Start your story with a character in despair.

Posted in Dark on Jun 14, 2024

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✍️ 91 stories

“I Can't Sleep” by Megan Spencer

Submitted to Contest #255

I can’t sleep. I heard once somewhere that if you can’t sleep it’s because you’re awake in someone else’s dream. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be terrifying or romantic. I don’t really believe in that stuff anyway, but being awake at three in the morning, staring at the moon, makes me think about it. My life…there’s little joy in it. There’s nothing but pain, terror, and death. I couldn’t save my mother from my father. Couldn’t save my father from himself. The responsibility of caring for my little brother bared a heavy weight across my...

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“Heart Smile” by Kristy Garrett

Submitted to Contest #255

The house was at the end of a dead end road with views that looked like a water color painting. The marsh was beautiful with dragonflies dancing over the pockets of water before they disappeared in the bright sky. The sun was magnified this time of day, mid-morning. She could feel the heat through the sunroom window as she sipped her third cup of coffee. She liked her coffee the same color as his eyes. Just a hint of cream swirling through the dark roast. Her love for him was bigger than the sun was bright. Bigger than the moon was round. Sh...

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“The Moment” by Kelly Jones

Submitted to Contest #255

The Moment The author's back is always turned, not squarely, but in a sleightful manner. The precious stray reader is hidden behind a dark navy window curtain, and, never showing their face, the author slides a plate of pureed ideas gently towards those feral black eyes, so watchful, distrustful, judging a whiff against long experience in the starving wilderness. Kierkegaard once said that he wrote incredibly difficult, very long, intellectually dry introductions in order to find his readers. This is not the author's purpose, not to sift out...

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“Ironwood” by J.B. Redel

Submitted to Contest #255

The crunching of gravel beneath a single pair of boots broke the haunting silence enveloping Ironwood. Dazed, Emily walked the empty streets of her hometown. Abandoned houses stood quiet, like frozen sentinels over their yards and driveways. Cars dotted the roads, their drivers absent. Yards of weeds crowded the spaces between houses where once-manicured lawns had graced their homes and neighbors. Though numb to the sight around her, one that she had slowly become accustomed to over the past few months, a cold pit of despair settled deep wit...

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“A MOTHER'S TRAGEDY” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #255

Despair, hopelessness, anguish, pain, misery is how I feel as I stare at my son's lifeless body. My sweet baby boy . Oh, my sweet baby boy how precious you are to me. My love, I see you now. I will forever see you as my sweet baby boy. As I leave the morgue with tears in my eyes and a pain that is so unimaginable it hurts to breath. It hurts to walk. I look at that precious face of my sweet baby boy and I ask myself. Where did it all go wrong? My home. What is my home without that sweet laughter, that playful smile of Wyatt? I can still hear...

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“The End” by V Lyons

Submitted to Contest #255

Sarah looked at her cell phone as if it were going to spit out her answers. Her stomach was churning, and the anxiety was hitting in waves. "Breath Sarah, just breath!" She whispered to herself. She forced herself to slowly inhale and exhale. It was 11:00 a.m. and she was not prepared for this to happen today.The call confirmed what she knew for months. Chucks body was shutting down. The ALS sabotaging his muscles for years was going to have its final victory and soon. The nursing home administrator where Chuck lived for the last few years c...

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“Trigger Warning” by Ashley Kendall

Submitted to Contest #255

NOTE: Trigger Warning seemed an apt title for this piece, particularly because it's written with a first-person perspective. The main character is suffering from mental illness, depression, and turns to self-harm as a means of respite. Though the descriptions are at times graphic, this piece contains no severe injury or death.--There are days whose only purpose is to remind me of how alone I really am. I feel myself withdraw from the world; my senses disconnecting one by one until I disappear into near silence, though my mind hums its unche...

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“Tidal Waves in a Puddle: Despair into Hope” by Pete Gautchier

Submitted to Contest #255

Prompt: Start your story with a character in despair Tidal Waves in a Puddle: Waves of Despair into Hope The time is right to tell my story. It is not an endearing story. My desire is for you to know the Truth. No adoring relatives ogling over my cute infant form. I learned that I was birthed on the street from a crack-head, deranged mother. My cradle was a cardboard box. It was the first of my cardboard homes. Social services eventually caught up with her. The first of my many foster families decided to call me Dam...

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“The Land to Which Dying Sparrows Fly” by Siegfried Pueblitz

Submitted to Contest #255

Simon entered the hospital room and bent down over his mother’s immobile body to kiss her cheek. She lay quietly on the bed as if lost in a dream but upon feeling his presence opened her eyes and smiled brightly. The ability to produce facial expressions was the only motor function that remained once the disease had ascended through her spine and vanquished all the others leaving her paralyzed. He saw she was moving her lips, struggling to articulate words that came out as feeble whispers. He put his ear close to her face. &...

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“The Nightmare” by Isabelle Hancock

Submitted to Contest #255

It's happening again. Is this the dream or reality?I can feel his presence in the dark, his shadow an inky stain. His creeping presence in my room is deafening in the silence. I keep my breath even, curled into a ball, trying to pretend to be asleep. Maybe tonight he will just leave. Maybe tonight… no, I feel the sheets being pulled down.The moment his hand touches my flesh I fall back to my only defence. I go to the only place I know how to survive.1 times 2 is 22 times 2 is 43 times 2 is 6…As always, I look forward to reaching my 7 times t...

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“My five stages” by Jennifer Allan-Robertson

Submitted to Contest #255

CW: This story contains themes or mentions of mental health issues and sex.When I think about the hurt and suffering that I have been through recently, I don’t automatically think I have suffered a loss. It’s not like someone has died. But at the same time there has been a death. The death of trust and the death of my faith in my husband. The death of the woman I was before the infidelity and the death of who I was going to be in the future. In a way, I suppose, there was a death. The death of me. Psychology believes that when we suffer a lo...

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“Marble Kisses” by Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #255

Giovanni loved her from the moment he first saw her. He paid for her out of his savings, loaded her in the back of his truck, and took her home.He stood back and gazed at her after unloading her in his studio. She was transcendent, or soon would be. He walked around her, inspecting the possibilities. He nodded, satisfied. The proportions were perfect. His new woman would, in time, become a beauty for the ages.“You are impeccable, my dear,” he muttered before walking away and turning off the light.Giovanni took a bath, soaking his tired muscl...

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“APPs🍎” by Margie Marek

Submitted to Contest #255

“A HUNDRED DOLLARS?!! Jesus fucking Christ, Treesha where’d all the money go?” Drake demands, rudely interrupting my idyllic slumber. “I wass onnnn the beach innn Caboooh,” I moan, wiping the crust off my eyes and notice for the first time how sallow he appears. “A hundred BILLION dollars,” he’s repeating like a mantra, while pacing around our cavernous dwelling like a caged lion. Now it’s much closer to London’s Christchurch Greyfriars after the Blitz with only it’s tower and outer walls left standing. Our once opulent Great Gatsby style sp...

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“The Love of an Old Dog” by Kim Dyas

Submitted to Contest #255

The words said so carefully and precisely.I was fighting my body to wake up on this New Years Day. I was heavy, my body tired from a late night, but in this moment, total comfort wrapped in pristine white hotel sheets. I could sense that there was something not right, but I was too comfortable, didn’t want to acknowledge morning or open my eyes just a little. I could sense him moving around beside me, he was awake. He slid out of bed silently trying not to wake me and went to the bathroom. Something is off. I waited for him to com...

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“The Darlington Ball” by Franny Behrman

Submitted to Contest #255

The Darlington ball was the event of the season. It was all Mama had talked about for weeks, the only topic that seemed to break down some of the distance between us and take the wary uncertainty out of her eyes. She positively glowed with pride as we set off in the carriage---me in the new dress that Mama said brought out the green flecks in my eyes and my stiff new slippers with just the slightest heel. I felt scared and stiff and strange, but I was determined to please Mama, to make such a success of the evening that I would erase the bit...

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Start your story with a character in despair.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 91 stories

“I Can't Sleep” by Megan Spencer

“Heart Smile” by Kristy Garrett

“The Moment” by Kelly Jones

“Ironwood” by J.B. Redel

“A MOTHER'S TRAGEDY” by Melinda Madrigal

“The End” by V Lyons

“Trigger Warning” by Ashley Kendall

“Tidal Waves in a Puddle: Despair into Hope” by Pete Gautchier

“The Land to Which Dying Sparrows Fly” by Siegfried Pueblitz

“The Nightmare” by Isabelle Hancock

“My five stages” by Jennifer Allan-Robertson

“Marble Kisses” by Astrid Skarsgaard

“APPs🍎” by Margie Marek

“The Love of an Old Dog” by Kim Dyas

“The Darlington Ball” by Franny Behrman

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a someone who's in denial.

Write a story about anger.

Center your story around a character bargaining for something that's important to them.

Write a story about someone finding acceptance.

Contest #255

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

365

Contest entries

142

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: