

“Inevitability” by Beth Jackson

“Playing with fire” by Alex Mullin

“Burn it all down” by Christina Marie

“Brief Encounters” by Jon R. Miller

“Mr Jingle” by Phil Manders

“The Mind Stone” by Blue Green

“Flickers of an Unfullfilling Life” by Emily R Bellas

“The Family House that was not a Home” by John Steckley

“The Inheritance” by Kerry Goldsworthy

“Angie Robinson” by Amanda Lieser

“The Damn Box” by Justan Romias

“The House That Dad Built” by Greg Gillis

“Up in Flames.” by John Filby

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a voyage on a boat.

Write about a person or object vanishing into thin air.

Write a story about a team tunneling down into the centre of a planet.

Write a story about a character who’s trying to fill an empty space, literally or metaphorically.

Contest #108

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

207

Contest entries

208

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: