Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

Posted in Dark on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 177 stories

“Into the next ” by Melia Mendoza

Submitted to Contest #84

I sighed as I climbed into bed slowly. I knew sleep wouldn’t come to me tonight. Why would it? I can’t sleep just like every other night. I sighed as I closed my eyes.“What day is it” I think to myself as I silently scream hoping someone will hear me and take pity on me. Deciding that I have been through enough it wouldn’t happen though I knew it wouldn’t happen oh momma I wish you were here. Oh daddy, why did you leave me here? I didn’t deserve to be left alone but you left me alone to fend for myself in this cold cruel world. I pull ...

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“Days Go By” by J.B. Dixon

Submitted to Contest #84

“Argh! That’s the fourth time today I’ve had to stop and find something with the date on it! What the hell is going on?” Terry was extremely frustrated, as she had been for the last two months. Days had been blurring together ever since the virus lock-down had started, and everyone in her group of friends was starting to feel it. The band had been practicing over Zoom and Skype calls; Selene had to resort to phone and email consultations for her clients; Julia was decked out in PPE gear almost 24/7; Adam and Benny were at each other’s throat...

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“Lucky Day” by Adra Verse

Submitted to Contest #84

I don’t know what day it is, but I’m lucky to be alive. I found this random empty diary laying on the floor, while going to Maintenance. It feels like years, or even centuries. I can’t know for sure. All I know, I could already be dead. We are locked in this mess. To elaborate, we are stuck in this facility, where “The Council” controls us, from day to night. Well, if there was a day and night. This facility is huge, it feels so big, but it must be just a fraction of the real world. There is no actual sunlight here, so it’s dark every time. ...

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“The Warden's Switch” by Ashley Slaughter

Submitted to Contest #84

*Warning: Brief Instances of Adult Language and Themes* It’s Monday. Yes, definitely Monday. Or—Tuesday? Agh, dammit! I threw my hands into the air and groaned aloud in frustration. I’d been doing so well! I’d marked off the days on the calendar throughout December, then—since I didn’t have a calendar for the next year—drew my notches onto the floor underneath the couch in the living room. Every day. Come on, Nick. Think. Surely, it was Monday, March 16th, 2071. But days were not easy to remember, anymore. Not after you spend too many of the...

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“Sunlight” by Khloe Crawshaw

Submitted to Contest #84

March 14th. Nope, that didn’t feel right. March 12th? It couldn’t already be March again, it was just March two months ago. Wasn’t it? June tossed her pencil at the desk angrily, and threw herself into bed, enveloping herself into a cocoon in the blankets around her. Outside the window, the trees waved hello to her, but she wasn’t paying attention. The tops of houses were nestled cozily together, and a few cars wizzed down the street every now and then. A cool spring breeze whooshed in the smell of oncoming rain and tossed the curtain...

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“The Book On The Shelf” by Nelson Locklear

Submitted to Contest #84

I look at the calendar, I check my phone, then I turn on the tv, and finally I check my watch. It all tells me the same thing, then I look outside and the sky is there, the trees, houses, neighbors, everything is the same. Then I ask myself what day is it again? My phone buzzes and I look down. The screen displays brightly, Monday March 8th. I stare at the illuminated screen a little bit longer, as if I may be being lied to. Cause yesterday was just like this, so was the previous day, and before I know it; I’ve forgotten again. Then again wh...

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“Charlie Hadn't Thought of a Tally System” by Grace Brown

Submitted to Contest #84

They had been here for…. A while. Charlie could see the sun through the tower window so they knew it was daytime but besides that? Charlie started the day just like every other one; pruning their flowers. They knew they weren't going anywhere just like yesterday, and the day before, and th-- you get the point. So they didn’t change and they didn’t put on makeup and they didn’t brush their hair. It isn’t like there was much to brush, Charlie had cut it short the day they realized nobody was coming to get them. That day hadn’t really been a...

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“Streaks Of Red and Gold” by Risha Tevins

Submitted to Contest #84

Your hands shake. Like the rest of you, they are old and gnarled and worn. Rough lines and calluses bite deep into the sunken skin of your flesh, and you both despise and crave the scars in equal measure because the pain hurts, but it’s also the last real proof that you still have of a life lived oh so long ago.It helps to tether you to reality - through the haze of half-buried memories and the useless ramblings of an old woman. The itches continue to scratch away at the base of your skull.Madness, you think, has many forms. It’s j...

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“Jonah the Robot Dog” by Noelle Lee

Submitted to Contest #84

“Sign and date, please,” the vendor said, handing me a clipboard with a piece of paper fluttering in the cold January wind. I signed my name slowly, trying to sort out the date in my head. How many nights had it been since I cooked that pathetic Christmas dinner over the tiny stove plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car? Ten? It was at least the 3rdthen. Or maybe the 4th? I stared blankly at the wall stacked thinly with the canned goods I longed to buy. I gazed at a particularly perfect jar of jam, willing it to give me answer. “I...

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“29” by Kavya Pillai

Submitted to Contest #84

TW: suicide Is it third of March ? Or fourth already ? I can't seem to remember it. I rummaged through my drawer looking for something , a knickknack to recall the date. I didn't have newspapers , or phone ,for that matter. A middle aged woman who had voluntarily abandoned the society didn't need to possess those. She didn't care for the world or the people . Is it March ? A tear-off calendar of 2008 laid amidst pointed pliers and colorful plastic wires. It wasn't 2008 anymore. I was sure of that. The first three years I had stayed in an slo...

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“Always A Sunny Side” by Linda Brodsky

Submitted to Contest #84

Henry lay in pre-dawn dark, eyes wide, thoughts circling. Was it Monday or Tuesday? Was it the 21st or the 22nd of the month? It was May, he was sure of that. It was May, right? Was it May? Crap! He missed being of sound mind even more than he missed having a body that didn’t ache from stem to stern. Henry rubbed both eyes with the fingers of one hand and tried to find some moisture with a tongue that had been hung out to dry for hours. It was Tuesday, wasn’t it? Yes? No? Was it Monday? Did it matter, when one day was going to be no ...

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“The Date Stamp” by Sophie Yi

Submitted to Contest #84

Ugghh… I begrudgingly sat down and started my daily, science homework. The top of the worksheet said, name and date. I quickly filled out the name. But, when it came to the date, I wondered, what day is it? Is it Monday? Wednesday? I don't even know at this point. Every day since COVID-19 started has felt like the same over and over again. I looked up at my calendar. Then, I realized I didn’t even know what month it was. How am I supposed to figure it out? So I decide to Google it. Thank goodness Google existed or else I would be totally doo...

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“A Timeless Tale” by Ash Simons

Submitted to Contest #84

“A Timeless Tale” The shrill blaring of my phone alarm yanked me from another restless night of sleep, thrusting me back into the monotonous regularity of adulthood. Another day, another government-issued dollar. I let out a groan of agitation as I fumbled gracelessly to silence the irksome sound. What day is it anyway? I sat up and scrubbed the harsh crust that had collected in my eyes during my slumber and willed the fog encompassing my brain to clear. My eyes scanned my discombobulated mess of a bedroom before fixating on the digital cloc...

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“The Bagmen” by Kelly Pawlik

Submitted to Contest #84

Cigarette smoke hung in the air. A floral bedspread was bunched up at the bottom of the bed. Wrinkled white sheets covered the lumpy mattress. A painting of a grassy field hung on one of the wood panelled walls. A notebook and an ashtray sat on a small table.Gary took a long drag on his cigarette and closed his eyes. He imagined he was somewhere that wasn’t a cheap motel room. He exhaled and opened his eyes, but the scene before him hadn’t changed. He tapped the cigarette against the cheap black ashtray and watched as the ashes scattered int...

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“Ghoul of the Misty Night” by Peter Sugiharto

Submitted to Contest #84

Symbols, books, and stacks of paper decorating the not so big room. It was early in the morning when a slight rays coming from outside. The man woke up with feeling groggy, but a slight itchiness woke him up from the land of the dreams which he wouldn't remember. He lifted his right hand with a little glow, where from the top of the pile, a paper hurled to him but with fast reaction he caught it. He found a detailed map and some notes and he finally let out a deep sigh. Starting his day he looked himself in the mirror, where it reflected a m...

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Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 177 stories

“Into the next ” by Melia Mendoza

“Days Go By” by J.B. Dixon

“Lucky Day” by Adra Verse

“The Warden's Switch” by Ashley Slaughter

“Sunlight” by Khloe Crawshaw

“The Book On The Shelf” by Nelson Locklear

“Charlie Hadn't Thought of a Tally System” by Grace Brown

“Streaks Of Red and Gold” by Risha Tevins

“Jonah the Robot Dog” by Noelle Lee

“29” by Kavya Pillai

“Always A Sunny Side” by Linda Brodsky

“The Date Stamp” by Sophie Yi

“A Timeless Tale” by Ash Simons

“The Bagmen” by Kelly Pawlik

“Ghoul of the Misty Night” by Peter Sugiharto

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.

Write about someone who grew up in a bunker, and lockdown life is all they’ve ever known.

Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Write about someone who’s trying to accomplish a task that used to be easy but is now made complicated by a pandemic.

Contest #84

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

664

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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